Chapter Text
Mia has no idea what happened for a few seconds, her mind was blank. She unmorphed herself and looked around. Anyone with right mind would find this situation absolutely ridiculous, the situation, which being Kevin and Jayden flirting and giving looks to her. No matter how much she tried to stop and explain them, it never went passed their glazed eyes. Mia sighed and turned to call Emily, but the situation seems to look the same there too.
Looks like she needs to girl up now, like immediately. She turned to Jayden and Kevin and gave them a sweet smile, "Huh! Kevin, stand by left and Jayden stand by my right, walk closely as we need to go home". They both swooned at her, Swoon!
Mia sighed, she never thought that the day will go like this. She motioned to Emily who quickly did the same to Mike and Antonio and walked home.
Emily fell down on the lounger in the living room with a thud, Mia felt like doing that too but looks like she ran out of all the luck she had cause Kevin is literally hanging down from her side. Jayden silently sat in the sofa and kept pouting her and giving her glazed love looks. Ji has taken Mike and Antonio aside to assess the situation and to find a solution. Mia wanted to help Ji but it looks like Kevin glued himself to her side.
Emily looked at her and asked, "How are you holding up?" and Mia replied with, " How does it look like?" She motioned around her with one hand. Emily giggled.
"What?" Mia questioned. Emily shrugged her shoulders and giggled, "Never seen Kevin this romantic and I never want to!"
"Same"
"Looks like we are stuck with them like this now"
"Don't remind me"
"Kevin, Jayden!" Ji called from one of the rooms, "Come here, I need to check you two along with Antonio and Mike"
Kevin obeyed and started towards the room unsurely, as if someone is going to take Mia away from him if he leaves her. Mia gives him a assured nod to go ahead. Kevin smiles and gives a flying kiss to her and goes away. Mia is gaping, too shocked to react more and she can hear Emily laughing in the background.
"I don't like it!" Jayden exclaims.
"What?" Mia asks.
"All! Kevin hanging around you and doing all those weird things. I should be the one to be doing it, not him. Mia, you should know that I'm a very jealous man. Don't make me jealous and you have to bear the consequences later" saying this he went to Ji.
Mia is too stunned to say anything and stood dumb standing there. She turns to look at Emily who also looks shocked.
"That's..." Emily started not knowing what to say.
"I know..."
"I never seen Jayden this possessive and jealous, actually no, I never seen Jayden talk this much apart from being a responsible leader. Woah!" Emily in shock.
".........."
"Mia, say something!" Emily stood from the lounger and moved to Mia.
Mia, came out of her stupor and sat on the couch that Jayden just vacated seconds ago. She knew that whatever Jayden spoke all was from the Magic that Nighlok gave but she couldn't shake herself from the thought of possessive Jayden, the Red Ranger whom she cared as friend and maybe more would ever say something like that. She always has some attraction over him which started when she begun training with him and when discussing the team strategies but she never let herself involved deeper than the affections and feelings she had for him. She kept it with herself and treated him the same as everyone. Even when they paired off and played a role as a couple to get married, not only once but twice, she kept it to herself and let herself to stop hoping. She loved his mind and fell more for his golden heart, but she kept all things to herself as she knows that her feelings will only give her pain and unnecessary drama in the end, that's what she told herself. But, she can feel all those feelings coming back to her with full force even knowing that he is under the spell of the stupid Nighlok.
Emily called her and tapped on her shoulder asking if she is okay. Mia doesn't know what to reply her with so she just smiled at her.
"Everything will be okay!" Emily assured her.
She hopes the same. Ji came out at the same minute, giving them both looks, which can be later named as embarrassment to hear about the girls being described as all type of romantic things by the boys inside.
Ji cleared his throat, "It will be very difficult to let the boys near both of you, so I gave them some sleeping pills, so they are rested now. But, I can't find a single solution, so I will be in the library looking for solutions, if you need me, come find me there" with that he left as soon as possible from there.
Emily and Mia looked at each other and shrugged, went to their respective rooms to rest up.
Mia woke up in the middle of the night, sweating and panting looking around for the potential danger and relaxed when she saw that she is in her room. She sighed and got up from her bed shaking the nightmare away from her body and from her senses and moved to the kitchen for some midnight snacks. Mia usually deals with her nightmare with some food after, she realized that eating helps and soothes her. She turned around and bumped into someone with a "oof", rubbing her nose and looked up to see Jayden standing there with a look she can't identify on him.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" questioned Mia.
