i originally meant to accompany this w an art piece but i forgot to finish it so heres the fic for now
wrote this for @taylorearhardts for trimberlydwarves secret santa-- MERRY CHRISM MY DUDE!!!! HOPE U LIKE IT!!! BC I LOVE KIMZACK NOW
-
They really couldn’t be friends without constantly pushing each others’ boundaries.
Kim 4:42pm: zack i need ur eyes and opinion
Zack 4:43pm: im not giving u fashion advice unless it’s for lingerie
Kim 4:43pm: ik ur joking but that’s deadass what i was gonna ask
Kim 4:44pm: don’t make it weird
Zack 4:44pm: no hetero right babe ;p
She rolls her eyes at his choice of words, and snaps the picture anyway. Scrolling down her list of best friends on Snapchat, she captions the photo, “no hetero x,” before selecting Zack’s name and hitting send, no pause or hesitation needed. It’s just Zack, after all.
Immediately after it’s sent, the red triangle turns white, indicating that he opens it right away. After all, there are basically no boundaries in their friendship, and if there are, they’re quickly broken, since the two of them run the reckless impulse decision kingdom.
Zack 4:49pm: it’s hot but why pink. why not black ;(
Kim 4:49pm: it’s my fav colour ok. this is lingerie for me not u
Zack 4:50pm: fine
Zack 4:50pm: is there a v-shape version of the bra tho. ur tiddies look flat in that
She grins and shakes her head at his honesty. There are about 8 more pink bras she needs his opinion on, anyway.
-
“Anyone seen Kim yet?”
“Nah, T. She wasn’t in bio?”
Trini glares at Zack’s question. “Of course not. Why else would I be asking?”
“Jeez,” Zack says, raising his hands in surrender. Trini was very protective of Kim, for some odd reason. With Kim not there, she’s especially more cranky. “Relax, dude. We can check on her. Who’s free?”
Trini’s about to volunteer, until Jason puts his hand on her shoulder, “you can’t, dude. We’ve got that math test next period,” she sighs, and Jason turns to Billy and Zack, “can one of you?”
Before Billy can say anything, Zack speaks out, “I guess I will!” he says enthusiastically, saving Billy from having to ruin his perfect attendance, “I was already gonna skip, anyway.”
“Are you sure you can?” Billy asks, looking conflicted between wanting to be a good friend and wanting to be a good student, “is it really a good idea for you to skip more classes?”
Zack waves him off, relieving the others of worrying about his grades, “yeah, it’s fine. I’ve got a spare third period anyway, and we’re only watching a movie in fourth.”
Then, he gets up from their shared lunch table to make his way to Kim’s house, leaving Billy to tutor Jason and Trini in the last bits of trig they need help with.
-
Normally, she wasn’t one to take days off like this, but her mother called her last night reminding her how she was no longer living up to her parents’ standards, and now she can’t really bring herself to leave her house.
Instead, it’s nearing 1pm and she’s still in bed, listening to her Depression Playlist™ on repeat, while watching her ceiling fan rotate over and over. She can’t tell if it’s making her dizzy, or if her head just hurt from oversleeping.
Just before she can transition from humming along to belting out the bridge of Hands Down, Chris Carrabba’s voice is interrupted by her phone ringing.
Groaning, she rolls over to check her caller ID, and is only mildly surprised to see Zack’s face grinning at her before she hits the answer button.
“What,” Kim says into her phone, sounding irritated.
“Well, hello to-” he grunts, “you too.”
Kim raises a brow at that. “Why do you sound constipated? Did you call me while you were on the shitter?”
He laughs, but it sounds slightly strained, “no. I’m scaling a building, actually.”
Kim tsks, showing her mild disapproval at his risqué antics. “Don’t scale the fucking school, Zack,” she scolds him, “you’re gonna get yourself expelled and Zordon’s gonna murder your ass for taking advantage of your powers.”
There’s a brief pause on the phone, like he’s readjusting his stance to a more ergonomically proper way of climbing, “who said I was scaling the school?”
“What building are you scaling?” She asks, slightly worried that he might be putting himself in danger. Well, as much danger as a ranger can face. “Zack, what the fuck.”
He giggles again, sounding like a giddy school girl, “here’s a hint,” he says, and she can basically see the grin on his face through the phone, “open your window to find out. NOT CLICKBAIT.”
