Disclaimer: See chapter 1

A/N: Here is the next chapter. Please review after you're done. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Thank you to all of those who have left reviews and who have set up alerts!

Summary: The group meets up at the Youth Center to get together before the trip and discuss details. Kim finds out Tommy's secret. How will she react?


Chapter 4

Youth Center- The day before the camping trip

Kim got out of her car and stood in front of the doors to the Youth Center. All the memories came back to her of when the gang would spend their free time hanging out with each other, that is when they weren't fighting evil on a regular basis. It was here that she first met Tommy the day of the karate tournament. Then all the wonderful memories of their young relationship flooded her mind. They were so carefree and in love. She couldn't believe that she had thrown it all away for what her young naive mind thought was true love. Seth was a great guy, in the beginning, but he was nothing compared to Tommy. He lacked Tommy's charm and compassionate personality. She wanted so badly to take back what she had done to Tommy and pretend the letter never existed. But it did, and it had broken Tommy's heart. Sure, he had moved on by now, but she was determined that she would try her best to get him back. She sighed as she walked through the door.

The group was seated at their familiar table, the one they usually sat at throughout the years. She smiled and waved to her friends as she walked toward them.

"Kimberly!" Trini shouted as she came running toward her longtime best friend.

"Trini, its so good to see you."

"Its great to see you too. I almost didn't believe Aisha when she told me you were back in town, and that you were coming camping with us."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"C'mon, come sit with me and tell me everything."

She followed Trini to the table where the guys were sitting. She proceeded to tell her about Florida and her break-up with Seth, why she chose to come back to Angel Grove, and her future plans for college and living on her own. She hadn't kept in touch with Trini like she had wanted because calling Switzerland proved hazardous to her phone bill. Kim knew Trini had come back home about nine months ago, after the Peace Conference had ended, and that she had gotten accepted to Stanford, where she would be attending this coming fall semester. They tried to exchange emails as often as possible but life kept them quite busy so they didn't communicate as often as they wanted.

No one really knew Kim would be coming home when she did. As she had told Aisha that night a few weeks back, it was very spur of the moment. She had thought about telling everyone but had not had the time. She only had so long to move out of her apartment, and in the end, didn't have the time to call and inform her friends and former teammates of her arrival. She also had not had much time since arriving in Angel Grove. She had immediately started looking for a job, to no avail as of yet. But she was determined not to let that little detail spoil her week with her friends.

Kim took a sip of her strawberry-banana smoothie, while reminiscing with her best friend about all the great times they had back in high school. They caught up on some gossip and had a few laughs at the guys' expense.

"Hey look who's here!" Zack said suddenly, pointing toward the door, happily taking the attention off of him and the other guys at the table.

Kim immediately froze as she glanced up. Her heart skipped a beat or two, her breath caught in her throat. She could feel the butterflies fluttering around inside her as nervousness set in. Tommy. Her jaw felt like it hit the floor. There he was standing maybe 20 feet away from her and all she could do was stare at him with her mouth hanging open.

He was even more handsome than she had remembered. She could see that he had definitely been working out. The muscles in his arms, chest and legs had filled out considerably. Otherwise he looked like the same old Tommy, long hair, those sweet chocolate-brown eyes, and gorgeous smile. It had only been about three years since she had seen him last, but she never expected him to look so…yummy. He walked toward the table with his arm around Jason's shoulder. She briefly wondered where his girlfriend was since she had been informed he was taken, but quickly pushed those thoughts aside, figuring she was probably either not coming on the trip, or just couldn't make it today. Little did she know, she was about to get the surprise of her life.

She tried to get her breathing regulated as he started walking toward the group. Everyone got up out of their seats to greet the new arrivals. Everyone accept Kim, who wasn't sure she could trust her legs not to betray her at the moment. After she regained her composure, she lifted herself out of her chair and started walking toward him.

"Hey Kim, Adam told me you were back in town." Tommy said to her, as he offered her a friendly hug.

"Hi Tommy, uh, yeah I am." Kim said back, leaning into him and hugging him back. She couldn't help but drink in the familiar scent. The smell of his favorite cologne and his aftershave mixed together to form that unique 'Tommy scent' that Kim would never forget. She hugged Jason as well before retaking her seat.

Tommy and Jason joined the rest of the group at the table, engaging in different conversations within the group, mostly small talk. The gang started discussing their trip. Who was riding with who, what was being brought, and what still needed to be acquired. Tommy wandered over to the bar to get a strawberry smoothie that he'd been craving since he'd known he was coming home. No one made a smoothie like Ernie. It was so great that he had returned from his trip and taken the Juice Bar back from Lt. Stone. Jason followed him over to the bar, ordering a soda for himself.

