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.

5. Lost and Found

Title: Left at the Altar

Chapter 5 - Lost and Found

Original Posting Date: March 22, 2009

--

Dragging a black marker across the little white box in front of him, a visibly saddened Tommy stared at the calendar on the side of his refrigerator and nearly lost it right there. The black X, now the thirtieth to join the group, was a constant reminder of what he had given up and the awful, seemingly never-ending pain that he felt because of it.

It had been exactly thirty days since he had broken up with Kimberly, and a more painful period of time in his life he was hard pressed to remember. Not even when she had ended their high school relationship had Tommy felt worse than he did now. The pain in his heart, a feeling that he had expected would subside over time, had only gotten progressively worse with each X he placed upon the calendar.

He knew what it would take to make the pain go away, perhaps nothing more than a phone call, but he could not bring himself to do it, not after what Kimberly had done to him; his pride simply would not allow it. No matter how bad it got he could never go back; the way she had treated him by having him followed was just one of those things that Tommy could not ever see himself being able to forgive, regardless of how much it hurt to do so.

For the next thirty minutes he pitter-pattered around his house with an expression even sadder than the one he had worn yesterday morning, and the morning before that, and the morning before that. Each day was always worse than the day before, it seemed, leading Tommy to question whether things were ever going to get better at all, if the pain and loneliness in his heart would some day go away.

"I doubt it," Tommy muttered in disdain as he lazily searched his closet for something to wear to work.

He was doing everything possible to stay professional at school, but he had not been able to go without some very noticeable changes: his hair, for starters, had not been cut in over a month; his cheeks were rather stubbly; and he had ceased wearing dress shirts and ties, instead opting primarily for un-tucked polo shirts and jeans. The classroom was where it was the absolute worst, though.

Staying focused long enough to teach five classes each day was becoming an increasingly harder task to accomplish without drifting off into a lull, thinking about the woman whom, despite the fact that she had now twice broken his heart, he still loved with every fiber of his being, so much so that the mere thought of her face made his chest ache. He hated that he still loved her, hated the fact that he would probably never be able to truly get over her, but none of that mattered now. His cards had been dealt to him, and now he would have to play them as best he could.

Making it through class today was more of a chore than anything else, but somehow he had found a way to conquer day thirty. He drank coffee and energy drinks throughout the day to insure he was alert, but even then he had caught himself slipping away a few times. Still, at the end of the day, he had survived and that was all he cared about.

As Tommy climbed into his Jeep on this dreary Friday afternoon, the skies gray and threatening rain, he heard his phone ring and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Jason. Kimberly had tried for three weeks straight to get a hold of him, but he had refused to answer any of her calls or emails; she had not tried again for nearly a week, seemingly having given up, but every call and new email made his stomach lurch, thinking that she was trying once more.

"You'd answer it if she did," he grumbled to himself, the most honest thing he had said in quite some time. The problem with pretending not to be in pain was that it generally lead to a lot of lies, and Tommy was no exception to this. He had been forced to lie more than a few times in recent memory, but the truth was that he would answer if she tried again, simply for a brief lapse in the pain while he listened to her soothing voice, though he could not actually bring himself to pick up the phone and call her himself; once again, his pride would not allow it.

Flipping open his phone, he raised it to his ear and flipped it open without speaking, instead waiting for Jason. It took a handful of silent moments for anything to happen, but eventually Jason took charge and said something.

"Uh, hello? You there, bro?"

"I'm here," said Tommy, backing out of his parking space.

"Oh, okay, I must have missed the memo that said the new way to answer the phone is by not saying anything," Jason laughed, although Tommy did not.

"What's going on, Jase?" questioned Tommy dryly, feeling not even the slightest urge to make small talk at this point. All he wanted to do was get home and be alone, to wallow in his pity while everyone else went about their business without him. It was a sad truth, but nothing else seemed important anymore if he did not have Kimberly in his life to share it with.

"I'm picking you up in an hour," Jason replied, pausing as if waiting for Tommy to argue. When Tommy remained silent, however, Jason continued, "You there?"

"What are you picking me up for?" asked Tommy, allowing his eyes to flutter shut for just the briefest of moments as he navigated the streets of Reefside.

"We're gonna go have a couple beers and catch up."

"Fine," Tommy muttered, preparing to turn onto the street that would eventually lead to his house.

"Fine?" said Jason, hesitantly.

"Fine," Tommy repeated, just as blandly as the first time.

"No argument or anything?" said Jason incredulously.