And then it clicks. (ha ha get it) She looks over to her window only to see one set of fingers on the outside sill, where Zack must’ve been dangling from.
“Why haven’t you at least pulled yourself up?”
“Because-” he grunts again, probably shifting his hand a little bit so he can get more comfortable, “my booty is poppin’ way too hard to fit onto the ledge. Let me in, Kim!”
She sighs exasperatedly before pulling the covers off herself to make her way towards the window. Once there, she glances down at the boy still hanging on with one arm, a phone in his other.
He waves at her with the phone-hand, before putting his phone back to his mouth, “so are you gonna let me in, or nah?”
She grins at him and shrugs, “I wish I could, but I have a screen on my window.”
His face drops. “Are you serious?”
“No, I just wanted to see how long you could hang onto that.”
“Probably forever-- I’m that buff,” he says, winking at her, “but someone might see me.”
She reaches over to open the window, but pauses, “to be fair, you’re in my backyard.”
“Kim,” he pleads with her, his voice cracking. “C’mon.”
“Fine,” she relents, but not before dramatically sighing and hanging up, as if all of this was physically taxing on her.
She unlocks the window and pushes it open, watching as Zack pockets his phone and pulls himself up, landing ungracefully onto her floor face first. Despite the fall, he still comes back up smiling.
“So, what’s up, Kimmy? You good?” He asks, while toeing his shoes off before Kim can give him shit for it. He was really the only one of her friends who did that automatically, the other rangers being absolute heathens, wearing shoes indoors. “Why’d you stay in?”
“Honestly,” she sighs, grabbing his hand and leading him to her bed and he lies next to her, like it’s routine, “I’m not feeling the best right now.”
He hums, and she can feel the vibrations from his chest. Then she feels his hand come up to her forehead, and he presses it there for a minute.
“You seem okay, though. Is it a different kind of sickness?”
She purses her lips. They never really hide anything from each other. If they didn’t know something about each other, it’s probably because they just forgot to tell the other.
This time, though, Kim feels a little bit of hesitance.
“Yeah, kind of,” she says instead.
He doesn’t say anything. He’s waiting for her to elaborate.
“Just, y’know…” She clears her throat, trying to decide if this is something she can share with him. “Good ol’ depression, hittin’ me up.”
He’s silent again. Kim feels like she’s finally found the boundary between them that she shouldn’t have crossed.
“Depression?” He finally questions, and Kim holds her breath still for whatever he’s about to say next, “isn’t that just a fancy word for feeling ‘bummed out?’”
Relieved, she feels her heartbeat relax, and grins against his shoulder. “Dwight, you ignorant slut.”
He chuckles at that, and waits a minute before asking, “so, do you want me to go, or can I stay?”
“You can stay, but only if I can paint your nails.”
“Do you have Vantablack?”
-
“Sorry I wasn’t there yesterday. I really wanted to be.”
“It’s okay, I get it,” Kim says, and she really means it. She runs through the combination on her lock again-- it’s a little rusty, “Zack was more than enough.”
Trini nods, and Kim takes that as her cue to accept that they’re done with the topic, and takes her textbooks out of their shared locker to shove them haphazardly into her backpack.
She’s about to ask Trini how her math test went yesterday, when Zack’s familiar voice greets the two of them.
“Hey, Trini,” he says, ruffling her hair, then, “hey Kimmy.”
But before Kim can even get a ‘hey’ out, Zack is ducking quickly and throwing Kim over his shoulder so she’s squealing loudly as he tickles her sides.
It isn’t anything new, the two of them were the most physical and touchy people on the team, but with how loud and obnoxious they’re being, it’s almost similar to how the couples Kim rolls her eyes at in the hallway act when they do major PDA.
Regardless, she can’t care less about her reputation.
“Put me down, Zack!” She giggles, her bag on the floor, now forgotten.
“I will, if I get this one thing wrong,” he promises, and there’s suddenly a mischievous undertone to his voice that worries Kim only slightly.
“What is it?” She asks, despite herself.
He pokes at her side once more so she’s laughing again, “you’re wearing that pink bralette you sent me, aren’t you?”
“Oh my God,” Kim laughs, and hopes Trini isn’t still there to hear that, “fuck you.”
Then the bell rings, but Zack doesn’t even drop Kim-- he just picks up her backpack off the floor and slings it over his shoulder, continuing to carry her to Trini and Kim’s bio class.