Kim, who was talking with Trini, glanced over at Tommy and Jason standing at the bar waiting for their drink orders. She noticed they were holding hands and thought it was kind of awkward, but dismissed it until she saw Jason kiss Tommy's cheek. Tommy turned his head and responded with a kiss of his own planted right on Jason's lips, momentarily lingering just a bit.

'Nuh-uh, no way! I did NOT just see that. My eyes are definitely deceiving me.' Kimberly thought to herself as she covered her mouth with her hand, absolutely shocked at the sight before her. Trini noticed her friend's momentary distraction and decided to comment.

"Kinda hot isn't it?" Trini quietly said with a smirk, catching Kim off guard.

"You knew about this." Kim's voice was near a whisper, pointing to the happy couple.

"Of course! Everyone knows. Well, except you obviously."

"I cant believe this!" Kim said a bit louder than her normal tone, catching everyone's attention. She got up and ran out the door. Trini got up out of her seat to follow her.

"What's up with her?" Zack asked, looking out of the loop.

"Apparently she had a problem with our little display of affection." Tommy said with a shrug. The Youth Center was one of few places in Angel Grove they could show a slight amount of PDA without harassment. Not that it really mattered, but they really didn't like causing a scene. Angel Grove was not LA after all. Some people were quite 'old fashioned' and frowned upon this type of lifestyle. Tommy and
Jason had learned to ignore it for the most part but never really wanted to make a scene in public if someone had a problem with their affectionate displays. Ernie had found out about their relationship and congratulated them. He had also made it known that anyone criticizing or harassing the couple, or any couple for that matter, for showing affection, as long as it was kept appropriate, would be kicked out immediately.

"You mean she didn't know yet?" Zack retorted.

"We didn't know whether to tell her the other night when we invited her along or if it was best for her to find out from Tommy." Adam chimed in, grinning to himself. Their plan had worked out perfectly. Now he just hoped that she wouldn't be too upset about the whole situation. He, along with the others, were looking forward to Kimberly tagging along on the trip.

"Well now she knows, and she can choose to stay behind if it isn't something she can deal with." Tommy replied. "Not to be rude, but I'm not letting her spoil my good time." He laid his hand on Jason's thigh and squeezed gently, receiving a loving look from his partner. He silently hoped she would be okay with this new bit of information. They were friends after all, and he didn't want her to be upset. But, in the end, if she couldn't handle it, he was not going to let her bad attitude spoil something that he and his brother had been planning for several weeks.

The others nodded in agreement. They wanted Kim to join them, but they were not going to let this ruin the event if she did not approve of Tommy's new lifestyle.


Meanwhile, Trini headed outside to look for her best friend. She finally found her sitting on a bench about 10 yards away. She walked up to her and quietly sat down, waiting for her friend to speak first. She was muttering incoherently to herself. Trini knew she was deep in thought and emotionally distraught. She thought it best to let her friend ramble until she was ready to speak clearly. After a few minutes, Kim stopped rambling, took a few calming breaths and looked up at her friend, who was patiently waiting for her to vent.

"How long has this been going on?" Kim finally spoke, referring to what she had just witnessed.

"A couple of months after you went back to Florida the last time. You know, after you and Jason had been kidnapped and turned against you friends."

"Yes Trini, I remember." Kim said rolling her eyes. That was one day she would never forget.

"Okay, well apparently Jason had a small bout of depression and a major guilt trip after being turned evil and nearly killing Tommy. Tommy helped him work through his guilt, and they ended up confessing their feelings for each other."

"I can understand Tommy helping Jason. Jason helped Tommy after Rita's spell was reversed, and after losing his green ranger powers. That didn't cause them to go off and start kissing each other."

"No, but the feelings have been there for quite sometime. It just took them awhile to act on them."

"So was what Tommy and I had a joke? Was he just hiding behind me until he decided to finally come out of the closet? Because every time I talked to him, he never once mentioned that he was dating Jason. I knew they were living together, but not like that."

"Now Kim, how can you ask that? No, your relationship with Tommy was not a joke. Those feelings were real. And I'm not sure what he felt like telling you, but honestly it's not my place to get into this with you. If you want anymore answers regarding Tommy and/or Jason and their relationship, you'll have to ask them yourself. What I would like to know is can you accept them and their relationship, or is it too much to handle?"

"I don't know, Trini. It's all so…weird. I mean, I'm not homophobic or anything. I had gay friends in Florida. It's just I never would have guess that about Tommy. Or Jason for that matter. I mean, he's like my big brother! Guess that explains why Tommy's 'girlfriend' isn't here."

"Girlfriend? Who told you he had a girlfriend?"

"Aisha. Well, I guess she didn't exactly say 'girlfriend'. She told me he was seeing someone. She just failed to mention who it was exactly. I just implied that she meant 'girlfriend' since I was not aware of this new lifestyle."

"Yeah, but you've got to admit its hot! And they weren't even warmed up yet."

