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“Hey, Trini, wait up!” Kimberly’s voice manages to take Trini away from her intrusive thoughts. She stops walking, not even looking at the other girl, and Kim catches up to her a few seconds later.
Trini doesn’t know what to expect from the girl. Sure, they’re friends – possibly?- and then there’s the whole power rangers thing, but they don’t really know each other that well or for a long time. Shit, not even two weeks ago Kimberly didn’t even know which class the two girls had together, so it’s not a surprise that even though they have been growing closer lately, Trini still never knows what Kim’s gonna throw at her when they interact.
Truth is, Kimberly might not have noticed Trini before, but Trini definitely did notice the other girl. Quite a lot, actually. You see, when you don’t have friends and are invisible to the entire school most of the time, sometimes you have to get a few hobbies to distract yourself from how lonely you actually feel -but try to pretend not to- and one of Trini’s favorite hobbies was people watching. More specifically, Kimberly watching.
She’s not a creep, it’s not that she stalked the girl or anything like that, she just really paid attention to her, in a way that got her to learn a lot about Kimberly. For example, during lunch, Kim would mostly play with her food and only ever start eating on the last possible moment.
The point here being, Trini enjoyed watching Kim from a distance, and life suddenly throwing her so close to the other girl made her slightly uncomfortable. It’s a lot easier to just watch people than it is to actually interact with them. Especially when you’re still trying to convince yourself you don’t have a crush on them – when you absolutely do-.
“Can we talk for a sec?” Kim once again interrupts Trini’s thought process, grabbing her by the arm and carefully dragging her to the side.
“I guess I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
“Sorry.” She lets go of Trini’s arm with a look on her face that makes the shorter girl almost regret her words.
“It’s fine.”
Kim seems weirdly fidgety, but the other girl chooses not to comment on it.
“Would you mind if I crashed at your place tonight? I’m kind of avoiding my parents... I could ask one of the guys but I was hoping we could, you know, spend some time together? Get to know each other a bit better, I guess? I mean, us girls gotta stick together.”
“Do we?”
“Oh, you don’t think so?”
“That’s not it, it’s just- nevermind.” She shakes her head lightly, then taking a deep breath, “Fine. But maybe don’t use the door? I don’t want to deal with my mom’s questions, so if you could just use my bedroom window that’d be great.”
Kim looks surprised by getting a positive answer and almost lets out a smile.
“Thank you, I can do that.” She replies, starting to walk away backwards. “I’ll see you later, then.”
She turns around and two seconds later it’s as if she was never there.
Trini frowns, did she just make a terrible mistake? Having Kim around meant she would have to talk and do all of that crap that makes her skin crawl. But it’s Kimberly Hart, the girl she definitely did not have a crush on, how could she say no? Damn it, Trini.
-----
Time flies and suddenly Kim is knocking on Trini’s window. She lets her in but starts feeling inadequate not a second later. She feels exposed, wearing sweatpants and a cozy shirt while Kim looks as good as always.
Trini closes the window again after the other girl gets inside, then crossing her arms in instinct.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all.
Kim takes off her backpack and jacket and sits down on Trini’s bed without invitation, then quickly toeing off her shoes. Trini’s heart starts beating rapidly and she feels angry at herself for being so weak.
She wanders around her room feeling like she’s about to explode. Kim seems to be saying something but Trini can’t hear her while trying to pretend the girl isn’t there, in an awful attempt to calm down her annoying and inconvenient heart.
“Trini? Are you even listening?”
She stops dead on her tracks, it’s not like she can keep this up all night.
“Yeah.” Trini lies.
“No, you’re not.” Kim replies, raising one of her eyebrows.
“Fine, I wasn’t listening. What was it?”
Kimberly pats the space next to her on the bed. “Come on, Trini, it’s me, your friendly pink ranger.”
Trini stays where she is, still forcing herself not to accidentally let out how incredibly gay she feels. Let’s be honest for a moment, there’s a girl, a gorgeous girl -who she definitely doesn’t have a crush on-, sitting on Trini’s bed, after getting in her room without her parents’ knowing. How is she supposed to not feel weird about it when all she can think of is how her ex girlfriends have done that in the past and that usually ended on them making out in that very bed? She wants to scream.
“You don’t have to talk to me, I know you’re not big on that, but we’re close, right? I mean, we fight together, we’re part of a superhero team. I trust you even if you don't open up to me.”
“That’s not it, Kim.”
