So… this chapter is a little late in coming, but what can I say? WoW totally runs my life, I can't help it. Heh.

This chapter is fluffish, because of the lateness. I love these two, I really do. They're o much fun to write. Nothing much goes on in this chapter, and it really just sets up the next one, but it gets the job done. It's getting everything back on track, so that's what I'm excited for.

This chapter takes place the day after It's Hammer Time.

As always… review! It makes me feel better about myself. Hah.

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"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death." – Anais Nin

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Minute Changes

Rose sat spread-eagled on the floor, her back rigid, staring hawk-eyed at the small piece of folded paper in front of her. She moved it so it was in the exact position she needed it to be in, and poised her expectant thumb and pointer finger at the paper's edge. She took a small sigh, closed her eyes for a moment, and realigned her vision. She pulled in a large breath, held it, and…flick!

The paper football flew a small ways before coming to a halt in the middle of the floor, quite a ways away from the two-handed goal post. The owner of the hands took a look at the lone piece of paper on the ground, and then to the annoyed face of the pink ranger across from him before bursting into laughter.

Rose sighed and glared across the room. "You're a horrible person, Mack."

The red ranger's laughing died down, and an amused look came to his face in the laughter's wake. "It's not my fault you suck at this game." He stuck his tongue out at her childishly.

The corners of her mouth threatened to tug upwards, but she fought it. "You're the one who chose the game in the first place!"

He leaned backwards onto his elbows, still smiling devilishly at the pink ranger, and countered, "Yeah, but I'm good at it."

She rolled her eyes, but they were bright with mirth. "And I'm a tragic failure. You couldn't have possibly picked something that I was better at? Come on now."

He laughed again. "Or course not. That would make me look like a loser."

"You're calling me a loser now?"

"You lost, didn't you?"

She huffed and turned away, straining to keep the smile off of her face. He called her name, but she refused to look at him. She wasn't insulted in the least; she just liked toying with him. She leaned back against his bed, amused.

He crawled across the floor and lay down on his stomach in front of her. He propped his chin up with his arms and looked up at her, almost pouting. He poked her in the stomach, and she let out an unsuspecting squeal of laughter, her hidden smile finally sprouting widely across her face.

Mack, satisfied that he hadn't insulted the pink ranger, offered his own smile. "So, what do you want to do?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Hmmm."

The two lapsed into a silence. Mack folded his arms together on he ground and laid his head on them. Rose began to run her fingers through his mop of hair, slowly getting rid of the tangles.

After the fifth knot she hit, Rose looked down at the red ranger incredulously. "Do you ever brush this mess?"

Mack rolled his eyes slightly. "Every day. But it gets messed up easily."

"I can tell!" She laughed a bit, weaving her finger through a tight spot and apologizing at the wince he gave.

She hit another tangle of hair and he hissed in pain before reaching up with one hand to rub the tender area. "Sheesh, Rose. Trying to give me bald spots?"

She looked sheepish. "Sorry! I'm not trying to hurt you, honest."

"I know, I know." He smiled up at her before laying his head on his arms once again.

Rose grinned and leaned down, pressing a small kiss on the sore spot. "There! All better."

Mack chuckled outright. "I didn't know you were a mother hen, too."

She smirked at him and winked. "Don't tell anyone."

"You're secret's safe with me." He made a zipping motion across his mouth, and then he propped his head up once again.

"I'm bored."

She laughed. "Are you always a little bundle of energy like this?"

He grinned up at her. "Nope. Sometimes I sleep, too."

Mack turned over and outstretched his arms and legs, taking up quite a bit of floor space with his tall frame. He evened out his breathing, and seconds later began to fake snoring. Loudly.

Rose laughed, amused by his antics. She attempted to stem the flow of the annoying snore by pinching his nostrils together, but it was to no avail; he simply began making the noises with his mouth.

She shook her head at him, smiling. "You need to find better things to do. Snoring is annoying."

He smirked up at her. "Well, I would have something to do if you were still playing paper football with me."

"She shook her head at him. "Sorry, not falling for that one. I refuse to play that game."

He grinned. Rose began threading her fingers through his hair again.

"You're not that bad at it."

She laughed. "Are you kidding? I'm a horrible player."

"Have you ever seen Dax play? Now that's bad."