"No argument," Tommy answered, mostly because he did not have the emotional strength to argue. It was as if he was standing next to some imaginary line, knowing that the smallest thing could push him over that line, in turn leading to a breakdown the likes of which this world had not yet seen. Tommy had become a master at the craft of hiding his emotions over the years, but he had never been particularly good at it when it came to Kimberly, and after thirty days of pretending like being without her was not killing him slowly, he knew that it was only a matter of time before that breakdown finally occurred.

Jason did not immediately reply, instead pausing briefly, not quite sure whether or not Tommy was being serious. "Umm, alright then, an hour it is," he announced, part of him still waiting for Tommy to throw up the fight he had prepared himself for prior to calling.

"Okay, later," said Tommy, closing his phone and tossing it onto the passenger seat

A couple miles away from his house, Tommy rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly. Spending the evening with Jason was not what he had planned for tonight, but he was also somewhat grateful for the distraction, anything to keep his mind off that smiling face that so frequently and hauntingly invaded his scattered thoughts.

As soon as he had entered the house he dropped his briefcase inside the door and trudged across the carpeted floor to the living room, collapsing on the couch with his eyes closed, a position he remained in for nearly five minutes. Little by little he could feel his walls breaking, enough so that he was seriously starting to consider letting his pride go by just calling Kimberly. More than once he started to reach for his phone, only for that nagging voice in the back of his head to tell him to stop, reminding him of why he was in this position in the first place.

When he could take it no longer he shot forward in his seat, searching for the remote control to distract him, but it was nowhere in sight. Almost certain that he had left it on the coffee table, Tommy rolled his eyes and stood up, proceeding to walk the perimeter of the living room and come up empty.

"This is bullshit," he grumbled, spinning in a slow circle in the center of the room. Then he looked towards the ceiling and added, "Just one more thing for me to deal with, huh? Guess I don't have enough shit on my plate already."

Eventually his search lead him to the couch; the remote was not under any of the cushions, but upon dropping to his belly and reaching under the couch he felt it, right next to something surprisingly soft. He pulled them both items out and nearly lost it right then and there as he looked down at the pair of pink panties that he knew to be Kimberly's.

Then something strange happened; a smile crossed his lips. It was not big or bright, intentional or enthusiastic in any sense, in fact it was nothing short of faint at best, but it was still a smile and that was something that Tommy had scarcely done these past thirty days. He did not know why he was smiling, perhaps because he could so vividly recall how those panties had ended up under his couch; whatever it was, he wore a curious expression as he took the garment into his bedroom, not really sure what to think now.

Right outside his closet was a box with Kimberly's name on it, containing all of her personal artifacts, or at least the ones that he had been able to find scattered around the house since their breakup. He had thought about returning them, knowing that if nothing else it would be an excuse to see her again, but for reasons he could not explain he just could not bring himself to part with everything just yet.

The moment he dropped the panties into the box atop a few DVD's he was back to being sullen once again, his smile wiped away completely as he drifted back to the living room, flopping onto the couch with ESPN on the television screen. It was a short while later when Jason arrived, calling Tommy to let him know that he was outside waiting for him and to hurry his ass up.

Tommy's motions were lethargic as he made his way outside, to where Jason's pickup truck sat at the base of the driveway. He climbed into the vehicle without a word, starting things off much like their phone conversation earlier that afternoon, waiting for Jason to make the first move.

"You look like hell," said Jason, rather bluntly.

Turning to Jason, Tommy stared hard at his friend and said, "If this is how it's going to be all night, I'm just going to get out now and save us both the trouble."

"I'm just giving you a hard time, bro, relax. Sheesh," Jason replied, shaking his head as he pulled away from the house.

Tommy said nothing. In fact, in the hour it took to drive to Angel Grove, he hardly said anything at all. When Jason asked a question Tommy would answer, but those answers were as short as possible and never lead to any sort of real conversation. Truthfully, Tommy was not even sure why he had agreed to go with Jason in the first place. He knew that his company was likely to be less than stellar, and Jason did not deserve to be on the receiving end of that because he, Tommy, could neither let his pride go nor keep his emotions in check for very much longer.

As the evening was still fairly young, the bar and grill that Jason had chosen was relatively empty, just a few patrons scattered about the place as the pair made their way to a high-top table tucked away in the corner where they could speak freely without the risk of being overheard. Within a matter of moments a waitress had come to their table, and Jason ordered a pitcher of beer and an appetizer sampler, trying to make casual conversation with Tommy while they waited for their order.

Slowly but surely Tommy was starting to loosen up. He was by no means his normal self, but he was now answering questions with more than three word grunts, and occasionally bounced a question back to Jason as well. By the time they made it through their second pitcher Tommy was actually conversing, even laughing and joking when the opportunities presented themselves. They spoke of nothing important, and perhaps that was why it was so easy for Tommy to relax; they had been there over an hour and Kimberly had not once been mentioned, nor had she entered Tommy's thoughts again either, mostly thanks to Jason who was doing a superb job of keeping his old friend's mind distracted.