"I can't sleep" shrugged Jayden and gave her a once over from top to bottom. Mia bit her lip from blushing, Jayden is giving her new feelings that she didn't know how to handle.
"Well, you need to rest well, so you can start training again tomorrow" replied Mia, with a tone of commanding hoping to any god that Jayden listens to her and leave her and her heart alone, she can handle only just much. Jayden tilted his head to his right and looked at her with this what she will call as 'piercing' gaze. He came close to her and tapped her forehead with his hand and kissed her forehead and returned to his room.
Mia, for well, she is stunned! She felt her cheeks grow hot and heart beat increase. She let herself to smile and hummed and moved inside the kitchen to drink water and cool herself down. She never knew Jayden had this in him, well no one knew Jayden well as Ji and even he seems to be confused about his behavior. She let herself dance around a bit, cause she can do it! Only while returning she remembered that Jayden is not himself and he is bewitched by some Nighlok to romanticize Mia, just like that she felt her hopes die. She sighed, she couldn't help her beating for this guy who would never look at her the way she wanted. She climbed into her bed and covered herself and let herself cry to sleep.
The next morning, it was even more crazy than yesterday. Mike was extra energetic around Emily and keeps lifting her which makes Antonio furious who goes to fight with Mike. Ji has to literally tie them down. Jayden is quiet but keeps giving Mia looks and Kevin is Kevin hanging around her arm. Overall, what was supposed to be a intense training didn't go well at all, which made Ji to ban Mia and Emily from the training ground.
Mia and Emily were lazing around the living room when Emily said, "I definitely feel weird with all those happening but I feel like Mike's emotions are stronger than Antonio, I don't know why but there is something strong in Mike, that I can't grasp it at all. Maybe I'm overthinking maybe I'm not but it's still hard to understand. I know I have feelings for Mike but I also know that it will never be reciprocated since he sees me as a friend and all, still I can't help thinking"
Mia rolled her eyes at Emily's obliviousness at Mike's feeling towards and said, "Then stop thinking and focus on how to cure these boys"
"You're right, I need to stop thinking"
"I'm always right" which earned a pillow smacking at her head. Mia laughed. She stood and went to Kitchen to make some coffee, she saw Jayden in the kitchen making some coffee, she didn't know how to react. She saw him looking up to see her, so she simply waved at him and moved around him to make some coffee for herself.
"If you want I can make you some" Jayden asked. Mia shook her head.
"I need to clear my head, so I will need a light coffee that I made for myself" Jayden chuckled.
"Yeah, I know you always say that and end up with a black coffee"
"There's is nothing wrong in that" Mia defended herself. She never had these type of small talks about mundane things before with Jayden but it feels nice to talk about it.
"I never said it is wrong" Jayden pulled is hand in a surrender mode and replied "I'm just pointing out things and you know you can always talk to me whenever you feel down, right?
Mia was stunned for few seconds and blinked fast. She thought Jayden forgot about yesterday's event but it seems like it bothered him and spoke about it to check on her if she's doing okay. The boys have forgotten the events prior to the fight they had with Nighlok and rambled about anything to everything, but Jayden as usual was quiet and didn't interact much, she thought of nothing then but seeing him standing in front of her and questioning about her well being, she couldn't help but admire his will and strength in taking care of everyone even when his mind his clouded with the that bloody magic. Her heart could not help but leap at that concern.
Mia avoided his eyes and replied, "I'm fine, don't worry"
Jayden is still staring at her with his intense eyes and she didn't know what to do, hoping to god that he won't see through her and figure out her inner turmoil. She turned around the countertop and worked on making her coffee, she can feel his eyes on her back. She finished her coffee and turned around to see Jayden still staring at openly as if that would give him all the answers he needed. Mia composed herself and raised her eyebrows in questioning. He shrugged and kept his coffee in the nearby table and moved towards her.
