"This is insane," Tommy muttered as they stood at the airport ticket counter, each of them with a twin in a baby carrier. "Why are we doing this?"
"Because we need a break," Kim said as he just nodded and looked away from her. He was nervous in a way that he hadn't been in a long time and he was not sure if it was the flight or something else. He knew that she could see it, but he hoped that she would let it go until they got to California. "And it really will be nice to see your parents and the rest of the family."
"You mean the ones who told me to stay away and never come back?" Tommy asked and Kim gulped. Some of the ranger parents had taken it harder than others and several of them blamed Tommy that he had somehow saved himself and not their children. It was hard to explain what had happened to them and Tommy had not been willing to show them the video that they had. The Scotts and the Taylors had not asked if they had any additional evidence and he hadn't mentioned it to them either. It was something that the both of them believed should never be watched again.
"We don't have to see them, but I know Marjorie wants to see you. And a few of the others are really excited to meet Jay and Kira…it's going to be great," Kim stated and Tommy gave her a long look. He was not sure how she could be this optimistic after everything that had happened over the last few years. The way that he was looking at things, it was much more likely to end in disaster. "We get to choose how this goes."
"It's just…it's this sinking feeling…" Tommy trailed off and Kim just shook her head. "What?"
"I'm the one with the sinking feelings in this relationship, bub," Kim joked as she leaned up to give him a quick kiss and felt him relax. Hopefully, it was just pre-flight jitters- he had never loved flying and any time it had to deal with potential ranger business- it bothered him even more.
"How did you get your folks to agree to this?" Julia asked as Brandon just shrugged. He was an out of state student going to college in New York City. While he didn't talk about his affluence, this experience showed it to the rest of the rangers. His life was so different than what they all could really relate to. "No…seriously…letting a bunch of college kids stay at their beach house?"
"I'm the fourth kid in my family…this is what we do for summer trips…plus it's cheaper for them than shipping me off somewhere," Brandon supplied as she just shook her head before she sprinted outside to see the pool and gazebo.
"Thanks man," Axel said as he watched Julia explore the outside with a smile. Over the last few months, he had finally been able to let down his walls with all of them and it was nice to have friends again. Friends that really got exactly what he was going through, he hadn't had that in a long time.
"She's a lot happier now," Brandon remarked and Axel just nodded. He didn't know what to say to him and he didn't really want to take credit for it. Julia had chosen that it was worth it to give him a chance. "You know we all thought none of us would ever have a chance."
"I don't know if I should take that as a good thing or a bad thing," Axel said and Brandon just shook his head. "You're basically saying you and Patrick…"
"Fair," Brandon muttered as they watched Julia strip down to her underwear and jump in the pool. Axel laughed as he realized that they were all getting to see how carefree Julia truly was and he was glad that she trusted them enough to let down her guards. After they started dating, she had explained more about Damien to him, but she didn't talk with anyone else about it. He knew now how much it took for her to be comfortable with people because of Damien. "We both have seen how good you are for her though. You should probably go jump in too."
"Thanks man," Axel said as he walked towards the pool, stripping as he went. He jumped into the pool and swam over to where Julia was floating, staring up at the sky. "Hey."
"Holy shit, Axe," Julia whispered as she jerked up and he wrapped his arms around her. "Did you go change?"
"No…it just seemed like a good idea to join in," Axel whispered as she leaned in and gave him a kiss. He let himself enjoy it for a few moments before he heard the catcalls and slowly pulled away.
"We'll continue that later," Julia whispered and Axel just nodded as he looked over his shoulder to see the other rangers cannonball into the pool and douse them in a wave of water. For a moment, it was nice to just be normal college students and they were all going to drink that in while they could.
AN: Good, bad, ugly? Let me know in the comments!