“It’s not?”
“No, it’s not. I want to open up to you, it’s just hard.”
Trini gives up and sits down next to Kimberly on the bed, staring at the floor.
“I get that. You remember the bonfire, I was the one who was too much of a chicken to actually say anything about myself to the team. I was the one who was holding us down.”
“Don’t talk about yourself like that.”
Kim lies down on the bed, her head on Trini’s pillow. “Why not? I’m just telling the truth.”
Trini takes a deep breath, then lies down next to the other girl.
“Whatever. I just don’t agree with you.” She looks up at the ceiling. “I think you’re amazing.”
Kim smiles, then moving her head to stare at Trini, saying nothing.
“What?”
“You’re being nice to me.”
“So?”
“So, I like it. It kind of makes me feel special that you’re actually talking to me.”
Trini looks back at Kim, “I can always stop, you know. Maybe I should talk to Zack instead.” She teases, letting out a small smile.
“You know he kind of has a crush on you, right?”
“Yeah. It’s not like he has a chance anyway. Zack’s a good friend but-” She stops herself. Maybe that’s too much.
Kimberly clearly notices something’s wrong, but doesn’t press her. “I know what you mean. Jason is clearly into me but I see him as a brother.”
Trini is thankful but at the same time, a little disappointed. Before she can notice, words are spilling out of her mouth.
“That’s not it, you know.”
Kim changes her position on the bed, now sideways, openly looking at Trini.
“Yeah, I know.”
It’s silent for a moment before Kim talks again.
“You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. I know these things can be hard to deal with at first.”
Trini frowns. “What do you mean?”
Kim is quiet for a few minutes, still looking at Trini, who’s now looking back at her, confused.
“You don’t have to say it either, I just wanted to be sure you were saying what I think you’re-“
“I’m bisexual.”
Trini stops talking, absorbing the information she’s just been told. Her heart once again starts beating fast.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
The bedroom is quiet again. Trini stares at the ceilling, while Kim looks deep in thought, feeling nervous.
Can you believe that? Kimberly Hart, the cutest girl in Angel Grove, is bisexual. And she just said that to Trini while lying down on her bed. All Trini can hear is her heart in her ears. She can feel herself start to sweat.
“I think I’m gay.” Her throat closes up after pushing the words out. It’s the first time she’s ever said that out loud.
Kim smiles kindly. “Thank you for telling me.”
She nods, “Thank you for telling me first.”
“I figured it’d help you feel more comfortable.”
“It did.”
They’re quiet again for a minute, until Kim starts laughing.
“What?” Trini asks.
“You know how queer people are usually friends with other queer people?”
She nods.
“How crazy would it be if all of the rangers turned out to be queer?”
Trini finds herself grinning. What’s crazier is how she went from having no friends to having 4, all of them power rangers, and actually coming out to someone, and that someone being Kimberly Hart. Wow. Life sure is crazy.
---
She wakes up with a startle. Covered in sweat and with her heart beating faster than she thought possible, Trini opens her eyes to see herself in her bedroom. It’s still dark outside and all she can hear is her heavy breathing, until she feels a warm hand caressing her back.
“I’ve got you.” Kim mumbles, comforting her friend. “You’re okay.”
Trini slowly starts feeling calmer. She looks at Kimberly, who’s staring at her worriedly.
“Nightmare?” Kim asks, still rubbing Trini’s back. The girl nods. “Wanna talk about it?”
It was Rita, she had killed all of her friends and made her watch, then choked her until she managed to wake up. Trini shakes her head no.
“Okay.”
She lies back down, her breath still a bit irregular. Kimberly grabs her hand and rubs her thumb over it in a soothing manner.
“I’m here.”
“Thank you, Kim.” Trini doesn’t notice she’s crying until she feels the other girl’s hand on her face, wiping some tears away.
“Wanna cuddle?” Kim suggests.
“You can’t tell anyone.” She replies, feeling her face warm up. How did she know cuddling was Trini’s ultimate weakness?
“I won’t. But just because you’re a stoic little shit doesn’t mean you can’t be a cuddly puppy as well, Trini.”
“I’m not a puppy.” Trini affirms, blushing. She shakes her head in annoyance, pulling Kim’s arm around her and feeling the warmth of her body.
“Sure you’re not.” Kim smiles, holding Trini close. “But you totally are.”
In that moment, Trini feels her heart beating rapidly again and for the first time that night, she doesn't mind.