Left at the Altar

by White-Knight-1988

It was supposed to be Kimberly's perfect day, but as she learned a long time ago, perfect days are rare for Power Rangers, even former Power Rangers on the day they are to be married. Luckily, there’s someone out there who’s more than willing to help.

2. The Rock Show

Title: Left at the Altar

Summary: It was supposed to be Kimberly Hart's perfect day, but as she learned a long time ago, perfect days are rare for Power Rangers, even former Power Rangers on the day they are to be married. Luckily, there's someone out there who's more than willing to help her at her time of greatest need.

Chapter 2 - "The Rock Show"

Original Posting Date: February , 2009

--

Flipping through page after page of paper with a red pen in hand, Tommy was currently attempting to grade as much of his third period class's Geology homework as was possible before the bell rang on this particular Friday afternoon. Normally Tommy combed through each sheet rather carefully, but today was his birthday for crying out loud. The last thing he wanted to do was spend the weekend of his twenty-eighth birthday grading homework, even if he still did not have any plans to celebrate the occasion.

But even though it was his birthday, Tommy could not help but feel somewhat disappointed at the way the day had gone so far. Sure, he had heard from quite a few people: his parents and all three living grandparents; his brother, David, and Sam; Jason and almost all of the other Rangers, including those from the Dino Thunder team and Hayley; but there were two people who had not called, emailed, or sent text messages, yet only one of them was currently causing the bulk of his disappointment.

It wasn't Katherine.

No, either Katherine was keeping a very good secret or she was simply choosing to ignore his birthday altogether. Truthfully, neither option would have surprised Tommy at this point. They had been on particularly shaky ground ever since he had left her in their hotel room with his car keys a month and a half ago; but while the ground was definitely shaky, it had yet to cave in completely. Their relationship was still hanging on somehow, albeit just barely. How it was even possible, Tommy dared not even venture a guess.

Deep down, he honestly did not know why he and Katherine were still together. More and more since Kimberly's wedding day disaster it was becoming apparent to Tommy that he and Katherine simply weren't meant to be together. He just did not have the heart to say it to her face, not after the way she had so wonderfully repaired his broken heart following its decimation at the hands of the same woman whom he had surprisingly found himself spending increasing amounts of time with these past forty or so days.

It had felt quite strange at first, hanging out with Kimberly on something of a regular basis, but the awkwardness had disappeared somewhere around their third round of laser tag, replaced with a sense of wonderful genuineness that could have only been shared by two people who had been through so very much together. They were, whether either of them realized it or not, on the fast track to becoming the best and closest of friends all over again.

Grinning to himself at the thought of Kimberly, Tommy looked up to insure that no one in his class was cheating on their tests, then returned his eyes to the homework in front of him, repeating the pattern for close to thirty minutes before he was interrupted upon hearing what sounded like something rumbling coming from inside his desk. Careful not to let his class see what he was doing, Tommy retrieved his phone and quietly flipped it open beneath his desk, his eyes glimmering slightly as they skimmed across the screen.

Hey you, it read, Tommy smiling after a mere two words. Just wanted to wish you a happy birthday, you big bad 28 year old you.

Quite ironic, Tommy mused to himself, that he had only just been thinking about Kimberly and it was she who had sent him the birthday text message. He fought hard to conceal his grin as he typed out a thank you, complete with a smiley face made of punctuation marks that had taken him a good two minutes to figure out, and then slipped his phone into his pants pocket only to pull it right back out when it started vibrating against his leg less than a minute later.

You're welcome, it read, accompanied by a punctuation face that left Tommy scratching his head in confusion, so much so that he was forced to disrupt his class before he finished reading the message.

"Okay, five bonus points on the test for the whole class if one of you can tell me what a colon, a hyphen, and a capital 'P' means," said Tommy, and all at once the hands of nearly everyone in his class shot into the air. He had his answer moments later, returning his eyes to his phone to finish reading her message as his class went back to their tests.

Any meetings or plans after work?

Tommy furrowed his brow slightly, typing out a "No, why?" as he wondered what Kimberly had up her sleeve. They may have only just started to get close again, but Tommy knew her well enough to know that she would not have asked the question without a legitimate reason. Whether or not she decided to tell him her reason was the real question.

No reason. TTYL Tommy, she replied, so quickly it had Tommy wondering how it was humanly possible for a person to text so damn fast. Unfortunately, for the rest of the period his thoughts were completely and utterly distracted. When the bell rang fifteen minutes later, signaling the end classes for the week, Tommy had only made it through two more sheets of homework, unable to focus for more than a few seconds at a time on anything except what it was exactly that Kimberly was up to.

Tommy remained calm as his students turned in their tests and exited his classroom, but as soon as they were gone he started a mad rush to pack his things. He left the room just shy of two minutes later and immediately pulled out his phone, dialing Kimberly's number as he started the short walk to the teacher's parking lot and his Jeep, which had been returned to him in the exact scenario he had predicted after the failed wedding.

He listened patiently as it rang, rolling his eyes and flipping his phone shut when the line went to voicemail somewhere after the seventh or eighth ring. Then he flipped his phone back open and called her again, simply because the nature of the second text message had him feeling like she was avoiding him on purpose. Just as he started down the steps to the teacher's lot, right after the second ring, his assumptions were confirmed in the form of Kimberly sitting on the hood of his Jeep, looking directly at him.

Even from two-hundred-plus feet away, dressed ever so casually in a white tank top, denim short shorts, and a pink baseball cap, Tommy still found her to be strikingly beautiful. Shaking his head, he pointed to the phone still pressed against his ear, as if to ask her why she was not answering his call. Kimberly's response came in the form of a nonchalant shoulder shrug, followed by her hopping down from her seat atop his Jeep, standing there with her arms folded across her chest in faux impatience.

"You're on sundial and you need to be on stopwatch!" she yelled to him across the parking lot.

Tommy rolled his eyes and laughed, but did not reply right away, waiting until he was a bit closer to her before doing so. "Do I even want to know how you found where I work?" he asked teasingly.

"Probably not. It was pretty hard," said Kimberly, grinning. "You'll never believe what I went through to find you. It's a good thing I'm such a good detective, though, what with there only being one high school in all of Reefside, that is."