Even so, Jason had not just invited Tommy along so that they could play catch up. There were things they needed to discuss; important things, things he would not have dared brought up to the Tommy he had encountered a few hours earlier. Now, however, Tommy was considerably more relaxed, and as Jason took an extended drink from his glass he silently prepared to begin his interrogation.

Eyeing Tommy carefully from across the table, Jason set his glass down and said quite seriously, "So tell me something bro, when are you going to stop acting like a dumb ass kid and actually take one of Kim's phone calls?"

For a moment Tommy stared back at Jason as if he had not heard his friend correctly. Then he took a drink from his glass and let out an almost bitter laugh. "I should have known this was what you wanted to talk about all along. Well, congrats on accomplishing most of your plan, but I'm going to have to end it here. I'm not talking about Kim, and that's all there is to it."

"And here I thought you were actually a mature adult," Jason countered, earning a scoff and an eye roll from Tommy. "Face it, man, you're being a baby. You're running from your problems when they all would go away if you just manned up and faced them. Nothing is ever going to get better if you always pretend like nothing's bothering you."

Tommy opened his mouth to speak, but promptly shut it, pausing momentarily before muttering, "You wouldn't understand." Narrowing his eyes, he continued, "Kim had her chance, Jase; two of them, in fact. She broke my heart once and I let her back in, and then she broke it again just the same. It doesn't matter how I feel, because my happiness at this point is predicated on the fact that I love someone I can never be with."

Picking at the sampler platter, Jason took a bite of fried mozzarella and said, "Oh, you could be with her if you wanted to be. You just—"

"No, I can't be, Jase," Tommy interrupted, shaking his head. "Not after what she did to me."

"See, that's what I'm talking about, being immature," said Jason, flipping his half-eaten cheese stick onto his plate in disgust. "All you can see is that Kim did something wrong, completely ignoring the fact that we're all humans and make mistakes. Yes, what she did was wrong, very wrong and I'll give you that, but is it really worth punishing yourself over this much?"

"It's worth it not to get my heart broken again, yes," Tommy answered firmly, flagging down their waitress to order another pitcher of beer. Once she had gone, he continued, "You don't get it, Jase, and I don't expect you to, but—"

"Oh, don't give me that 'I don't get it' bullshit. I get it," said Jason, his patience wearing thinner by the moment. "I get that you're too proud to admit that you're acting like a child, too proud to admit that you and Kim both made mistakes that night. That's right, Tommy, I said it; not just Kim, both of you."

Finishing off his beer, Tommy set his glass aside and asked, "And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe that you overreacted just a teeny-tiny bit to the whole thing," said Jason, with a chuckle. Seeing the confused look on Tommy's face, he added, "As soon as you realized that Kim had you followed you immediately went into emotional mode. You stopped thinking, and just said whatever you felt at the time. You didn't even consider why she did it in the first place."

"You're kidding me right now, right?" questioned Tommy, Jason shaking his head. "Oh, that's rich man. I know why she did it; she did it because Jeff fucked her head up, but that's not an excuse, bro, not even a little bit."

Jason sighed as their waitress returned with their beer, waiting until she had left once more before replying. "No, Tommy, it's not an excuse, but it is a reason, and if ever someone was going to do something like she did…I mean, you gotta admit she had a good reason for doing it. Have you even tried to consider what you would have done in her shoes?"

"I wouldn't have had her followed," said Tommy, through gritted teeth.

"Maybe not," said Jason, pouring himself a glass from the pitcher, "But I guarantee you wouldn't have taken it lightly. If Kim was going to be somewhere with some ex-boyfriend you thought still had feelings for her, how would you feel? Wouldn't you be concerned, if for no other reason than because of what that guy might try? Wouldn't you feel a bit over-protective? I mean, let's face facts here bro, when it comes to being over-protective there's no one better at it than you."

Tommy started to reply, but again found himself closing his mouth before even a single word had escaped his lips. After brooding over Jason's questions momentarily, Tommy finally said, "What's your point, Jase?"

"My point is that you guys are miserable without each other; not just you, but Kim as well," Jason replied, piquing Tommy's interest. "I saw her the other day, bro, and she's falling apart without you. She looked like she hadn't had a decent night's sleep in weeks, she had a bunch of bruises on her arms and legs that she said were from falling off the balance beam," he continued, causing Tommy to wince at the thought of Kimberly taking a fall similar to the one that had placed her in the hospital just before her departure for Florida. "I've known Kim almost all my life, and I can't remember a time where she's been this messed up for this long

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Tommy, fighting off the tears threatening to fall at any given moment.