Rose found a particularly stubborn knot in his hair and fumbled with it. "You know what's horrible? Your hair."

Mack looked up at her, the smile on his face ever present. "S'not my fault. Gotta blame my mom for that one."

Rose laughed. "Yeah, you definitely don't have your father's hair."

"Thank God for that one."

"No doubt. I like you curls, thank you very much." She pulled on a lock of his hair and let it go, watching it spring back into place.

Mack sighed sadly and his eyes grew slightly darker. "You should've seen my mom's hair. It was really lovely."

Rose's heart constricted at the wistful look on his face. She ran her hand through his hair once more, but it was much gentler than before. "You miss her, don't you?"

He gave her a small, sad smile. "Yeah, I always do."

She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, trying to give him some form of comfort. "I'm sorry."

The corner of his mouth lifted up. "Don't be; it's not your fault."

"I know, but-"

He put a finger to her mouth, shushing her. A genuine smile was back on his face. "Don't get all sentimental on me, Rose. She's been gone a long time."

She looked down at him, still concerned. He continued, "Don't worry yourself over something you can't change, alright?"

She nodded, silent. He lifted his fingers to the corners of her mouth and pulled her lips upwards. "Smile for me, Rose. You're beautiful when you smile."

She turned her head sideways, embarrassed at the compliment, but the smile he wanted to see was on her face. He moved his arms down and lay the across his stomach. "Much better."

She shook her head and looked down at him, quiet for a moment so she could gather her thoughts.

"So…what do you want to do?"

He shrugged as well as he could while lying on the floor. "Anything's fine with me, really."

Rose sighed. "I'm sick of this house. We finally have a day off, and I still feel cooped up in here."

"You wanna go see a movie or something later? I'm with you; this house is totally boring," he grinned up at her, "it'll be my treat."

Rose smirked and ruffled up his hair, causing it to tangle up again. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

He smiled brightly up at her. "Sure am."

She couldn't help the wide grin that took over her face. "Well then, how can I say no?"

He pulled on one of her hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, making her smile grow even wider. "So you'll go?

She took hold of both of his hands and threaded her fingers through his. Their arms were at awkward angles, but neither cared. "Of course I will."

Out of nowhere, the yellow ranger bounded through the hallways, practically jumping past Mack's doorway. The two rangers looked up, confused. She was humming loudly, and it could be heard halfway down the hall.

Rose deadpanned. "Remind me to close your door next time if you're going to be flirting with me. Who knows what kind of spectacle we'd make?"

Mack sat up and leaned against the bed so he was sitting next to her. "And deal with the rumors that will circulate about you being in my room with the door closed?"

She winced. "That could get ugly."

He grinned to her and grabbed her hand once more. "We just can't win, can we?"

She smiled. "It's a challenge. At least it makes things interesting."

"True."

Rose propped her chin up with her vacant hand. "So, what's got Freya in such a good mood? She was skipping."

Mack shrugged, laughing at the nickname. "I don't know, but I'm interested. She was going to Tyzonn's room, at any rate. That might explain it."

Rose sighed, a small frown coming to her face at the mention of Ronny and Tyzonn. Mack, of course, wasn't at all oblivious to the pair's flirting.

The red ranger noticed her frown and smirked. "Don't like the idea of Ronny with Tyzonn, I gather?"

Rose sighed. "I honestly wouldn't care either way, but when she's already going out with Will…"

"It's kind of messed up?"

"Exactly."

Mack hummed in agreement. "I've mentioned it to Will. He keeps saying that he has no idea what I'm talking about."

Rose's eyebrow rose in amusement. "Hah. He's actually in denial about it."

Mack absently rubbed the back of Rose's hand, thinking intently. His eyebrows came together in a slight frown. "I'm pretty sure he knows exactly what's going on. He just doesn't want to admit it."

"He's probably embarrassed about it."

"Probably."

Rose sighed. "He shouldn't be. It's not his fault Ronny's completely controlled by her hormones."

Mack grinned at the pink ranger. "Oh, and you aren't?"

She raised an eyebrow at him and rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

She turned away from him to lean back against the bed, and Mack got an evil gleam in his eye. He pounced on her, bringing her to the floor with all of his weight on top of her. He grinned.