"Ha-ha," said Tommy sarcastically, leaning against the grill of his Jeep. "Thanks again for the birthday message. For a while there I was actually starting to wonder if my bad memory had rubbed of on you too."

Kimberly laughed and asked, "What do you mean, 'you too?'"

The smile on Tommy's face was wiped away at once as he told Kimberly that he had yet to hear from Katherine and was seemingly spending the evening alone. Regardless of the way things were between he and Katherine, it still stung slightly to know that he had almost made it through the entire day without so much as a call or text message from her. They were, after all, still a couple, though that term was one he was using loosely more and more whenever he spoke of their relationship.

"I'm sorry," said Kimberly, patting his arm, not really sure what else to say. Part of her wanted to give him advice, to guide him one way or another, but another part told her to remain silent, that it was not her place to be giving Tommy advice anymore. Either way, Tommy's revelation that he had no plans for the evening had played in perfectly to Kimberly's reason for showing up at the high school unannounced.

"So you just decided to get in your car and drive an hour to see me, huh?" asked Tommy, raising a curious eyebrow as Kimberly nodded. His smile returned almost instantly, quite impish in nature as he asked, "Why?"

"To give you this," said Kimberly, reaching into the back pocket of her shorts. She pulled out a long white envelope and handed it over to Tommy with a smile. "Happy birthday, Tommy."

Tommy looked somewhat confused as he reached out and hesitantly took the envelope, looking back and forth between the parcel and Kimberly as if unsure what to do with it. His fingers found the seal and carefully ripped it away, revealing a single, thin black-and-white piece of cardboard inside the envelope.

"What is this?" he asked.

"See for yourself," said Kimberly eagerly; the air of excitement in both posture and gesture was undeniable as she watched Tommy remove the contents of the envelope, scanning his gift with ever widening eyes.

"You're serious?" said Tommy, grinning, Kimberly nodding as he smacked the thin piece of cardboard against his open palm. "You sure this isn't a joke? I mean, I can't…I can't believe you would do something like this for me."

"It's no big deal," Kimberly replied, shrugging noncommittally. "Anyways, I take it you like it?"

Chuckling, Tommy nodded his confirmation and said, "This is so awesome, Kim. I honestly don't even know what to say to you right now. I wanted to buy tickets for this show so bad when they went on sale, but I—" He paused there for a very brief moment, changing his entire train of thought before Kimberly could realize it, continuing with, "—just never got around to doing it, I guess."

"Well, I remembered how much you used to love blink-182 back when we were in high school, and when I heard they were playing in Surfside I just knew that I had to get you tickets," said Kimberly, smiling just because, for as long as she could remember, seeing Tommy so happy had always seemed to have that effect on her.

"Tickets?" said Tommy. "As in plural?"

Kimberly's smile became slightly sheepish as she reached into her other back pocket and pulled out the other ticket in question, holding it up for Tommy to see. "Call me selfish, but I want to see them too."

Tommy laughed as he started to look the ticket over for a second time, this time more carefully than the last. "It's tonight?" he murmured, raising his eyes to meet Kimberly's.

"Yeah," said Kimberly, feeling her smile dissipate a bit. "I mean, I knew I was taking a bit of a risk by buying the tickets without really knowing if you already had plans or not, but I figured if you couldn't go I'd just go by myself and try to scalp the ticket. I guess things worked out for the best though, didn't they?"

"Err…" Tommy started, not really knowing what to say. He definitely wanted to go to the concert, even moreso now that he knew Kimberly was going, but still, at the same time if Katherine did have something planned and he was not in attendance for it, it would certainly cause a major breakdown, more trouble than he honestly wanted to have to deal with on his birthday weekend.

"You don't want to go?" said Kimberly, raising an eyebrow at him.

"No, it's not that," said Tommy, shaking his head. "It's just, if Kat…"

Tommy's voice trailed off at that point, his eyes unable to meet Kimberly's; a good thing too, considering the disappointment in them was visibly obvious. He was trying to do what he thought to be the right thing by not committing to Kimberly, but found out rather quickly that doing so was a much harder process than he had anticipated it being. Even if Katherine did have something planned, the honest to goodness truth was that he simply could not think of a more enjoyable way to spend his twenty-eighth birthday: with a few man sodas, one of his favorite bands, and one of his closest friends. It was with those thoughts in mind that he raised his eyes to Kimberly once more.

"You know what?" he continued, with a half-chuckle. "I'm gonna go. Regardless of whether she has something planned for me or not, the least she could have done was call to wish me happy birthday."

All at once Kimberly felt her disappointment leave, pure happiness and excitement returning in full force. Their relationship was completely platonic, but the thought of spending the entire evening with Tommy was enough to have her grinning from ear-to-ear. He had helped her so much this past month and a half; it seemed like every time they were together, no matter how long or short it was, a little bit of the pain that Jeff had caused disappeared, erased into a land of blissful nothingness.

"Tell you what," said Kimberly, slipping her ticket back into her pocket. "The show starts at seven-thirty and it's gonna take us at least an hour or so to get there. Go home and change, or do whatever, and I'll be there to pick you up at five. How does that sound to you?"

Tommy looked down at his wristwatch before giving his answer; it was almost three-thirty. "That sounds great," he answered, smiling brightly. "Just call me when you're close and I'll come outside, okay?"

"Okay," said Kimberly, nodding. "I guess I'll see you at five then."

"I guess so," said Tommy, surprising Kimberly slightly when he opened his arms for a hug. "Thanks for the ticket, Kim," he added as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

The hug lasted only a matter of seconds, but what little time they spent in embrace was all that it took to remind Kimberly of how wonderful it felt to be so close to Tommy. Right away she was taken back to the night of her wedding day disaster. He had been so good to her that night, allowing her to take out her frustration and anger on him, both verbally and physically.

That's just the type of man he is, Kimberly reminded herself. Regardless of how old or far apart they were, or where their relationship stood at various intervals of their lives, Tommy had always been more than willing to put her feelings above his own, even at the expense of a bruised chest and two equally black-and-blue arms; which Kimberly had deduced to be the reason why he had not brought up his confession of love since that night in her hotel room.

And she was right in assuming this, too. Tommy, of course, still believed that Kimberly had fallen asleep before hearing what he had to say. To tell her again when he was certain that she was listening was an act he simply could not bring himself to complete, no matter how badly he wanted to. To put that kind of pressure on her. so soon after everything had happened, was just not fair to her; at least not in Tommy's eyes, anyway.