"Because you're my friend, and I won't just sit back and watch while you let the best thing to ever happen to either one of you pass you both by," murmured Jason. "Whether you want to admit it or not is pretty much irrelevant, but you and Kim are meant to be together. Everyone else around you already knows it, Tommy, and the harder you try to fight it, the worse you're making it on yourself. That's all I really have to say on the matter."

"So you think I should give Kim another chance, bro?" said Tommy incredulously. "How can I honestly be expected to do that when I don't even know if I can ever trust her again?"

Jason held up his hands and waved Tommy down. "I'm not telling you what you should do, Tommy, I'm just telling you what it looks like to an outsider looking in. What you do is up to you and you alone, all I can tell you is that I think you'd be making a big mistake not to at least listen to what she has to say."

Lowering his head and closing his eyes, Tommy rubbed his forehead gingerly and said in a murmur, "I won't reach out to her, Jase." Then, looking up at Jason, he continued, "But if she calls, I'll listen."

Smiling victoriously, Jason stood up and extracted his wallet, tossing some cash on the table before turning to Tommy. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" asked Tommy, hesitantly.

"To meet up with some of the others," Jason answered, turning for the exit before Tommy had time to argue, or for that matter do anything else except stand up and follow his friend towards the door.

It took less than fifteen minutes of driving for Tommy to realize that something was amiss. Jason was driving away from downtown Angel Grove where most of the bars and clubs were, instead heading towards suburbia in the outer limits of the city.

"Okay, so where are we really going?" said Tommy, as they neared the neighborhood where Billy and Trini had both grown up, in houses three doors apart from each other.

Jason looked at Tommy and grinned. "I already told you, bro, we're going to meet some of the others."

"Ten miles away from the nearest bar?" questioned Tommy, raising an eyebrow at Jason.

Nodding, Jason said, "We're going somewhere a little off the beaten path." Laughing, he continued, "Don't worry, Tommy, I promise I'm not going to try and abduct you or anything like that."

Tommy half-smiled and said, "Yeah, I'd like to see you try."

"Don't forget, bro," said Jason, pointing his thumb at his chest, "I'm the one with the muscles and the power."

Rolling his eyes, Tommy laughed and started to reply, but he immediately fell silent when he realized that Jason was stopping his truck. Then his eyes went wide, for Tommy immediately recognized where they were. It was definitely not a bar, nor was it where he wanted to be by any stretch of the imagination. Deep down, however, Tommy somehow knew this meant that the time had come for him to finally stop running from the demons that had haunted him nonstop for the last thirty days.

--

Kimberly's day had not started any better than Tommy's. In fact, it had started much the same; no better or worse, though in a much different location of course. Seated in the leather, high-backed chair in her office, at seven a.m. in the empty gymnastics school she owned and operated, Kimberly stared at the desktop calendar in front of her with misty eyes. It was one of those calendars with different quotes and fortunes for each day of the year, and Kimberly had just torn today's page away and silently read its contents.

The authorless quote read, "Missing someone gets easier every day, because even though you are one day further from the last time you saw them, you are now one day closer to the next time you will," while the fortune very simply stated that, "Today is a good day to make amends."

Kimberly read the words over and over, as if doing so would somehow change the fact that neither of those proclamations was anything she could accomplish. Missing Tommy was not getting any easier, because the simple truth was that she severely doubted if she would ever see him again. Making amends was also downright impossible, seeing as how Tommy had refused to answer any of her calls or emails for three weeks straight. Hell, she had even driven to his home in Reefside a few times, but he was either never home or just chose not to answer the door for her.

She could practically feel the pieces of her already shattered heart breaking even more with each passing day she went without seeing Tommy's face or hearing his voice. Never in her life could Kimberly recall a time where she had ever let someone else dictate her own happiness for any significant length of time, not even Jeff and the ugly demise of their relationship, but a single smile she had not expressed since the night she had made what she knew for certain to be the biggest mistake of her entire life.

How she was even still standing was a mystery in and of itself. She had not slept for more than a few hours in a row without waking since the night Tommy had ended their relationship, and it was showing more than she was willing to admit, both in her performance at work as well as her physical appearance.

Her eyes were almost always red with darkened circles underneath, she had seemingly forgotten how to stand straight and with her head up, and many a bruise spotted her body from times she had lost concentration while doing a demonstration for one of her classes. Overall, life was absolute shit in the truest sense of the word and there was not a single thing she could do to change that fact.