Mia watched this in slow motion, him coming towards her and him looking at her with a genuine curiosity and then him hugging her to himself tightly and him keeping his head on top of hers. Mia stood in silence for a minute, she can hear her own heart beating loudly and hoped to god that Jayden doesn't notice it. She felt her hands tremble and returned the hug, she felt warm and safe. She closed her eyes and enjoyed being in his arms and she will never admit it out loud but his arms felt like home and when the realization striked in, she felt relaxed and a heavy lead was taken off her shoulders, she hadn't realized that she missed being comforted or protected. She knew what she was missing before and she knew that being in Jayden's arms felt like heaven. She hugged him tightly and he responded the same. Jayden must have known what she was thing because he pulled from her and looked at her with his intense eyes and smiled, a warm smile and kissed her forehead again just like last night. Mia can feel her eyes starting to tear up so she quickly blinked and stood up in her toes and kissed his cheek. She knows that whatever Jayden did now was the effect of that bloody magic nut she can't help herself feeling happy. She's not sure if Jayden will remember anything of this after he's cured but she will keep this moment, a wonderful moment close to her heart. She closed the gap between them and hugged him again, she felt his arms come around her.
Suddenly, Mia was pulled apart from Jayden and before she can process what's happening she saw that Kevin punch Jayden. Mia was shocked and put herself between them and pushed Kevin away from Jayden before a fight begins.
"What are you thinking that you're doing, Kevin"? Mia exclaimed. She can feel Jayden standing close behind her, to fight back if needed. She can feel him breathing hardly with a controlled rage. She looked up to see Kevin glaring at Jayden.
"Kevin!" She called again. Kevin focused on her and in a blink his rage is gone and he looked at her like a puppy would. Kevin raised his hand to touch her, looking at her with his puppy eyes. She can feel Jayden going stiff behind her, before she can finish thinking, Ji and Emily walked in. Ji took in the situation and took Kevin by his arms and took him out motioning her to do the same with Jayden. Jayden stormed off immediately without even turning back. Mia sighed and looked down, she noticed that her coffee is gone and the cup is broken. She bent down and picked up the broken pieces and put them in the bin. Emily kept silent and was staring at her. When Mia finished cleaning and turned to face Emily, she hugged her. Mia hugged her back. She quite liked when people hugged her.
"Are you okay?" Emily questioned. Mia shrugged her shoulders.
"It could have ended badly, nothing happened except Jayden with a wounded jaw"
"I know, I will go and treat his wound, will you be okay?" Emily questioned. She nodded again not able to speak. Emily left the kitchen to Jayden's room.
Mia returned to her room to curl and read a book and not think of anything else when Ji knocked on her door, she let him in.
"I'm sorry, you're caught between these two" Ji said.
"Don't be sorry Ji, these things happen when we are protecting the world from the evil" Mia shrugged but deep down she knew how tiring this love magic is. Ji gave her a knowing look and patted her head.
"You know Jayden never shows his feelings, he keeps them inside, even if he is worried for his team, whatever it is he always keeps it inside. But to see him show emotions like that is quite endearing, in a good way"
"But he is doing these things influenced by what the monster did" Mia said, hiding the fact that whenever she remembers that Jayden did all those things to her because of a what monster did, that she is hurt.
"I know, but who knows after all those things gone, we can see a changed Jayden" Ji gave her a knowing look. She didn't want to analyze what he is implying, she is too tired handling her feelings.
"Maybe" she shrugged. Ji sighed and patted her head once again and left the room. Mia fell back on her bed and decided to take a nap. She put all her feelings inside a mental box and closed her eyes. She heard the alarm go off and groaned. She ran to the living room to see everyone assembled and Ji pointed out the location. Everyone ran out to the said location.
Arriving at the location she saw the monster is trapping everyone around in the same manner as yesterday. They morphed themselves and ran towards the monster while Jayden giving them instructions. They started fighting and the moogers tried to attacked them. Mia fought very diligently, Jayden and Mike were fighting with the Nighlok.
When the moogers were gone, all of them together attacked the Nighlok and defeated it. The defeat of the Nighlok should have released some magic because whoever were attacked by the previous magic were cured. Mia immediately looked at Jayden who was already looking at Mia, they stared at each other and Jayden swiftly turned and started speaking with Antonio as if nothing happened. She saw Kevin walking to her looking sheepish, she didn't want this conversation to happen now but as fate would have it, Kevin came and stood beside her looking everywhere and not her, clearly embarrassed.