Once their hug had broken the pair bade each other farewell. Tommy climbed into his Jeep, Kimberly into the silver sports car parked next to him, and with that they were off. Kimberly followed Tommy out of the parking lot, punching a number into her cell phone as she drove, but not dialing it until she and Tommy, with one last wave goodbye, turned their separate ways at a nearby stop sign. As soon as he was out of sight, however, the phone was at her ear.

"Let me guess," said Aisha, after the line had clicked, "You're going."

"How'd you know?" asked Kimberly, rolling her eyes.

"Because you wouldn't be calling me this soon if he hadn't said yes," Aisha answered with a laugh. "If he had said no you'd still be too busy scheming a way to talk him into it to be calling little ole me."

"You know me too well, 'Sha," said Kimberly, sharing in Aisha's laughter.

"You there, Kim?" said Aisha, several seconds later.

Silence had befallen them for a few moments as Kimberly thought of what she wanted to say next, for her emotions were far too complicated at the moment for her to be certain about anything. "Yeah, I'm here," she murmured, turning onto an avenue called Chestnut. She had no real destination, so she had decided to just drive around aimlessly for awhile, exploring Reefside until she needed to be at Tommy's house. "I can't explain it, 'Sha. I mean, I've got butterflies in my stomach for crying out loud! The last time I felt this nervous about something…God, it must have been right before our first real date together."

"Girl, are you being serious right now?" asked Aisha, the surprise evident in her voice.

Kimberly laughed. "Yeah, I am."

"Wow," Aisha breathed, their conversation falling into a brief lapse of silence once more. "Kim, you know I hate to even bring this up, but can you honestly say that you're more nervous now then you were before the wed—I mean, well, you know—can you? I'm not trying to bring you down or anything, girl, but you and Tommy are just friends, right?"

An audible sigh escaped Kimberly's lips, unknowingly causing Aisha's ears to perk up on the other end of the line. If Kimberly knew for certain where she and Tommy stood, her answer to Aisha's question would have been immediate. Her hesitation, no matter how brief, told Aisha everything she needed to know, long before she actually heard Kimberly say the words.

"Honestly, 'Sha, I'm not sure what's going on between us right now," said Kimberly. "I'm single now, Tommy's not really happy with the way things are going between he and Kat—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone there for just a second, girl," Aisha interrupted. "What makes you think Tommy's not happy with Kat?"

Again, Kimberly sighed. "I can just tell, okay. I can't explain it, I've just…for as long as I can remember, I've always been able to read Tommy perfectly. When he talks about Kat, all I have to do is see his eyes to know that he's unhappy. Besides, how would you feel if it was three-thirty in the afternoon on your birthday and you hadn't even heard from Rocky yet?"

"I would that say he had better have a damn good reason, and even better chocolate and jewelry when his ass got home," said Aisha, she and Kimberly sharing another laugh. "But that's beside the point," she added hastily. "Let's just say that you're right about Tommy and Kat, that he isn't very happy and all of that jazz. What are you going to do? Please don't take this the wrong way, sweets, but from the outside looking in, it kind of sounds like your both a little bit on the vulnerable side right now."

"I'm not vulnerable, 'Sha," Kimberly replied firmly.

"Yes you are, Kim. I know you don't want to hear it, but it's the truth, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone is vulnerable after a major breakup where you've committed so much of yourself to another person. That goes for both men and women," said Aisha, earning a silent eye roll from Kimberly. "Like I said, Kim, I'm not trying to bring you down here. I just don't want to see you get hurt again, that's all."

Kimberly opened her mouth to reply, but shut it just as quickly, forcing herself to take a series of slow, calming breaths before speaking again. Being told how to live her life, no matter how good the intentions behind the advice were, had never been something that Kimberly was very acceptive of. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the advice, she simply preferred to live life her own way, make—and learn from—her own mistakes.

"I appreciate that, Aisha," said Kimberly, after a handful of silent moments had passed, trying not to sound tight. "But I know what I'm doing here," she continued, a lie if there ever was one. "Right now Tommy and I are just friends. Hell, we're still getting to know each other after not being close for so long, and to be quite honest, I think it's going to be awhile before either of us could even really think about being anything more than friends. Plus, I'm not just going to hop into something when I have no clue what I want, especially not where Tommy's concerned. I care about him too much to do that.

"Since we've been getting close again and everything, I've started to realize more and more just how much I really enjoy having him in my life. Even though we're just friends, when Tommy and I are together he just has this way about him of making me feel like I'm the most special girl on the whole planet; like we could be surrounded by an army of naked Playboy Bunnies and he wouldn't even notice. I know it sounds cheesy and lame, but it's the truth. No one has ever made me feel quite the way Tommy makes me feel inside."

"Girl," said Aisha, letting out a chuckle. "It sounds to me like you got a case of the love bug."

"I don't know what it is, 'Sha, and I'm not really in any hurry to find out, either," said Kimberly. "Like I said before, I'm not going to rush into anything with Tommy. For now, I'm content with just spending time with him, getting to know him again. If something else ends up happening in the process then, well, frankly I'm not really sure what I'll do, just that if it does then I'll deal with it at that time. That's as far ahead as I'm willing to think right now."

Aisha echoed her agreement with Kimberly's decision, the conversation turning much more casual from there. They were in the midst of discussing the latest edition of French Vogue a few minutes later when the former Yellow Ranger was forced to hang up upon receiving an incoming call on her work line. Kimberly said her goodbyes and then dropped her phone into her purse, watching the road with a smile on her face and butterflies in her stomach.

--

Tiny droplets of water cascaded down Tommy's still-damp body as he stepped out of his bathroom and into the bedroom, clean and freshly shaven. Wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist, he walked over to the bed, retrieved the television remote, turned on HBO, and immediately rolled his eyes upon hearing his phone beeping at him from the nightstand. He quickly snatched the phone from its resting place and flipped the device open to find that he had two missed calls, a voicemail, and a text message; all of them were from Katherine, all within the past five minutes, the voicemail and text both asking where he was and what he was doing.

Tommy closed his phone and tossed it onto his bed without bothering to return either of the messages, mostly because he was fairly certain that this meant Katherine had indeed planned some kind of surprise for him. To call her now and tell her that he had already made plans with Kimberly would surely lead to an argument the likes of which he was simply not prepared to deal with on the night of his birthday.