Spending three weeks chasing Tommy like a puppy with its tail between its legs had left her nearly as depleted as the breakup itself. It pained her heart to know that, even though she had done something truly awful, Tommy steadfastly refused to even listen to what she had to say. Then again, why should he have?

She would have been lying to herself if she said that she had not seen this one coming from a mile away. For months she had told herself that she could not be trusted with Tommy's heart, but he had offered it once more and she had accepted it without hesitation, only to turn around and break it for the second time at the first opportunity possible.

Now, as a result, the vivacious Kimberly that had always been so happy and full of life had ceased to exist entirely. Getting through each day was a chore, almost not even worth doing now that she did not have Tommy to share her life with. Truth be told, things had fallen apart so much that the only reason she still had a job was because there was no one to fire her; that and the fact that she had hired a talented staff who luckily were able to keep things running fairly smoothly in her mental absence.

Trudging through today like she had done every other day for the past thirty, Kimberly left her school at five o'clock that evening, climbing into her car while giving silent thanks that she had not endured yet another injury. She was just about to start the car when a sudden noise made her body stop, as well as her heart, in a position similar to those she had found herself in every time her phone had rang since the breakup.

Though she knew in her heart that it never would be, and this time was of course no different, part of her could not help but hope that it was Tommy calling her. Instead, this time it was a number she did not recognize, and so she did not answer it, dropping her phone back into her purse before starting her car up, but just as she was about to back out of her parking space another noise made her stop, this one signaling that the caller had left a voicemail.

She listened to the message with a confused expression, the only thing clear to her being that she had no idea what to think of what she had just heard. Somehow though, for reasons that she could not readily explain she ended up calling back, and it was because of that that she found herself sitting at T.G.I. Friday's an hour and a half later, sharing a table and drinks with the very last person that she had ever expected to call, even more so than Tommy.

After a bit of casual conversation, Katherine took a drink from her apple martini and softly asked, "So, how are you feeling?" Staring down at her margarita, Kimberly shook her head as if to say that she did not want to talk about it. Katherine, however, would not be deterred so easily, her voice remaining soft as she continued, "It's okay, Kimberly, I know how you feel. You don't have to pretend that it doesn't hurt like hell."

"What do you want me to say, Kat," Kimberly muttered, still gazing into the icy green depths of her half-filled glass, "that I miss him so much I have to remind myself not to cry every five minutes? I'm falling apart here, Kat. I've never felt this much pain before in my life…I don't know how to deal with all of this."

Katherine smiled, surprisingly Kimberly by reaching out and taking her hand. "What if I told you that you don't have to?"

If nothing else, Kimberly had at least taken the bait and looked up at Katherine with wide eyes as she hesitantly asked, "W-what do you mean?"

"Getting Tommy back of course. I mean, if you still want to and everything," Katherine replied, watching as Kimberly's presence deflated visibly.

Pulling her hand away, Kimberly looked down once more and said, "There is nothing in the world I would love more than to get Tommy back, but please, don't patronize me. I already know I screwed up, Tommy won't even answer the phone when I call, and I really don't need this to remind me of it."

"I'm not trying to make it worse, Kimberly," said Katherine, absolutely serious, "I'm trying to make it better. I know you think you know Tommy, but you haven't been around him nearly as much as I have. Trust me when I say that he's hurting just as badly as you are. He just…needs to be reminded of what it feels like to not to hurt."

Kimberly scoffed and looked up at Katherine with the faintest hint of tears in her eyes as she questioned, "And just how do I go about doing that when he won't even do so much as reply to an email? I've tried everything, Kat, I've exhausted all my options and now I just have to figure out a way to deal with the fact that Tommy and I are done for good."

"Well then you're not half the woman I thought you were," said Katherine firmly, ignoring the hurt expression Kimberly now wore as a result.

"You wouldn't understand," Kimberly murmured, looking away absently.

"Oh, don't give me that crap, Kimberly," Katherine replied, shaking her head. "Now, you listen to me and you listen good," she continued, snapping Kimberly to attention. "I spent seven years of my life, eight if you count high school, loving a man who I knew would never love me the same way I loved him. Do you know why he couldn't love me the way I loved him, Kim?"

Kimberly was forced to swallow the lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat before answering Katherine's question. "Because he loved me," she whispered, recalling what Tommy had said to her the night of her failed wedding, embarrassed to admit that she had unknowingly sabotaged Katherine's relationship with Tommy before it had even started. "Because he never stopped loving me."