She feels a slight pleasure at the confused looks some people give her on the way— the question, ‘are you two together?’ written on their faces.
It’s just Zack, she reminds herself, trying not to think about why she gets a warm feeling from the thought of her and Zack being together.
-
They’re on their way to the quarry, Kim sandwiched between Billy and Trini, while Jason drives, and Zack sits in shotgun.
Kim originally intends to sit next to Zack, who unintentionally ruins that plan by calling shotgun before anybody else can.
She’s perfectly content with getting to sit next to Trini, however, even though she’s recently had a sudden wave of warm appreciation for the black ranger.
After that first period in the morning, Zack had carried Kim from every class so that her feet had basically never touched the halls of their school that day because ‘princesses should be treated as such.’
They were both not shy about touching, but it was the first time Zack had been that extra about their physicality, and Kim found herself grinning wide from how grateful she was that he was trying so hard to cheer her up after her day off the day before.
Finally, Jason pulls up to the quarry, and before she can even get her seatbelt off, Zack says, “last one there has to finally wear black underwear!”
Jesus Christ. What is it with that boy and underwear?
Meanwhile, the other three rangers aren’t phased by this comment, instead moving at a speed that showed no indication they felt threatened by this challenge.
Kim tries to be patient, she really does, but Billy and Trini were moving so slow, and knowing Trini would mind less about the sudden contact, she unbuckles her belt quickly, not even bothering to wait for Trini to exit the car so she can climb over the smaller girl in an attempt to beat Zack to the pit. It’s pretty clear the race is only meant to be between the two of them.
She catches up quickly, the taller boy having tripped earlier on the mud.
“So if I win, what do I get?”
“Me in pink underwear,” he smirks, and trips Kim before running ahead.
-
Zack wins, but only because he had a head start and cheated. Or at least, that’s what Kim tells herself as she wrings the water out of her hair while glaring at the cheater.
“You did me dirty, Taylor,” she says, attempting to unstick her wet shirt from her body.
He grins. “How else am I going to do you, Hart?”
She narrows her eyes at him, and he only shrugs.
They make their way over to the ship, all the while side eying each other, another unspoken race in the midst.
“I win,” Zack says, and then smugly adds on, “again.”
“Um,” she starts, trying to imitate her lawyer mother’s tone in court, “we didn’t even say that was a race,” she points out, knowing full well if she beat him she would’ve said the same thing.
He scoffs, “whatever. Potato, poh-tah-to.”
But Kim is already stripping quickly, trying to change before Zack can. Everything is always a competition between the two of them.
Zack, only now noticing what she’s doing, quickly throws his shirt over his head and makes a grab for his dry shirt.
Kim stops him before he can reach it, though. “Wait, hold up,” she says, only having one leg through her pants, “I think I like you better shirtless.”
If he thinks her flirtatious behaviour is weird, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he flexes his pecs back and forth, “is it because I have better nipples than you?”
Kim rolls her eyes at him, finally finished dressing herself, “no, actually, it’s because I win.”
“Touché, Kimmy,” he remarks, looking slightly impressed.
Then there are sounds of splashing coming through, indicating the others have finally caught up.
“You lost earlier, though,” he reminds her, throwing a shirt on, ineffectively covering his nipples, since it’s so cold down there anyway, “so this Friday? You and me. Black underwear shopping. Don’t forget.”
Kim watches him walk away to greet the others, and is unable to fight the grin that forms on her face.
-
“Can we take a break?” Zack asks, answering Kim’s question about the deeper meaning of Ophelia’s death, “my brain is fried and my stomach would also like something fried.”
“I’d tell your stomach to eat your brain, but honestly, I am so sick of Shakespeare right now,” Kim agrees, cracking her back as she stands up from her bed to stretch.
“Thanks for your help, though,” Zack is sure to say again. Without Kim, it was unlikely he’d even be passing this class, let alone getting a 72.
She chuckles at his hourly need to thank her for helping him, “no problem. But what do you want? You wanna order a pizza or go to Krispy Kreme?”
“I’m not really feeling Krispy Kreme tonight,” he admits, now sick of all the donuts from there. Why the team had adopted that restaurant as their go-to, he’d never know. He didn’t even like donuts that much. “What about Burger King?”
“That’s like, on the other side of town,” she points out.
He shrugs, “yeah, but you got wheels.”