Still, it did not seem fair to leave Katherine completely hanging like that. In a matter of moments he had decided that he would just call her before he left, tell her that his parents had called and suckered him into dinner or something like that; coming up with stories on a whim was one of the many skills he had acquired as a Ranger that he would forever be grateful for. Surprisingly, he didn't feel even the slightest bit bad about his plan, either.

Checking the clock on his nightstand revealed that he had just under thirty minutes before Kimberly was set to arrive. Up until he had seen Katherine's many attempts to contact him, the only thing Tommy had been able to think about since leaving school was his impending evening with Kimberly. His heart raced with excitement, while his stomach seemed to be knotted multiple times over in sheer, unadulterated nervousness, the kind of nervousness he had not experienced in many, many years. Very few things had ever been able to make him feel as nervous as a date with Kimberly always seemed to do.

"It's not a date," Tommy reminded himself aloud, heading towards the door to his walk-in closet across the room. "You guys are just friends…just friends."

Tommy emerged from his closet twenty minutes later, looking somewhere in between disgruntled and downright pleased with himself. Acquiring the khaki shorts that he now wore had been like finding a needle in a haystack, taking up most of the time he had spent in his closet, but eventually finding them had led to a very loud cry of victory that Tommy was sure the neighbors would have heard if he had had any of those in the first place. His shoes were of the "skateboard" variety—black and white Vans—even though he had not owned a skateboard since the age of seven, while his black t-shirt stated that it was from blink-182's 2001 Take Off Your Pants and Jacket Tour.

But in his extended mission to find his favorite shorts, he had forgotten all about calling Katherine back. By the time he had finished getting dressed, gathered his personal items, brushed his teeth, and re-styled his hair, Kimberly was already calling to tell him that she was five minutes away and to come outside. Had anybody been there to see him, Tommy's excitement would have been blatantly obvious as he bounded out of his room, down the hallway, and to the front door.

He pulled the door open and gasped, his heart skipping a beat when he saw Katherine standing on the porch, her fist raised as though she had been in the midst of knocking. All at once he saw his evening collapse into shambles; either way he was going to the concert, he just didn't want an argument hanging over his head the whole time, making it impossible to enjoy what was supposed to be a fun, relaxed excursion with Kimberly.

"Going somewhere?" said Katherine, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Err…yeah, I am, actually," said Tommy, scratching the back of his neck as he stepped out of his house onto the porch. "What's up?"

"Where are you going?"

Tommy faltered visibly, opening and closing his mouth so rapidly that a three year-old would have been able to notice his hesitation. "I, uh, I'm going to the blink-182 concert in Surfside," he managed after a few silent moments.

"The blink-182 concert?" Katherine repeated, Tommy nodding his head. "Who are you going to see them with?"

"Kimberly," said Tommy, bracing himself for the blowup that he knew was only seconds away from happening.

All at once the color drained from Katherine's eyes; her normally calm blue eyes became like fire as she started at Tommy with a piercing gaze, forcing him to wince inwardly. The second her mouth opened once more, Tommy became fully aware that this process was not going to be an easy one at all.

"Kimberly," Katherine muttered tightly.

"Yeah," said Tommy, waiting with baited breath.

"I see," she continued, sizing him up with her eyes like a boxer at the start of the first round. "And you just decided to go with Kimberly, completely ignoring the fact that your girlfriend might have wanted to spend your birthday with you?"

Tommy fought the urge to roll his eyes and said, "I didn't ignore that, Kat. In fact, I actually gave it a lot of thought, so much so that I almost said no, but it was three-thirty and you hadn't even sent me so much as a text message. You wanna talk about taking other people's feelings into consideration, well how do you think I feel standing here at five o'clock, hearing from you for the first time, on my birthday of all days?"

"Oh don't give me that crap, Tommy!" Katherine snapped, a confused expression forming on Tommy's face. "And don't give me that look either! It seems like every time I call you to get together you're busy, and ninety-nine percent of the time it's because you're with Kim. What's going on between you two? You're fucking her, aren't you?"

Had a clear sense of respect for women not been instilled in him at such an early age, Tommy might have lost it right then and there. Instead he forced himself to remain calm through a series of deep breaths, while silently wishing that he still had Rita Repulsa's bestowed ability to make his eyes flash green.

"I can't believe you're actually asking me that, Kat. This is me we're talking about here," said Tommy, shaking his head. "The fact that that you're even asking me is just…ridiculous. I honestly can't believe that you have that little faith in me."

"Is that a no?" questioned Katherine, unfazed.

This time the urge to roll his eyes was too much to suppress. "Yes," said Tommy, the exasperation and anger he was feeling evident in his voice and demeanor. "You're unbelievable, you know that? After all the years we've been together, everything we've gone through, you actually think I would cheat on you?"

It was Katherine's turn to hesitate this time. The truth was that she did not think Tommy was cheating on her at all. The question had merely slipped out, and she regretted it now that Tommy had called her on it, but the damage had already been done. Before she could even start to formulate a response, Tommy was speaking once more.

"You know what, I think I get it now. You're not upset because I made other plans on my birthday, you're mad because I made other plans with Kim. Ever since she and I started hanging out again, whenever I even mention her name you immediately start to get weird. If you ask me, I think you're actually jealous of Kim. You just can't stand the fact that there's another female out there who I enjoy spending any considerable length of time with."

"Jealous? You think I'm jealous?" said Katherine, looking quite appalled at the thought. "You're out of you're damn mind if you actually think I'm jealous. I just think it's silly how you seem to be so eager to get your heart broken all over again, because we both know that is what will happen in the end."

Laughing was not how Tommy expected to find himself at this point, but laughing he was doing nonetheless. "Thanks for trying to be my mom, Kat, but I already have one of those. I'm a big boy now, and even though you clearly don't think it, I am capable of wiping my own ass. The simple fact of the matter, whether you're willing to admit it or not, is that you're jealous. Oh, and just a little newsflash for you, Kat; green is my color, and the envious-bullshit look doesn't suit you at all."

The thunderous crack! that followed Tommy's assessment left him touching his stinging cheek in disbelief, staring at Katherine with his mouth agape, wondering whether or not the slap he felt had actually just happened. The burning in her eyes, however, answered his question long before he needed to ask it out loud.