Her breath hitched. Mack was very, very close. She wrapped her arms around his waist to steady herself and closed her eyes, trying to get her breathing back to normal.

He began kissing his way up her neck, his hot breath sending shivers down her spine. She brought his face level with hers and kissed him slowly, her hand sliding its way up his back, pressing him closer. He broke the kiss abruptly, but his face was still close, and she could feel his breath on her lips. She leaned upwards, their lips coming into contact again, and he allowed the kiss to linger before pulling away once again. She groaned. When he spoke, his voice was much deeper than normal, and it gave her chills. "You sure you're not run by your hormones, Rose?"

He was grinning, and she could hear it in his voice. She sighed and took a deep breath. "I'm not as bad as Ronny, running around with two guys."

Mack grinned and replied jokingly, "You'd better not be. I'd have to kick someone's ass for touching you."

She grinned. "You're enough for me to handle as it is. Ronny's definitely got some skills, though, with two guys wrapped around her finger like that."

The red ranger buried his head in the crook of her neck, his voice slightly muffled. "Well, Freya was the God of love."

Rose laughed. "And fertility!"

Mack let out a chuckle of his own, and the vibrations his voice made against her neck caused her to sigh. "Great, that's all we need. A pregnant Ronny."

She rolled her eyes. "Now that would be a sight to see. But I don't think she's stupid enough to go and sleep with Will. …or Tyzonn."

He was still grinning. "Let's hope not. Besides, my dad would freak."

Rose laughed. "And then he'd have a heart-attack. I don't think he's even realized Ronny and Ty have been flirting every single moment they're near each other."

Mack shrugged. "Yeah well, my dad can be pretty blind sometimes."

She motioned towards the position the two of them were in. "Yeah, well I doubt he'd be blind to this. You lying on top of me and all would probably be good hint."

Mack hummed, and the sound reverberated in his chest. "Yeah, well…I'm comfortable."

She smiled. "So am I, but your door is open."

He laughed. "You afraid of Ty and Freya walking by?"

"Well, it would be a little hard to explain why you're laying on top of me."

Mack snuggled closer to her, reluctant to move. "I'll just say I saw a bug."

She grinned. "And to get rid of it you jumped on top of me?"

"Sure."

Rose laughed outright. "You're horrible with excuses."

He sighed and sat up, untangling his arms from around her body. He straddled her waist and laid his palms flat on her stomach. "How 'bout I sat on a bug?"

"Good try, genius, but I doubt the one'll work either."

He laughed. "I know, I know. But it doesn't hurt to try, does it?"

She pushed him off of her stomach playfully and he rolled next to her, lying on his side. He sat up halfway, propped his head up with one hand, and placed the other possessively on her hip. She grabbed his hand with hers and threaded their fingers together.

Rose sighed. "I suppose not."

He leaned down momentarily and pecked her on the lips, causing her to smile brightly. Her smile suddenly turned mischievous. "I want to go spy on Ronny and Tyzonn."

Mack raised his eyes at her. "Really?"

She nodded, and his grin matched hers. He stood to give her a hand up, and she accepted it gladly. The two headed for the open door. Before crossing into the hallway, she turned and grinned at him. "Follow me."

They walked as quietly down the hallway as they could, Rose stopping Mack a few feet from Tyzonn's door. She whispered to him, "Stay here."

He nodded and she turned invisible, making her way through the (surprisingly) open door.

At first she couldn't spot the two, but she head a loud noise to the left of her. She turned and gasped. She almost bust into laughter, but managed to stop herself. Rose continued standing there, staring wide-eyed at the two a minute longer before turning to head out the door. However, her silent getaway was ruined when she tripped over Tyzonn's trashcan and its contents spilled across the floor.

Still invisible, she looked behind her and saw the two staring in her general direction, confused. Ronny took a step forward, and Rose ran out of the room and into the hallway. She grabbed Mack and began pulling the red ranger along with her into a sprint, turning visible halfway down the hallway. They didn't dare look back and see if the other two were following.

The two ran past Mack's room and turned, forgoing the staircase and heading for the hallway with other rangers' room. They reached Rose's door and she pulled Mack inside, slamming the door behind her. She leaned back against her door and slid down it, sighing.