"That's right," said Katherine, leaning back in her seat as she folded her arms across her chest. "Tommy loved you then just as much as he does now. He always has and he always will. Do you have any idea what it feels like to make love for the first time and hear the man you're with slip up and call you by his ex-girlfriend's name?"

Kimberly gasped as her hand flew to her open mouth. "He did that?" she breathed, Katherine nodding. For what seemed like hours Kimberly stared back at Katherine in disbelief, trying to understand what she had been told, until she was finally able to mutter, "W-why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to understand what I went through," Katherine answered, smiling faintly, "Because understanding that is part of understanding why I refuse to just sit back and watch the best thing that ever happened to either one of you fall apart when there's no reason for it to ever get that far. I could hate you and no one would fault me for it, but I don't, and do you know why that is, Kimberly?"

Shaking her head, Kimberly was only able to manage a meek, "No."

"Because you make Tommy happy, happier than I or anyone else could ever make him. After eight years of going to hell and back with him, then for me turn around and date his best friend…he could hate me just the same as I could hate you, but he doesn't, and it's because he knows Jason makes me happy. I can't live with myself, Kim, knowing that I'm so happy when Tommy deserves it far more than I do. You can't give up on him, not now; I won't let you."

For the first time in nearly a decade Katherine and Kimberly's eyes met in an exchange that expressed more than just jealousy over the fact that they had shared the same man. There was a clear sense of understanding in their respective gazes, both of them struggling not to break down and cry right there in the bar.

A sniffling Kimberly rubbed her nose on the back of her sweatshirt sleeve, let out a deep sigh, and then said, "So, uh, what's this master plan of yours to get Tommy back? I mean, you do have a plan, right? Because like I said before, I'm all out of ideas here."

Katherine chuckled. "Oh, there's a plan, alright," she answered, rising to her feet as she simultaneously reached into her purse for her wallet. "Let's just say, it'll all make sense when we get there and leave it at that."

"There?" Kimberly questioned, Katherine smiling and nodding. "Where is there, exactly?"

"There," Katherine repeated, refusing to say any more as she dropped some money on the table and then motioned for Kimberly to follow.

For the first fifteen minutes that they speeded along the freeway in Katherine's black Toyota 4Runner Kimberly tried to further interrogate her, but the second Pink Ranger had proved early on that her lips were firmly sealed, and that any more questioning on Kimberly's part would be nothing more than a waste of breath. Slightly irritated that she was being kept in the dark, Kimberly rode in silence for the remaining majority of their drive, sitting with her arms folded across her chest until Katherine suddenly merged off the freeway.

"What could possibly be here?" she murmured softly, more to herself than Katherine, who just looked at Kimberly and smiled.

They drove another ten minutes or so, Kimberly's heart racing more and more as she started to realize where they were going. Was Tommy going to be there, and if he was did he know that she was coming? So many thoughts raced through her head that when they reached their destination she simply sat there, unable to form any sense of coherency in her mind.

For the longest time she just stared out the window, her eyes focused on the grassy hill that led down to the beaches of Angel Grove Lake, silently wondering why Katherine had chosen this of all places. It was not until Katherine reached out and touched her arm, however, that Kimberly expressed her question verbally.

"My partner in crime thought it would be a good place to start again," said Katherine, grinning from ear to ear.

"Partner in crime?" questioned Kimberly, raising her eyebrows curiously.

Katherine nodded. "Yep," she replied, turning to look out the front window and smiling brightly when she noticed a shadowy figure moving up the hill towards them. "Ah, here he comes now."

Kimberly followed Katherine's gaze with narrowed eyes, staring at the figure until it was close enough for her to recognize that it was Jason who was approaching. Even an emotionally broken Kimberly could not help but smile at her surrogate brother, looking up at him with a thankful expression as he opened her door for her.

"He's down on the beach and doesn't know you're here, thinks we're waiting for some of the guys to get here for a drunken bonfire and that I came up here to make a phone call," said Jason, taking Kimberly's hand and helping her out of the car. Then, without warning, he slid past her and into the seat she had just been occupying, closing the door before she could say anything. Rolling down the window, Jason smiled and added, "The door is unlocked and the keys are in the center console under my CD case. I expect a text message later telling me whose house to pick it up at."

Kimberly turned to look at where Jason was pointing, saw his truck and nearly jumped out of her shoes when the tires of Katherine's SUV squealed loudly, a black bullet shooting backwards and whirling around before jetting out of sight entirely. She stood there for a few uncertain moments, questioning whether or not this was the right thing to do, then took a deep breath and turned for the beach.

She froze at the top of the hill when she saw him sitting there in the sand, his arms resting on his knees as he stared out on the breaking water. The skies had grown even drearier over the course of the day, occasionally sprinkling, though the weather had remained relatively calm in the sense that the skies were only threatening to open up instead of having already done so.