"Cat got the kitty's tongue so you use your claws instead, huh? Real mature, Kat," he continued, rubbing his cheek gingerly as he turned his head slightly, a glimmer of silver sliding its way into his peripheral vision. Kimberly was parked at the foot of the driveway; how long she had been there he was not sure, but he knew it had to have been long enough for her to see that he and Katherine were in the midst of a major argument. All at once his entire face became beet red as he turned back to Katherine, not from the slap, but from the embarrassment he felt at being caught by Kimberly in such a childish predicament. "You know what, I can see that this conversation is going nowhere so I'm just going to leave now. Enjoy your night, Katherine," he added, turning to leave.

"Thomas James Oliver," said Katherine, causing Tommy to freeze mid-step. Full names always seemed to mean business. "You go tonight and we're done…f-for good this time, too."

Clearly caught off guard, Tommy slowly turned back and raised his eyebrows at her. "You're serious?" he muttered.

"As a heart attack."

"Fine," Tommy sighed after a few moments, stuffing his hands into his pockets as Katherine grinned triumphantly. Then he added, "I guess I'll box up whatever stuff you left over here and bring it by your place some time next week."

This time, when he turned to leave it was for good. Katherine did not say anything else, leaving him fairly certain that she was currently staring at his back with her mouth hanging wide open in shock, trying to process the fact that he had actually chosen Kimberly, the friend, over herself, Katherine, the girlfriend.

No sooner had he reached Kimberly's car, opened the door, and climbed into the passenger seat then she was turning towards him with a look of concern on her face. Almost instantly he knew what she was going to say to him long before the words came out of her mouth.

"Tommy, if you need to stay and work things out with Kat I'll understand," said Kimberly. "I mean, she's your girl—"

"She's not my girlfriend," Tommy interrupted firmly, dropping his voice to a murmur as he continued, "Not anymore…and not ever again. Let's go."

Kimberly eyed him curiously for a few moments, but was forced to concede when he refused to look anywhere except straight out the window. She resisted the urge to look Katherine's way as she backed out, pulling away from Tommy's house with a slight twinge of guilt at the whole situation. Somewhere deep down, Kimberly could not help but feel like she had somehow been the cause of it all.

"You okay?" asked Kimberly, deeming three minutes of silent driving to be long enough.

Finally, Tommy looked her way, smiling as he did so. "You know what?" he replied, shaking his head. "I think I am. I left school today with every intention of having an awesome night, at a kick ass show, with a great friend, and that is exactly what I'm going to do. I'm not going to let what happened back there ruin my birthday; and I'm sorry you had to see that in the first place. I felt like an idiot when I realized you were there."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Tommy. We all argue from time to time," said Kimberly, giving him a reassuring smile. "Besides, if anybody should be apologizing it's me, for not letting you know I was there. I thought about honking or calling, but I didn't want to make things worse, then I kind of just froze when I saw her, well—"

"Slap me?" Tommy finished, and Kimberly nodded slightly. "Yeah, well, it didn't feel all that great to be honest."

"What did you say to make her do that?" Kimberly questioned, regretting the question at once as she silently cursed herself for that terrible habit she had acquired from her mother of sticking her nose in places where it really did not belong.

Tommy let out a deep, heavy sigh. "I really don't want to talk about it right now, Kim," he answered, his eyes fluttering shut then popping back open almost immediately. "I don't even want to think about it, to be honest, because the more I do the more it's going to bug me, until eventually I just explode."

"Of course," said Kimberly hastily. "I shouldn't have even asked. I didn't mean to pry."

Turning towards her, Tommy flashed another smile. "Don't worry, Kim, I don't see it as prying. You're just concerned, that's all. That's what friends do, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," Kimberly replied, smiling as well. "So listen," she continued, deciding to steer the conversation in another direction, "blink doesn't come on until seven-thirty so I thought we could stop and get a bite to eat before the show since concert food is so damn expensive. If you haven't already eaten, of course."

"No, I haven't," said Tommy, touching his empty stomach. "I was so busy grading homework at lunch that I completely forgot to eat." At the first signs of a smirk on her face, Tommy quickly pointed his finger at Kimberly and added, "Ah, don't you even think about saying it. I already know I have a bad memory. It's the one thing I can never seem to forget, seeing as how no one ever lets me."

Kimberly chuckled at that as they merged onto the freeway. "That's because you're bad memory is, like, your one bad quality, Tommy," said Kimberly, shaking her head. "It's hard to pick on you for anything else when there isn't even anything there to pick on in the first place."

"Yeah right," said Tommy, with a roll of his eyes. "I have tons of bad qualities."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"How about the fact that I've come out of retirement more times than Michael Jordan and Bob Dylan combined?"

This time it was Kimberly who rolled her eyes as she said, "Oh yeah, because wanting to save the world from being enslaved or destroyed is such a bad quality. Can you imagine, a person who actually cares about other people? God, I would absolutely hate to be friends with a person like that."

"Fine, fine, you got me on that one," said Tommy, laughing as he waived his hands in defeat. "But I still have other bad qualities besides my forgetfulness. I'm rarely on time for anything except work, although I guess that can kind of get thrown in with being forgetful, huh?"

Kimberly nodded. "It is what it is, Tommy."

"Alright, alright," he conceded with a grin. "So where do you want to go to eat?"

"I don't know," Kimberly shrugged, looking his way. "I've only been to Surfside a few times so I really don't even know what's out there. You know the area a lot better than I do, plus it's your birthday; you choose. Oh, by the way, I'm paying and that's all there is to it."

"You know, usually I would argue with you, but screw it, it's my birthday," said Tommy, he and Kimberly sharing a laugh. "There's a Chili's a couple miles away from the amphitheatre. We can just go there."

"Chili's it is then."

Just short of an hour later they slid into a booth at the Surfside Chili's, sitting across from each other in the restaurant's bar area. They had been seated for less than a minute when a teenaged waiter appeared at their table. The young man had barely said "Hi, my name—" before Tommy was out of his seat, dragging their waiter away from the table by his shirt, leaving Kimberly alone in the booth wearing a look of absolute shock.

"Here," Tommy muttered, slipping the kid a twenty-dollar bill. "It's nothing personal, just send someone else over, okay?"