"Kevin...." Mia started, he cut her off and started speaking.
"No, I'm sorry, really sorry. I behaved like a proper idiot and you don't deserve it. Don't look at me like that I can clearly remember what I did. I'm sorry Mia, I still want to be your friend, a good friend. Please!" Kevin pleaded in the end. Mia looked at him and gave a small smile. She beckoned for a hug and he obliged. She can really tell that Kevin felt bad for putting her in that situation.
"It's alright. I think it's high time you go apologize properly to Jayden for punching him, you know" Mia gave him a look that stated don't fight me in this.
Kevin gave a embarrassed laugh and said, "Yeah, I should, I can't believe I punched him".
'Me neither' thought Mia, as she saw Kevin go and talk to Jayden. She turned away from them and went to Emily. She didn't know what to think about Kevin's statement that he remembered everything, she definetly didn't want to think about the things she and Jayden shared, nope. She shook her head slightly and headed back to home with Emily. Both were silent and walked ahead of the boys with a lot in their mind.
Mia couldn't sleep, all her thoughts were muddled, so went to the training area and started training to clear her mind, in the middle of the night. Everyone's sleeping, after returning home Ji gave all the boys a hug and provided them clear details about what happened. Emily and Mia were told to give the boys some to rebuild themselves. They both readily agreed and left them alone, all this time Mia avoided Jayden. Emily told her that she has started having feelings for Mike, well Mia obviously rolled her eyes but kept quiet and gave her assurance that everything will be okay. She felt happy atleast Emily and Mike are getting a happy feelings with each other without any magic. She was so into thinking about the day that she didn't notice someone entering the room.
"Mia..." She started and turned around to see Jayden looking at her curiously and suddenly Mia had a short deja vu.
"What? Is everything alright?" Mia quickly recovered.
Jayden raised his eyebrows but didn't answer, instead he quickly walked to her hugged her. Mia was shocked, really shocked. She stood still not knowing what to do. She can hear her own heartbeat along with Jayden matching the pace. She slowly raised her arms to hug him, which he responded back with hugging her tightly.
"Umm... Jayden, is everything okay?" She asked again. In response, Jayden turned his head towards her neck and hugged her even more closer to him and nuzzled. Mia felt her breath hitch when she felt his lips touching her neck. The new sensations that she is experiencing is different and good. She closed her eyes and savored the moment. What felt like eternity but very short moments Jayden pulled back from her and looked at her. She didn't know what to expect or what to say. Looks like Jayden has lots in mind cause he started to speak.
"Mia, you very well know I'm not good at expressing myself. I never had anyone apart from Ji to share anything in my life. Then, you guys came along and changed my entire belief system, especially, you. I never knew someone who could be so patient and understanding with others and empathize with them but you do that like you breathe, taking care of everyone without thinking about yourself. I wanted to help you, understand you, that's why I always stood by you, listened to you. Yesterday, when you spaced off and didn't hear me calling you, I was worried, that we pushed you too far and even after that you stayed the same and avoided me. Then the monster attack happened and everything happened then, I realized my true feelings, even when I was under the love spell, I can recognize my feelings. I could differentiate between the real and the reel. I realized I was jealous of Kevin when he was hanging from your arm or when he turned that love filled look at you, I couldn't control myself, I know half of them are due to the love spell but still, my own feelings were also there. Whatever happened between us from yesterday, you should know that they were real from my end. I want to be with you, I want to comfort you, I want to hold you when you are down and I want to be there when you're happy, sad, overwhelmed, angry, hurt, joy, every single thing. I'm not expecting anything back from you but this how I felt and I want to take a page from your life and chose to be open about my feelings for you. I like you, Mia. More than like, I'm sure I've fallen in love with you"
After saying this, Jayden looked at her, looking for some assurance that he hasn't destroyed whatever they had. Mia, for her part was speechless, never in her wildest dreams she imagined that Jayden liked her, no scratch that, loved her too. She realized that he is still waiting for her response, feeling like a fool, she decided what to do.
She pulled him by his collar and kissed him on his lips and looked at him with a smile, "You should know that, from now on you should start sharing how you feel to me, I quite like it when you share how you feel. Oh, I love you too!"
Jayden gave a short happy laugh and puller closer and kissed her properly. Mia sighed into the kiss.