A/N: I'm so sorry. I know I haven't posted on this story in like, a year. But I am now, that counts right? For those who have stuck around to see the next chapter, thank you so much. For those who haven't, I understand and I hope maybe you'll come back at some point. :) And anyone reading this story, you make my day just a little happier. g
Chapter Ten: Okay?
Tori opened her eyes the next morning to somebody playing with her hair. She glanced up and latched eyes with a glass-less Cam. A smile formed on her lips without her even realizing it.
"Hello," she said, her voice laced with sleep.
Cam smiled back at her. "Good morning," he said. Tori glanced over at the clock on Cam's bedside table. It read 7:30 a.m. Tori felt herself start to panic a bit as she sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest.
"Oh God, I left Trini alone at the apartment. She's probably worried about me, she's probably scared, she's..." Tori started to get up, still clutching the sheet. Before she could, Cam sat up a bit himself and rapped his arms around her shoulders. He then pulled her back down against him.
"16. She's 16, and I don't know if you know this, but she came out here all by herself yesterday," Cam said, feeling Tori start to relax against him. But, suddenly, she tensed up again.
"Out here? How did she..." Tori started.
"Apparently she followed you here once. Last night she stole your morpher and came looking for Shane and Dustin.," Cam said. Tori let herself relax again as she glanced up at Cam.
"You seem oddly calm about the blowing-of-our-secrets," she said with a kind of half-smirk. Cam smirked right back.
"Last nights events have left me rather calm and relaxed," he said. A blush rose up Tori's cheeks, she let her head drop onto Cam's chest so he wouldn't see it. Like that both rangers slowly drifted back off.
At around 8 Shane, Dustin, Jema, and Trini met up inside Ninja Ops.
"Hunter and Blake are gonna be here around 9," Jema said.
"Oh, well, any luck?" Trini asked.
"Na, we couldn't find 'er," Shane said.
"I'm guessing she didn't come home last night?" Jema asked.
Trini nodded. "That would be correct," she said, dropping down in one of the chairs at the big table.
"Where's Cam? He's always up early," Dustin asked.
"Um, I'm right here," Cam said, walking out of the hallway that led to his room scratching the back of his head and looking like he had just woken up.
"We had no luck finding Tori at all," Jema said.
"I, um, I found Tori. She's here," he said, avoiding eyes as he walked over to the kitchen. I few minutes later he came back out with a coffee pot and a tray full of cups. Just then, Tori came out wearing clothes she had - thankfully - left in the guest room. She looked slightly surprised to see three people there.
"H-Hey guys," she said, avoiding eyes just as Cam had done, as she walked over to the coffee pot and grabbed a cup. Trini and Jema shared some kind of look, while Dustin just seemed oblivious.
"Tori, where have you been?" Dustin asked. "I mean, I know where you were but, why did you go there?" He amended. Tori sighed and sat down.
"I just felt like I was gonna get everyone hurt if I stayed," she said.
"But, that makes no sense," Shane said.
"Everything has just been so fucked up. I didn't want my bad luck to rub off on you guys," Tori said.
"But, Tor, if we got hurt, it would most likely be a result of our own actions. Besides, we're more likely to get hurt split up than together," Dustin said.
Trini and Shane stared at him for a moment, amazed, while Jema just looked like she agreed. Dustin gave Trini and Shane a 'What?' look.
"Last night we thought something really bad might have happened. Why didn't you come home?" Trini said with a hint of worry, but more curiosity.
Tori blushed. "Well, I...um...you see, I..." Tori started.
"Was to busy gettin' bu--" Jema started, an amused look on her face. Trini cut her off by jumping up and clamping a hand over Jema's mouth. Tori's eyes widened slightly and she almost dropped her cup. Jema pulled Trini's hand away from her mouth. "Okay, okay. If no one got it from that display, then I won't be telling you," she said, sitting down at the table.
Shane and Dustin had similar looks of confusion on their faces. By some miracle, Dustin realized it first.
"Oh God, I need to sit down," he said, doing just that. Tori watched the look on Shane's face and couldn't help but feel like she was watching a set of dominos that were going to fall over and there was nothing she could do about it. Cam sat himself down at the table, realizing that these two guys - that were like brothers to Tori - were probably going to kill him. Realization dawned on Shane's face also, and he took the seat next to Dustin.
"So, obviously I'm fine," Tori said with a nervous laugh in her voice. She glanced from Dustin and Shane to Jema and Trini, who both looked very amused. Tori looked back at Dustin and Shane. Suddenly, both boys' heads shot up and they began to glare at Cam, who started moving around uncomfortable. "Wait, why are you glaring at him? He didn't do anything to me," Tori said, finding herself getting a little miffed.
"He took advantage of you when you were vulnerable, that's what he did," Shane said through clenched teeth, still looking at Cam.
"Fuck You. I am anything but vulnerable, and he did not take advantage of me," Tori snapped. Cam remained silent, knowing better than to say anything to Shane.
"He kinda did, Tor. I mean, you were really upset, weren't you?" Shane asked.
Tori sighed. "Not when I came here. I was kind of...happy when I came here. Like, there'd been a little fog concerning that part of my life, and it had just cleared suddenly," Tori said, her voice very calm.
Dustin continued to look at Cam. Even when Shane and Tori were talking. He watched the sliver of realization and guilt pass through Cam's eyes as he thought for a second that he might have taken advantage of Tori without thinking. And Dustin watched as the looked turned into a bit more than slight adoration as Tori said what she did. It didn't look sudden. It looked like he'd felt like this toward Tori for a while.
"Okay," Dustin said, looking over at Tori. Shane looked over at Dustin in surprise and saw the 'I've made up my mind' look in his eyes. Shane let out a sigh.
"Okay," he said. Anger flashed in Tori's eyes.
"What 'Okay'?" she asked. "Okay like 'Okay, I've accepted it' or okay like 'The goat is good, you can have her'?" She snapped. Shane ran a hand through his hair.
"Okay like: it's your love life. You obviously don't have any regrets at this point in time," he said. He would have added more, but just then Hunter and Blake came into Ops.