The young man looked slightly confused at the request, wondering how he could have done something wrong before he had even made it through his greeting, but nodded his understanding and disappeared into the kitchen as Tommy returned to the booth and Kimberly's curiosity.

"What was that about?" she asked pointedly.

Tommy smiled. "Nothing," he replied, burying his face in the menu.

Kimberly furrowed her brow and started to say something, but was cutoff as another member of the wait staff, this one a slightly older female, emerged to take their drink orders. Once she was gone, Tommy made sure to keep Kimberly distracted, asking her anything he could think of to keep her mind away from questioning him as to why he had asked for a different server.

They were halfway through their meals and second drinks—a grilled chicken sandwich and margarita for Kimberly, a bacon cheeseburger and Red Stripe for Tommy—when Kimberly made to exit the booth, causing Tommy to raise his eyes towards her. "Bathroom?" he asked, in between bites of French fries.

"Yeah," said Kimberly, standing and pointing to where she had just been sitting. "Keep an eye on my purse, will you?"

Tommy followed her finger to her purse; it was on the seat and as close to the wall as possible, making it a highly unlikely target for any would be thieves, but he smiled and nodded nonetheless. He found himself unable to tear his eyes from her as she walked away, then found himself choking on his cheeseburger when he saw their would-be waiter servicing the table nearest the restrooms.

Stuck between choking and going after her, Tommy chose to deal with saving his own life with the silent hope that Kimberly would not pay close enough attention to the young man to notice anything, though he knew that that happening was equal in likeliness to her purse being stolen right out from under his nose. Kimberly was just far too curious a person not to at least make an attempt at figuring out what Tommy had been up to earlier.

When she suddenly stopped mid-stride, mere feet away from the restroom, Tommy wondered if she had figured it out, but she quickly disappeared without turning back. For nearly five minutes he was forced to sit there and stew, but Kimberly did not hesitate to give him his answer upon returning to the table.

"Thanks," Kimberly murmured, slightly misty eyed. "That was a really sweet thing to do, albeit a tad on the unnecessary side," she added with a laugh.

Tommy felt his face turn red as he attempted to shrug it off casually, saying, "It's no big deal, I just—"

"But it is a big deal, Tommy," said Kimberly firmly. "I mean, the fact that his nametag says Jeff R. is a creepy coincidence, and even though I know I could have dealt with it, just knowing that you were looking out for me like that means a lot to me."

"Err…you're welcome, but like I said, it's no big deal," Tommy replied, flashing her a quick smile. He hated getting compliments or even just being thanked in general; he usually never knew what to say when it happened. "I'm sure you would have done the same thing for me if it had been a waitress named Katherine."

"In a heartbeat," said Kimberly, nodding.

Lifting a French fry, Tommy lazily dipped it into the puddle of ketchup on his plate, moving it around in every direction imaginable. "I can't believe it's actually over for good," he murmured, surprising both he and Kimberly, simply because he had seemed so adamant about not wanting to talk about it before.

"What makes you so sure it's really over for good?" asked Kimberly, taking a sip from her margarita. "I mean, the way you talk about it, it sounds like breaking up and getting back together is pretty common for you guys."

"Yeah, well, she never went that far before," said Tommy, the tiniest hint of sadness in his voice. "I'm not just talking about the slap either. To be honest, we've kind of been drifting apart for a while now, probably a lot longer than either one of us was willing to admit, but what happened earlier really sealed the deal for me. Kat and I…we're just not meant to be together."

"What happened?"

Tommy sighed and took a long drink from his bottle before answering her. "I realized that she doesn't trust me, and I can't be with someone who doesn't even trust me to have another female friend." At the shocked and somewhat confused expression on Kimberly's face, he continued, "She told me I had to make a choice, your friendship or a relationship with her. Considering how dysfunctional our relationship was to begin with, the choice wasn't a very hard one to make."

Kimberly wanted to speak, to tell him how much that truly meant to her, but found that her vocal cords were being quite unresponsive at the moment; so she smiled brightly his way instead, hoping that this small gesture would convey to him everything that her words simply could not seem to do.

And it did. The smile on Kimberly's face was all that it took for what little of Tommy's lingering sadness from the breakup still remained to disappear completely. Then he was smiling as well, finding himself nowhere near as sad about the breakup as he thought he should be. Perhaps it was because they had done it so many times that he had finally become altogether numb to the whole process; or perhaps it was something else entirely, something he could not explain, but that somehow just felt…right.

--

Kimberly accepted her just-scanned ticket from the lady outside the Surfside Amphitheatre with a gracious smile, crossing through the turnstile to where Tommy stood on the other side, waiting for her with a look of visible excitement.

"Man," said Tommy, as he and Kimberly walked side by side along the outdoor concourse, passing booth after booth of every kind of vendor imaginable. "I still can't believe you managed to get floor seats. I've seen them twice, but I've never this up close before. I'm so stoked right now, you have no idea."

"Well, I had to pull a few strings to get them on such short notice, but it was the least I could do after everything you've done for me," said Kimberly, sharing a look with Tommy that said they both knew what she was talking about. "So," she continued, quick to change subjects, "you want a beer or something before we head down to our seats?"

"Only if you'll let me pay this time."

Kimberly laughed and shook her head. "No way, Tommy. I already told you, I'm not letting you pay for anything on your birthday, so don't even try to fight me on it, okay? You'll only make things harder on yourself."

Tommy narrowed his eyes, looking poised to argue, but conceded with a sigh. "Fine, have it your way," he chuckled, nudging her playfully as they entered one of the concession lines.

They chatted casually as they waited, joking and laughing like only the closest of friends could do. It was like nothing was off limits between them; they had been through so much together, knew so much about one another that falling into such a level of comfort was rather easy for the both of them. While both knew that things between them were slowly changing, Kimberly, who for so long had tried to distance herself from Tommy, seemed to be noticing this trend now more than ever.

If she was honest with herself, the whole situation was a bit odd, almost as though they were going through the same process they had gone through so many years ago, when she had shyly introduced herself to the new kid in front of his locker. There was something she just could not explain, something undeniably calming about Tommy's presence that made her wonder why she had even pushed him away in the first place.