Mack looked at her and burst into laughter. "What the hell happened in there?"

Rose looked to the red ranger and gave him a smirk. "Oh, only our yellow and mercury rangers making out against a wall."

His eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Are you serious?"

She grinned. "Why in the world would I lie about that? It's crazy enough as it is!"

Mack took off his uniform jacket, and plopped down onto her bed. He covered his eyes with the crook of his elbow. "I don't know whether to laugh or be completely disgusted."

Rose shrugged from her spot against the door. "A little bit of both, I guess."

Mack frowned. "So…I guess this means she's officially cheating on Will."

"Unless he and Ronny talked something out and are taking a break or something."

The red ranger lifted his head up, causing his arm to fall down to his chest. He gave her an incredulous look. "You really think they did?"

"Not at all. I just hope they did. For Will's sake."

The frown was back on Mack's face. "Should we tell him?"

Rose's face mirrored his. "I honestly have no idea. I've never really been in this situation before."

Mack laughed. "Never even went to high school, did you?"

Rose frowned. "I was only in high school for a year and a half. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Supposedly, this stuff happens all the time. Dating, cheating on boyfriends, gossiping about it… the works."

"Supposedly?"

He shrugged. "I was home schooled. Honestly, I've never been in this position either."

"This kind of… sucks."

"This really sucks."

Rose got up from her position on the floor and made her way over to the bed. She lay down next to Mack and snuggled up to his side, her fingers curling into his black shirt. She sighed. "I don't think we should tell him."

"You really don't think so?

She nodded. "If he doesn't know about Ronny and Tyzonn…"

Mack groaned. "It'll devastate him, the poor guy."

She hummed in agreement.

A knock on the door edged them out of their conversation. Rose looked up confusedly and got up, ushering Mack into her room's connecting bathroom and closing the door. She hurried to her bedroom door and opened it, plastering a big grin to her face.

"Hey Ronny. What's up?"

The yellow ranger looked at her accusingly. She cut straight to the chase. "Were you just in Ty's room a few minutes ago?"

She feigned innocence. "Why would I be in Tyzonn's room?"

Ronny raised her eyebrows. "You tell me."

Rose managed to look indignant. "Look, I've been in here since lunchtime, working on some research for Mr. Hartford. What exactly are you accusing me of here?"

Ronny shook her head. "You know what… never mind. It must've been something else."

"Been what?"

Ronny smiled slightly at the pink ranger. "Don't worry about it. I'll leave you to your work."

Rose raised her eyebrows, but shrugged. "Whatever you say, Ronny."

The other girl nodded and walked off. "See ya."

"Yeah."

Rose closed the door and sighed heavily, leaning her forehead against the wood of the door. Seconds later she felt a pair of arm envelop her waist and a body press up against her back. "Who knew you were such a great liar?"

She leaned back into his embrace. "It's not one of my favorite qualities, I assure you."

"But it's useful."

She closed hers eyes and sighed again. "If you call lying to your friends useful."

His kissed the top of her head gently. "It was either that or tell her you know that she's cheating on her boyfriend."

"I don't know which is worse."

"I don't either."

Mack turned her around so she was facing him and smiled slightly. He looked at the clock on her nightstand, and then turned to her. "Cheer up. It's three o'clock now...what do you say we leave at four-thirty? I want to get out of this crazy place as soon as I can."

She smiled at the idea. "Four-thirty sounds great."

He hummed happily. "Good. You get ready, and meet me at the garage later, okay?"

She laughed. "It doesn't take me an hour and a half to get ready, Mack."

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Thank God for that."

She leaned up to peck him on the cheeks, then ushered him to the door. "C'mon, get out of here. I really do have some research I have to do for your dad."

Mack frowned. "He gave you work on our off day?"

She smiled. "Nope, it's just left over from yesterday," she laughed as he raised an eyebrow at her; "Don't worry about it, I only have a little bit left to do. It wont take long."

"If you say so."

Her grin was infectious. "I do. Now out!"

He smiled as he walked out of the door and into the hall, giving her a little wave as he went. She waved back, laughing lightly at him. She closed the door and walked over to her desk, picking up a book and taking it to her bed to study.

She looked at the clock on the nightstandstand flashing 3:42, and couldn't help but think that time couldn't move fast enough.