Although she was not a very religious person, Kimberly closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, something that she had not done since she was a small girl. Then she opened her eyes and with one more deep breath took a step towards Tommy; and then another, and another, quietly approaching his side, seemingly going unnoticed until she had sat herself down in the sand right next to him.

"I had a feeling Jason was going to do something like this," Tommy murmured, his eyes still focused on the water. "I'm curious to know who convinced you to come though, seeing as how Aisha and Trini want me dead and all that."

"Oh, so we're talking now?" said Kimberly, a hint of unavoidable bitterness in her voice.

"I asked you a question, didn't I?" Tommy countered, just as tightly, steadfastly refusing to look her way.

Staring at the side of Tommy's head, Kimberly shook her head and muttered, "Fine, I'll answer your question if you answer one of mine afterwards."

"Fine," said Tommy, through gritted teeth, unwilling to admit that he already felt exponentially better than he had in a month just by her being there next to him.

"Katherine," Kimberly answered.

Tommy's eyes went wide. "Seriously?" he questioned.

Kimberly nodded. "My turn," she replied, wiggling her toes in the sand. "Why wouldn't you answer any of my calls or emails?"

Scoffing, Tommy said, "I would have thought that was obvious."

"If it was that obvious I wouldn't have asked it," said Kimberly, simultaneously rolling her eyes. "Now, I answered your question so you answer mine. Why did you ignore me for so long?"

Tommy did not immediately answer, instead staring down at the sand as he attempted to gather his thoughts into something coherent. With a great sigh, he nodded once and gave Kimberly the answer she was looking for.

"I would have done anything for you, Kim, moved heaven and earth if I thought it would make you happy. When you came spiraling back into my life, I wasn't looking for a relationship, but it happened and I wasn't afraid, even though I easily could have been. I wasn't worried that you would move away and find some other guy, or fear coming home to a Dear John letter sitting in my mailbox. I was so convinced that things would be different this time around, but they weren't…after what happened that night, I realized that nothing I could do would ever be good enough to not end up heartbroken. For the first time since I was fifteen years old I was scared of you, but not because I was the new kid and you were the popular and pretty girl, I was scared because I couldn't understand—and still can't for that matter—what I did to deserve such distrust when I didn't even do anything wrong in the first place. "

"Do you want to know what you did wrong?" asked Kimberly softly.

Tommy chuckled half-heartedly. "Yes, please," he answered, throwing his hands up exasperatedly, "Enlighten me."

"Nothing," Kimberly murmured, Tommy's eyes slowly turning to meet hers. "You did nothing wrong except be everything I needed and wanted in a man. You didn't judge me for the past, or make me feel guilty. You were there for me in ways that for the longest time I had only dreamed about. It's not a huge secret that I've had shit luck with guys, but the simple fact of the matter is that I had everything I'd ever wanted and it was me who fucked it all up…again."

"Why?" croaked Tommy, his emotions suddenly threatening to get the better of him.

Kimberly sighed and methodically rose to her feet, holding herself closely as she took a few steps towards the beach, then turning around to face Tommy. "I wasn't ready, Tommy; I thought I was, but I wasn't. I thought I was over Jeff, that what happened wasn't going to mess with my head anymore, but I was wrong. I know it's no excuse, but when you left to go to Ashley's thing all I could think was that it was about to happen all over again. I saw red and I panicked, and I can't tell you enough how regretful and truly sorry I am for it. You deserved so much better than that."

Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, Tommy tried as hard as he could not to let slip what was on the tip of his tongue, but the harder he tried the stronger the urge to speak became until finally he could take it no longer. "I understand," he admitted, raising his eyes to Kimberly. "I don't agree with what you did, but I understand why you did it."

Smiling, Kimberly approached Tommy and extended her hands to him. Tommy took them without question or hesitation, allowing Kimberly to help him onto his feet. Standing just inches apart, Kimberly relinquished her hold on his hands as she looked up at him and murmured, "Truth or dare, Tommy?"

Tommy shook his head. "I'm not playing games, Kim."

"This isn't a game," Kimberly replied firmly. "Truth or dare?"

Sighing, Tommy suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and said, "Truth."

"Did you really say my name when you and Kat did it for the first time?"

Tommy's eyes went wide in shock. "She told you about that?" he asked, his mouth agape as Kimberly grinned and nodded. Staring up at the sky, Tommy ran his hand through his hair and surprised both he and Kimberly by letting out a hearty laugh. "Aww, man, that is so embarrassing. I can't believe she actually told you. I don't even think she ever told Tanya about that. God, she must have been pretty desperate to pull that card."