Once they had reached the front of the line, Kimberly ordered and paid for two beers at a whopping seven dollars each, causing Tommy to wince outwardly as she handed over a twenty-dollar bill. He took the drink with a smile and thank you, falling back into step at Kimberly's side as they started for their seats once more.

"So, can I ask you something?" said Kimberly, after a few moments silence.

"Sure."

"When did you change?"

Turning his eyes to her, Tommy furrowed his brown in confusion and asked, "Uh, what exactly do you mean by that?"

Kimberly laughed. "Oh nothing, it's just, well…back in high school you would have rather jumped from your Falcon Zord at thirty-thousand feet while out of morph than actually let me pay for something. But the last two times I volunteered to pay, you barely even put up a fight."

Realizing that Kimberly's interpretation of his changing was not a bad thing, Tommy joined her in laughter and said, "After five years of constantly arguing with someone, you just learn when to pick your battles, I guess. Besides, would arguing have really done me any good? The Kim I knew in high school would have rather cut up her mother's credit cards than give in when she'd made her mind up about something."

"I'm not the same girl I was in high school, you know," Kimberly replied, still laughing heartily. It was infectious, and in the few short hours they had been together she had laughed more than she had in the last month.

Tommy smiled, nodded, and murmured, "I know you're not, but I can still see a lot of the old Kim that I used to know in there, and to be honest with you, I like it when you let her come out from time to time."

Blushing, Kimberly could do little more than smile, words escaping her once more as they stepped into the line of people making their way to their respective seats. As they soon found out, however, their seats were not really seats at all. They were on the floor, like their tickets said, but there wasn't a single chair between the two sets of guardrails set seventy-five feet apart that blocked off the floor area from the rest of the crowd, the bulk of whom sat on an incline that eventually led to lawn seating at the very top of the amphitheatre.

Arriving a few minutes into the opening act, a local band that neither had ever heard of, they were able to reach the part of the floor area nearest the stage, only a guardrail less than four feet separating them from where blink-182 would be in less than an hour.

"Wow, this is so awesome!" said Tommy, unable to believe how close they really were.

"Yeah," agreed Kimberly, nodding. "I just hope they tell their usual dick and fart jokes." Tommy's eyes went wide at that, followed by a burst of laughter that forced Kimberly to ask, "What's so funny?"

Trying to stifle his laughter, Tommy shook his head and said, "Nothing, I'm just trying to get over the fact that you actually just said 'dick and fart.' I don't think I've ever heard you say anything like that."

"Like I said earlier, Tommy," Kimberly replied, winking at him, "I'm not the same girl I was in high school."

Tommy's eyes glimmered slightly as the band on stage continued through their set. After a few songs, Tommy and Kimberly found themselves enjoying this little known band quite a bit, but resisted the urge to let loose completely, knowing they would need as much energy as possible come seven-thirty.

Unfortunately, what had been a great night so far turned sour when a fight broke out somewhere in the middle of the floor section. Tommy could barely hear all of the screaming and shouting over the pounding music, and for a brief moment considered trying to intervene, but then the crowd started to push its way towards the front and his thoughts immediately switched over to Kimberly. Without even thinking about it he took her by the arm and pulled her in front of him, putting her safely in between himself and the guardrail.

"Old habits die hard I see, huh?" shouted Kimberly, craning her neck to look up at him.

Tommy laughed and started to reply, but was cut off when something, presumably another person, slammed into his back, throwing him forward and pinning himself against Kimberly. It was a compromising position, their bodies pressed against each other, Tommy's lips just inches from her ear. His whole face turned pink as he murmured an apology and tried to push himself free, only to find that the person behind him was much too large to move in his current position.

It seemed like it had been hours, though it had really only been minutes, when the combined effort of police and venue security was finally able to break the fight up. Free at last, a flustered looking Tommy turned around to see several people being hauled away in handcuffs, and then returned his eyes to Kimberly.

"You okay?" he asked, returning her to her spot at his side once the crowd had finally started to calm back down. "That was pretty nuts."

"Yeah, it was," said Kimberly, nodding her agreement. "It just sucks how it only takes a few drunk idiots to cause problems for everybody else."

Tommy nodded and said, "So you're okay then?"

Kimberly smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, a lie if there ever was one.

The truth was that her heart was pounding relentlessly against her chest, and the butterflies in her stomach had returned as well, exponentially stronger than the last time. In those few minutes that she and Tommy had been pressed together she had felt more of him physically than she had ever felt before, and that was all that it had taken to send her senses spiraling out of control; part of her felt the need to put a little bit of distance between them, and part of her just wanted to jump him right then and there, uncaring to the fact that they were currently surrounded by a crowd of close to ten-thousand people.

Not knowing what to do, she suppressed both urges and settled for acting as normal as possible. By the time the stage lights went out some thirty minutes later the sun had long since set, leaving them shrouded in total darkness as the crowd started to buzz in anticipation for the moment they had all been waiting for.

"I think this is it," said Tommy, staring at the black curtain that now covered the stage.

"Yep," said Kimberly, smiling. "You ready?"

"Oh yeah," answered Tommy, nodding.

Moments later the sound of a powerful bass line could be heard, causing the crowd to scream at the top of their lungs as the curtain was pulled back, revealing the band they were all there to see. The first song they played, a track called Dumpweed, had chorused lyrics that resonated particularly strongly with Tommy when he heard them, especially considering the events that had taken place just a few short hours earlier.

She's a dove, she's a fucking nightmare

Unpredictable, it was my mistake to stay here

On the go and it's way too late to play

I need a girl that I can train

For well over an hour Tommy and Kimberly went absolutely nuts: jumping up and down; screaming as loud as possible; and, yes, even laughing at the plethora of immature humor delivered after nearly every single song, though one particular occasion stood out firmly amongst the rest.

"Hey, Tom," Mark, the band's bassist, had said into the microphone after finishing what was perhaps their biggest hit, What's My Age Again? "Hey, you 'member that time when I came over to your house after school and your dad was all sitting on the couch with peanut butter smeared all over his wiener, talking to your dog like," he continued, his voice going extremely high at this point, "'C'mere, boy, c'mere. Who likes the Skippy? Who likes the Skippy Peanut Butter? Yeah, you're a good boy.'"

"Dammit, Mark, you promised never to talk about that in public again after the last show," Tom, the guitarist, countered, looking embarrassed as the crowd, including Tommy and Kimberly, roared with laughter.