“Well, yes,” she agrees hesitantly, “but I don’t really feel like driving. We can go, but you have to drive.”
“I don’t know how to drive,” he says, and looks at her as if this should be obvious information.
Her brows furrow in shock and confusion. “What?”
“I don’t know how to drive, Kim,” he repeats, “it’s gay culture!”
“Dude, what. I can drive?”
He brushes her off. “Whatever, dude. I just never learned how. Like, how would I?” He questions, “I don’t even have a car.”
There’s a brief pause as Kim lets that sink in. Logically, it makes sense. They’re only 17, which means that they only had two years to have learned how to drive, and between taking care of his mother, and not having a car, it really should’ve been obvious.
“Okay, c’mon,” she says, finally breaking the silence to pull him up from her bed.
“Are we going to Burger King?” He asks, as he follows her to her car.
She doesn’t answer him until they’re in the car. “Yes, but I’m also gonna teach you how to drive.”
“Kim,” he starts, as he buckles in his seatbelt, “you saw me driving my Zord. Are you sure your BMW’s gonna be okay?”
She waves him off while backing out of her driveway, “shut up. You’re gonna make me not want to teach you. Let’s just see how this goes.”
-
Their bellies are full and they’ve just finished their share of mozzarella sticks and King Burger meals and are now in their empty school’s parking lot.
“Okay, so first, you probably wanna adjust the mirror to your height,” she says, the last bit of fries in her mouth, “Jesus, why are you so tall?”
He discards his burger box into the takeout bag. “Maybe you’re just short.”
“Ex-squeeze me, bitch, I’m 5’5,” she states, her hand on her chest in mock offence, “that’s the national average.”
“Whatever,” he says, and he adjusts the mirror so that he can see his rear, “there. It’s fixed.”
“Okay, good. Now start driving.”
“Wh- you didn’t even teach me how to,” he says, looking over at her in bewilderment.
Her voice is calm, and soothing, like a yoga instructors’, “just do what feels right. That’s what I do on a daily basis, if I’m honest.”
“How the fuck do you have a license?”
“I stop at stop signs-- isn’t that enough?”
He shrugs and pushes down on the pedal but the car remains still. “Why isn’t it moving?”
“Babe, you’re still on park,” she chuckles, “switch to drive.”
He looks around at all the buttons on the BMW. There are probably more in there than in his Zord. “What?” He asks, looking to her for some guidance.
“On the PRNDL.”
“The PRNDL- oh!” He exclaims, now understanding that episode of The Suite Life, “the PRNDL! I know some of these words!”
“Yes,” Kim smiles patiently at his childish antics, “now switch to ‘D.’”
“I’m always on D,” he winks.
She pauses, trying to think of a reply to that. “I’m gonna ignore that,” she says, instead, “just start slow.”
He follows her instructions, switching the function to ‘D,’ and presses lightly on the pedal. They’re only moving at 5mph.
“Good shit, good shit,” Kim says, appreciatively, “now try a little faster.”
Zack nods, and he practically stomps on the gas pedal, switching from 5mph to 90mph.
“Okay, wait, not like that, hit the brake!”
But Zack isn’t sure which pedal is the brake— there are at least three pedals, and they’re nearing the school’s dumpster.
“Which one’s the brake?” He asks, trying to decide between the 50/50.
“BITCH-!” Kim exclaims, and then she’s ducking down and hitting the brakes for him.
The car screeches to a halt, just about an inch or two away from hitting the science lab.
“Wow, good save, Kimmy,” Zack laughs, still thrilled from the close call, “but if you wanted to get on my lap you could just ask.”
She glares at him from her compromising position on his lap. “Oh my God, shut up.”
Somehow, Zack convinces her to let him try again, and by the end of the night, they’re blasting One Direction songs and singing at the top of their lungs, while drifting in their high school parking lot.
-
Kim never really lets herself think too much about something before doing it, but for some reason, when it comes to Trini, she’s always second guessing herself.
Needing a little push to help her decide whether or not this decision is a good idea or not, she quickly runs through her friends to decide who would be best at talking her through this.
Her first thought is Jason, but she quickly pushes that thought away. Things were still a little tense between them since they made out at his house that night, even though they talked about it, so asking him for his opinion on this would just ruin everything.
Billy is a sweetheart, but also a definite no. She isn’t sure if she should run the risk of making him uncomfortable.