"Trini! How can you honestly say something like that? It's Tommy and Jason for Christ's sake!"

"Because it's true! Kim, you haven't seen them really get into it. How about this, if you can honestly accept them the way they are, and not let it get in the way of having a good time on this camping trip, come with us and just watch. When we come back home, if you can look me in the face and honestly tell me you don't agree, I'll buy you smoothies every time we get together for a month." Trini knew her best friend would take the bait. She also knew how Kim would react once she saw her former beau getting all hot and heavy with Jason. Kim might not think that way at the moment, but once they were camping, there was no doubt in her mind Kim would like what she saw.

Kim pondered the situation for a moment. The thought of Tommy and Jason making out, among other things, at first made her cringe. Her Tommy. The one man she compared ever other man to. The one whose heart she broke but wanted nothing more than try to mend back together. She dreamt of the day she could have him once more. But apparently now those days were over. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that he seemed very happy with his choice. Honestly, deep down that's all she really wanted for him. If she couldn't have him for herself, at the very least she could hope that whoever he did find would love him unconditionally, and heal the broken heart that she had created. And who better than Jason. Her big brother in every way but blood. She knew he could be trusted not to hurt Tommy. They had always been extremely close. It was then that she came to her final decision. It was time move on once more, and let Tommy go for good. But she wasn't so sure about calling their actions 'hot'. This she had to see for herself.

"Alright Trini, your on!" Kim retorted, getting up from her seat and walking back to the door to join their friends inside. It was time to find out where Tommy stood, before she gave him her approval.

When Trini and Kim walked back in they were laughing and giggling like nothing had happened. Kim bent down to whisper in Tommy's ear.

"Can we talk…alone?" Tommy nodded and followed Kim back outside. He figured she would want to discuss what just happened. There was no point in procrastinating.

"How long have you had these feelings for Jase?" Kim asked as soon as they had exited the building.

"Seriously, Kim, if you're going to criticize us, I'll just stop you right now and go back inside. I really don't want to hear it."

"I'm not criticizing you. Will you please just answer the question?" Kim stood in front of him with her hands on her hips waiting for him to answer. Tommy sighed deeply and then responded.

"Okay fine. Around the time he came back and became the Gold Ranger. However, I only came to terms with it after he lost those powers and left. After he came to me for help after Muranthias, I decided I had to tell him, whether he accepted it or not. Turns out he felt the same way, only that he had felt that way before he left for Switzerland, but I didn't know anything about it until the night we both confessed. And before you ask me, yes I loved you and no I wasn't just playing you. I still have feelings for you, they just aren't as strong as they once were."

"Okay, I get that. Wait. You still have feelings for me? How come you never told me?"

"Yes Kim, I do. I always will. You will always hold a place in my heart no matter how callously you broke it. I never told you because you were happy with Seth. After Jason and I got together, I realized those feelings were more platonic than love. I love Jason, and nothing is going to come between us. We were meant to be together, Kim. He and I both know that. I just hope you can accept it."

"I can see you two are really happy together. I want you to know I do accept your relationship. I wanted to know for myself from you how you felt before telling you. It's still kind of weird to picture you two together but I can see you truly are happy, and more than anything I want that for you. Honestly though, I never pegged you for the homosexual type."

"First of all, Jason and I are bi. Second, I'm glad you can accept that we are together. I understand that it may take some time to fully embrace it, but I hope it hasn't changed your mind about going camping. We've all missed you very much, and are looking forward to spending the week together."

"Of course not. Like I told Trini, I'm not homophobic. It's just really weird seeing as we dated and now you are with my 'big brother'. I'm sure after a while it will seem normal and not so weird though. C'mon let's get back inside before everyone starts wondering what happened to us." Kim said with a smile and a slight giggle, motioning toward the door.

Tommy got up from his seat and walked ahead of Kimberly, opening the door for her and then following behind her back to their table inside.

They returned to their seats at the table. Jason gave Tommy a look that asked 'is everything okay?' Tommy nodded. The group continued their conversation while finishing their drinks. They were taking two vehicles, Rocky's Explorer and Jason's parent's Suburban. They decided who would ride with whom. Obviously Tommy would ride with Jason, along with Billy and Trini, who had been seeing each other for the last 8 months since Trini returned to the states. They would be joined by Kim and Kat, this way the girls could catch up on gossip. Aisha would be with Rocky since they were together as well. Zack and Adam would ride with them. They would all meet up at Jason's parents house early the next morning, before driving out to meet David at the rez.

It was getting late. The group decided to call it a night since they all had a big day ahead of them, and many of them still had some last minute prepping to do. They all said their goodbyes, and left to finish preparing for their trip.


A/N: Hope you are enjoying the story so far. Please leave me a review. Up next: We find out a bit more about Tommy, and the boys get to have a little bit of "fun" before the trip. ;-)