Mark started to reply, but suddenly stopped and turned to a blonde woman in her late twenties, standing on the floor, twenty or so people to Kimberly's right. "Hey lady, can you shut the fuck up please? No, seriously, I'm wearing ear plugs and I can hear your conversation up here; that means it's way too fucking loud."

"Yeah," Tom interjected, pointing at the woman who now looked quite flustered. "Either show us your boobs or we're taking away your speaking privileges indefinitely. Those are the rules when you come to see us."

Tom then proceeded to lead the crowd in a booming chant of "Boobies, boobies!" until the woman who, aside from being loud, was also slightly intoxicated, shrugged and lifted her tank top, to many a cheer from those close enough to see. Even Kimberly screamed and clapped when this happened, much to Tommy's surprise and amusement.

Truthfully, he had been somewhat nervous when he and Kimberly had first started spending more and more time together, worried that they had simply both changed too much over the years to ever achieve a comfortable friendship like they had once enjoyed so many years ago; but the more time they spent together he discovered that, despite the many changes that they had both undergone over the years spent apart, very little had actually changed between the two of them. They still got along famously, maybe even better than before; could laugh at themselves when the other person called them on something; and, most of all, still preferred the other's company to that of any of their other friends.

"Man, that was awesome," said Tommy, finally able to breathe, the band having just walked off the stage for the first time after claiming that the show was over, though everyone, of course, already knew better.

"Yeah, but it's not over yet, we've still got the encore," Kimberly replied, smiling up at him, their elbows touching, hands just centimeters away from where they grasped the guardrail.

Grinning, Tommy shook his head. "This has been a great night, Kim. Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome, Tommy," said Kimberly, beaming proudly, thoroughly happy that he was having such a good time. "Just remember this night come next February, okay? I will be expecting similar treatment."

Tommy was unable to do anything more than laugh and nod, for just as he started to make a retort, blink-182 returned to the stage, the crowd going crazy once more. Again, as he and Kimberly jumped up and down, clapping, screaming, and the like, the band's lyrics struck another powerful chord, this one that had absolutely nothing to do with his and Katherine's parting of the ways.

Because I fell in love with the girl at the rock show

She said 'what?' and I told her that I didn't know

She's so cool, gonna sneak in through her window

Everything's better when she's around…

Was it really love? That night after the wedding he had said that he had always loved her, but this, the feeling he got when he ceased jumping and turned his smiling face to look at her…it was unlike anything he had ever before experienced.

For Kimberly's part, she pretended not to notice that Tommy was just standing there and smiling at her, and then banished her urge to do the same. Little by little she could feel control over her emotions slipping away, her heart and head divided over what to do. Her heart told her to go for it, to let loose and see what happened, consequences be damned, but her head held her back, reminding her of what had happened the last time she had pursued Tommy's heart.

He had given it to her willingly and she had repaid him by crushing it, simply because the physical distance between them had been too much for her to deal with at the time. Could she honestly trust herself not to do the same thing again? Kimberly did not know, and until she did it would be her head that she chose to listen to.

After finishing The Rock Show, blink-182 played one more song, Dammit, and then they were gone for good, thanking the crowd a few times before disappearing back stage. The crowd was abuzz for quite some time after that as they all started to make their way back towards the concourse. With everyone moving in the same direction, all hurriedly in attempts to beat the traffic, that sense of protectiveness Tommy felt towards Kimberly came back in full force.

He led the way through the crowd, maintaining a firm grasp on Kimberly's hand as he did so. Kimberly did not resist the gesture, nor did she take it for any more than it was intended to be. Even though she was perfectly capable of defending herself, it made her smile, knowing that Tommy was only trying to look out for her own safety.

"You okay back there?" asked Tommy, turning his head.

"Yeah…I'm…fine," Kimberly managed, feeling herself bouncing off many a hurried person, most of whom were much larger than she. "God, I hate being so short," she grumbled, eliciting a laugh from Tommy that earned him a glare in return. "It's not…funny," she continued, bouncing some more, shaking her head but smiling nonetheless. "Just for a day I wish I could be tall."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be, trust me," Tommy replied, his hold on her hand tightening when he noticed a few kids in their early twenties nearby, all of them drunk and seemingly intent on being as loud and rowdy as possible. "My cousin is, like, six-foot-eight and all I ever hear is how much it sucks, how hard it is to find clothes and all that stuff."

"I don't want to be six-eight, Tommy," she grumbled. "I just don't want to be five-two."

Tommy laughed and said, "Yeah, I understand, but still…there's nothing wrong with being short. If you want me to be honest, your shortness is one of those things I've always found sexy about you."

Kimberly's eyes went wide as she replied, barely audibly, "Really?"

"Yeah," said Tommy, smiling and nodding.

That Tommy still thought she was sexy seemed to perk Kimberly up quite a bit, as the topic of height was promptly dropped, and remained that way for the rest of the night. In fact, in the two hours they spent driving home, one of which consisted of them sitting in her car while waiting to get out of the parking lot, they hardly spoke at all. Casual chatter interrupted the silence from time to time, but for the most part they were content with just being together.

Passing signs that told them how close they were to Reefside, more and more Tommy found himself wishing the night did not have to end. When they finally pulled up to his house just before midnight he was actually seriously considering inviting Kimberly in for a drink—and only a drink—but decided against it in the end, not wanting his invitation to be perceived for more than it really was.

"Well, I guess that's it then," said Tommy, turning his eyes from the house to Kimberly.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Kimberly, a hint of sadness in her voice that did not go unnoticed by Tommy. "Did you have a good time?"

Tommy grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I had a blast. This has easily been one of my best birthdays ever and it's all thanks to you. I don't think you know how much this all meant to me. So," he murmured, catching Kimberly off guard when he leaned across the car and placed a single kiss to her cheek, "thanks again for everything."

Trying not to blush, Kimberly managed a meager "You're welcome," unable to formulate anything more coherent then that. They said their goodbyes, Kimberly watching intently as Tommy climbed out of the car, made the short walk up his driveway, and disappeared into the house with one last wave. The smile she wore as she drove away was bigger and brighter than a month's worth of smiles combined, and it was all thanks to the spiky-haired man who, in less than two months, had somehow reminded her of how wonderful love truly was.