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It was not often they went to parties, but the rangers felt they deserved an evening as normal teenagers after so many stressful days. Even if they were not really fond of the party scene, it wouldn’t hurt to attend to one, who knows, maybe they would even have fun. Zack, Jason and Kimberly seemed like they belonged there, they drank and danced, socialising with people, which left Billy and Trini to just chill out on one of the couches, chatting and observing the stupid things high schoolers did at parties.
It’s a few hours since they arrived when Jason finds himself cornered by some girl that has been hitting on him all night. She is insistent to the point of making the Red Ranger uncomfortable, but luckily for him, Zack was around, and he too noticed how the girl was making his friend feel, he could taste the awkwardness from miles away. That notion prompted the brunet to come to Jason’s rescue. With quicks steps and a cup in hand, he closes the distance between himself and the duo. He wraps an arm around his fellow ranger and offers him the cup after depositing a kiss to the blond’s cheek. “Here’s your drink, babe!” Jason is momentarily taken back by Zack’s odd antics, but when he finally catches on what the Black Ranger is trying to do, he plays along with the scenario. “Thanks, babe!” He mutters and then takes a sip from the liquor. From the corner of his eyes he can see a disgruntled expression upon the girl’s face before she finally leaves. A sigh of relief parts his lips and then his baby blue eyes finally lock with his friend’s gaze. “Thanks, Zack, really!” Jason looks like he wants to say more, but the brunet swiftly intervenes. “Anytime, Boss Man!” With a wink, he then leaves the scene to go fetch himself a new cup since he had to give his to Jason.
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It becomes a habit after that. Whenever they go out, the boys pretend to be each other’s boyfriend to get out of uncomfortable situations like the one from that first party. It’s an easy enough deal. Sometimes they need to get a little touchy before people leave them alone, but it’s nothing they can’t handle, most people were bothered by the minimum display of affection between them, so they never had to actually do anything more ‘believable’ to pass as a couple. Until now.
“I don’t believe it.” The girl has her arms folded in front of her chest, and is pretty intent on eyeing them with certain disbelief. She was the first not to leave right away after seeing Zack hug Jason from behind and call him ‘babe’. It was like she could see right through them. Jason doesn’t know why, but he doesn’t want her to find out they were lying, so he changes tactics and leans against his friend’s broader frame, staring back at the girl that had previously been flirting with him despite his nonchalant responses to her advances. She is still sceptic. “Don’t believe what?” Zack asks, deciding to play dumb as he tightens his hold around the Red Ranger and rests his chin on the blond’s shoulder, gaze never leaving the girl’s face. “That you two are a couple.” She goes straight to the point, and the brunet doesn’t know whether to be bothered or give her a prize for catching on their lie. His eyes finally narrow at her, it sounded awfully similar to a challenge, like she was trying to see how far they were willing to go with their lie. It irked Zack.
Zack doesn’t say anything in response, which should be warning enough for Jason to know that he was about to take drastic measures. The Black Ranger offers wicked smile towards the girl, and before he can change his mind, he slides a hand against the nape of his friend’s neck, but just so he could turn Jason’s face to him. And then he goes for the kill. His eyes are already closed when their lips meet, much like Jason’s. The touch feels odd at first, he didn’t expect the blond’s lips to be so soft and warm. It’s safe to say he gets a little carried away with the kiss. He moves gently, but the angle is wrong, and so it doesn’t go so smoothly. They bump noses at some point, but neither seems to care until the girl clears her throat to remind them that she is still there. Zack is the first to turn to her, grinning sheepishly while Jason can be found blushing in embarrassment, or maybe something else he didn’t want to acknowledge yet. “So, was that believable enough for you or do you want to watch we go at it?” He starts pulling something out of his pocket. “I think I actually have it on video if you want to see right now.” Jason is mortified, but apparently so is the girl seeing as how avidly she is shaking both her head and her palm. “That won’t be necessary.” She finally leaves.
“So, crazy night, huh, Boss Man?” This time Zack is the one blushing as he addresses the elephant in the room a couple minutes later. His arms are no longer around Jason, and their lips are not locked in a kiss anymore, but he can still feel his skin burn where it touched his friend’s. He can’t take the awkwardness his actions brought upon them, so he offers the blond a tight smile and then turn on his heels muttering a “you owe me one” behind his shoulder. Jason is yet to say anything.
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When he got home that night, Zack couldn’t stop replaying the evening’s events in his mind. The ghost of Jason’s touch was still lingering on his skin, but he didn’t want to make sense of that, didn’t want to think with his heart. At his own house, Jason was in much the same state, but differently from his friend, he couldn’t deny it no longer. It was obvious that there was something going on between them, it was more than just bros helping each other out of awkward situations.