"Let's just say she wasn't having much luck getting through to me," said Kimberly.

"And that helped?" Tommy replied, raising an eyebrow.

Chuckling, Kimberly nodded and then started to walk towards the water. Instinctively knowing that Tommy was following, she looked back and said, "It's your turn."

Tommy approached her side, falling into step as he replied, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Kimberly answered, smiling up at him.

On the verge of presenting his question, Tommy stopped short when the slightest glimmer from the moon peeked through the dark clouds, casting its dim light across her face. For the first time he saw what Jason had been talking about earlier; Kimberly was physically a shell of her former self, though she seemed to be far more relaxed than he had expected. Did she feel the same way he did, like the weight of the world had been lifted from their shoulders just by being in each other's company?

He had been planning on making a joke, something similar to what Kimberly had said, but the game had ceased being fun as soon as he had set his sights on the dark circles underneath her eyes. Now, joking was no longer an option, so he paused briefly to gather his thoughts before delivering the only question he could think of.

"Does it hurt you the same way that it hurts me?"

At that moment Kimberly's legs lost the ability to progress forwardly. It took Tommy a few moments to realize that Kimberly was no longer at his side, and by the time he had turned back around to face her there was at least ten feet between them. With tears in her eyes, Kimberly looked at Tommy and whispered, "More than you'll ever know."

"I'm tired of hurting, Kim," Tommy admitted, swallowing the oversized lump that had just appeared in his throat.

"Me too," Kimberly murmured.

Tommy and Kimberly locked eyes and stayed like that for nearly a minute, almost sizing one another up, waiting for the other person to make the first move. If not for thr clouds choosing this moment to open and rain down on them, Tommy was certain that he would have been able to hear his heart thumping violently against his chest.

Even through the rain their eyes never wavered, as though they had not even noticed the sudden influx of water attacking them from above. Then something happened; Tommy smiled, and left Kimberly smiling as a result. Words need not be said, for their eyes expressed more than simple speech could ever do, and suddenly they were quickly pacing towards each other.

As soon as Tommy was close enough he took hold of Kimberly's face and pulled her in, kissing her with every ounce of passion his body was capable of producing. Kimberly attached her lips firmly to Tommy's, clinging to his shirt with everything she had, letting out a gleeful squeal when he suddenly lifted her up, her legs going around his waist as she threw her head back and brushed some hair away before continuing their kiss.

It was easily the most wonderful thing either one of them had ever experienced, and when it ended they were both breathless, staring into each other's eyes in a silent understanding. The past was the past, it was over and done with and there was no need to talk about it ever again, because Tommy and Kimberly both knew that it would never happen again.

"I love you, Kimberly Hart," Tommy whispered.

Kimberly smiled and said, "I love you too, Tommy," and then kissed him once more, over and over again as she felt all the pain of the last thirty days leave her body entirely. Only when it felt like her lips would fall off if she kissed him again did she pull away, biting down on her lip, pressing her forehead against his as she murmured, "I can't believe this is happening. I…I thought it was over."

"It was never over, Beautiful," Tommy whispered, stroking her back up and down. "And it will never be over, either. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't make myself stop loving you. I don't want to ever go another day without you by my side, because I know what that feels like and I hate it."

"You're not the only one, Tommy," said Kimberly, pressing a single kiss to his lips.

"Marry me, Kim," Tommy murmured, not realizing what he was saying until it had already flown out of his mouth.

Staring down at him, Kimberly narrowed her eyes and asked, "Are you serious?"

Tommy swallowed hard and nodded, unable to lie to her now that he had already said it. "If this last month has taught me anything it's that my life just wasn't the same without you in it. I've had people come and go all my life, but I've never felt worse than when we weren't together. I love you, Kim, more than I've ever loved anyone. I know this is out of nowhere, that I don't have a ring and all that stuff, but I've never been more serious about anything. I want you to marry me."

With tears in her eyes, Kimberly closed them and shook her head vigorously. "This isn't real," she whispered, holding onto Tommy even tighter, as though relinquishing her hold would cause her to drift away from this dream state and back to reality.

"It is real, Beautiful," Tommy replied, kissing her warmly. "Will you marry me?"

Biting down hard on her lip, Kimberly squeezed her eyes shut once more, only this time she nodded. "Yes," she whispered, looking at Tommy with tear-stained eyes. "Yes, yes, yes, a million times over, yes!"

From his vantage point at the top of the world, Tommy looked up at the only thing higher than him and smiled brightly as he brought his lips to Kimberly's. Once again, after thirty days of pain and heart ache, all was right with the world.

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