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The next time they went out together, Jason had every intention of confronting Zack about the kiss they had shared during their last outing, but it seemed like the universe was working against him. It had only been a few minutes since they arrived and the blond could already see someone with their hand on Zack’s biceps, but differently from all the other times someone hit on either of them, this time it was not a girl. The Red Ranger was suddenly filled with an unexplainable wave of jealousy couple with a feeling of possession. When he reached the pair, it was with a harsh glare upon his face. “Take your hands off my boyfriend.” He carelessly slapped the stranger’s hand away and then pulls his friend into a bruising kiss. All of his pent up frustration and confusion is translated through the movement of his lips, he even goes as far as nibbling on Zack’s lower brim, which feels surprisingly good to both of them.
When they finally pull away from each other, Jason finds himself not wanting to face Zack. There was a sense of guilt gnawing at his consciousness, telling him that what he had done was wrong. He acted on impulse, and sure, the brunet looked extremely uncomfortable under the stranger’s touch, but he had no right to just up and kiss Zack as if they were an actual couple. He doesn’t say anything at first, but eventually finds his voice, and also an excuse to use. “Sorry, I just thought he wouldn’t believe our usual ‘here is your drink, babe’ routine.” He was probably making it worse on himself. “He would pick on our lie easily.” Just like with everything else, it seemed to Jason that Zack had taken the kiss lightly, because a mere few seconds later the Black Ranger was shrugging. “Don’t worry, Boss Man.” Zack grabbed him by the hand and then started dragging him to the middle of the room. “Let’s go dance a bit before we go home.” And they spent the next few hours dancing, perhaps a little more close and intimately than the other times.
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It’s only after a few more kisses that it starts to down on Zack that his feelings for Jason are actually and won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. That realisation makes him freak out a little more exaggeratedly than he should, but maybe it was reasonable, after all he couldn’t tell if the blond felt the same and he couldn’t possibly risk ruining their friendship by asking if Jason was into him. That, along with his tendency to coward away from anything feeling related was the reason why he agreed to go out with one of their local cheerleaders. They met at a café and sat together with milkshake and burgers while they talked. She was very pretty and nice, but his mind wasn’t really on it. He was thinking about Jason and how this girl was most definitely not him.
“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, DUMBASS?” The yelling startled Zack and made his head quickly whip around, so he could look at the super angry Trini stomping her way towards him. He didn’t dare say anything. “When Kimberly said you were out with some girl from school, I didn’t want to believe her, because Zack would never cheat on Jason like that, but apparently I was wrong.” The brunet could tell his best friend was really, really trying not to hit him. “What are you on about? Jason and I are not together.” That earned him a smack upside the head from the Yellow Ranger. “How can you be so stupidly dense?” The cheerleader was looking from Zack to Trini and then back to Zack, and then she pushed herself up, giving an excuse about how she didn’t want to get involved in any drama and left.
Trini was pleased, but it seemed like Zack didn’t share of her amount. “Look what you did!! You scared her away!” He was practically fuming at that point, standing and pointing an accusing finger at his best friend, whom in turn looked ready to beat him into a pulp. “You should not be here with any girls, you should be with Jason!” That made the brunet’s anger deflate a bit, and he actually averted his gaze as he sat back down on his chair. “He doesn’t like me, okay?” He tried to defend himself, chin resting on his palm and head turned to the side. Trini did smack him again at that moment. “You are so stupid!”
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Jason was sitting on the front-steps of his house staring at nowhere in particular when he heard his name being called, causing him to look upward at the last person he wanted to see at that moment. Zack. The blond had been on his way to confess his feelings when he heard from Kim that the Black Ranger had gone out on a date with one of the cheerleaders from their school. It broke his heart, but he refused to show that in front of his best friend, so he went back to his house and just sat down in front of it. It was a good two hours prior.
“How was your date?” He finally asked, feigning a nonchalant tone. It would be believable if he didn’t avert his gaze at the last second, dreading the words that were about to come out of Zack’s mouth. He was sure the brunet had come around to brag to him about how he now had a girlfriend or something along those lines. To his surprise, that was not at all what Zack had come around to tell him. “Nevermind that. Go get ready, we’re going out tonight.” Numerous thoughts flooded the blond’s mind at that moment. He didn’t know what to make of his friend’s orders. Had he been turned down by the girl and now wanted to drink to forget it? That was probably the reason. “Are we going to a party?” He was asking just to build himself time to come up with a reasonable excuse not to go with Zack, he couldn’t simply say no. “Nah! We’re grabbing some dinner and then we’re going to watch a movie like the couples in those books Kim reads do.” Jason was never one to stutter, but damn was he surprised. “W-What?” Zack was most definitely smirking now as he bowed to be at eye-level with the blond. “You and I are going on a date, tonight, Boss Man.” Jason couldn’t believe his ears. It seemed like Zack did like him back after all. He finally smiled. “Okay!”
The End.