Then there’s Zack, who… Would make total sense to ask.
Kim 9:52pm: zack can u rate my nudes idk if they’re good enough to send to tr*ni
She throws her phone back on her bed as she waits for him to text back, digging through her closet to find her cutest lacy bra, before throwing it on. It’s her most trusty piece of lingerie, always guaranteed to make the viewer drool at the sight of it.
Her text tone goes off, and she practically dives onto her bed to read it. Zack 9:55pm: only if u finally got lingerie that isn’t fuckin pink
She looks down at her current attire, and then sits up again to look back at her closet. Without having realized it, she’d slowly sifted out the other colours of lingerie she had, and now only owned pink. It isn’t like all her bras are pink, but all the cute ones are.
Kim 9:55pm: fuck
Groaning, she lies back down onto the bed dramatically, trying to figure out a solution. She needs to send these nudes tonight , or her impulse would run short and she’d have too much time to think about it for the next time. Kim 9:56pm: k wait what if there was no lingerie
His reply comes almost immediately after that.
Zack 9:56pm: .... SEND i needed these nudes like yesterday
Grinning, she strips her bra off and makes her way to the bathroom, flipping her Snapchat camera over to regular instead of selfie mode.
She dims the light slightly so it’s less bright, and uses her arms to cover her nipples, while pushing her boobs together, in the way that she knows drives her conquests to call her a ‘fuckin’ tease.’
Once satisfied with how it looks, she snaps the photo, and captions it “will this pic make trini understand im tryna get it?”
As usual, he opens it immediately, but it takes a minute for him to reply.
He snaps her back, and it’s a photo of him losing his shit, captioned “kIM NO ONE WAS READY FOR THAT HOLY SHIT!!!”
She chuckles at his reaction, and he texts her while the snap is still opened.
Zack 10:01pm: Kim holy shit ur hot
Zack 10:01pm: send that shit to trini bitch will nut on the spot!!!
Zack 10:01pm: biitcchhhh god has BLESSEDT my eyes
She throws her shirt back on, and shuts the bathroom light off, all the while still texting Zack.
Trini remains forgotten, and Kim doesn’t end up sending any more nudes that night.
-
It’s finally Friday, or the day that Zack has come to collect his winnings from Kim.
“Kim, are you ready?” He asks, as he balances precariously on her window sill, his butt not quite fitting on it.
Kim turns as he taps on the window again, and she covers herself up out of reflex, scolding him, “Zack, do I look like I’m ready?” She asks, throwing a shirt at the window to scare him.
“Let me in,” he insists, still tapping on the glass.
“No, I’m not done getting dressed,” she says, and turns her back toward him in an attempt to stay decent in front of him while changing her shirt.
“It’s not like it’s anything I haven’t seen before.”
She rolls her eyes at him, but still lets him in anyway, even though her shirt isn’t on yet.
“Thank you,” he says, smiling smugly, and he rubs his backside slightly. The ledge really was too small for his butt.
Finally, she gets her shirt on, and makes her way to her desk where she knows her keys are, only to find that they’re missing.
“Okay, let’s go,” Zack says, redirecting her attention to his hands as he jingles the keys, so that it’s evident that she hadn’t misplaced them. “I’m driving.”
Kim’s grinning, but shaking her head as she follows him to her car, “I knew it was a bad idea to teach you.”
“It’s for a fun surprise, okay?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” she mutters, locking the door behind her.
-
The ‘fun surprise’ turns out to just be the Victoria’s Secret at the local mall. Kim figures he was just excited to use his newfound skill of driving.
As soon as they enter the store though, Zack’s already grabbing all kinds of black bras from every section, making Kim wonder if he’d ever done this before.
“There you go,” he says, handing her at least 12 bras with their matching underwear before pushing her into the fitting room.
She glances at the first bra he’d handed her, and is surprised. He hadn’t even needed to ask for her size, but he’d grabbed the correct one for all of them.
Throwing on the first bra, she admires herself quickly in the mirror. It’s a lacy black push up bra, with a scallop cut at the bottom of it, so it accentuates her abs perfectly. She probably wouldn’t say it out loud, but Zack definitely had an eye for good lingerie.
She takes one last glance at herself to ensure everything’s in the right place, before stepping out of the dressing stall, now dressed in the complete set of underwear he’d handed her.
“If I send Trini nudes in this, do you think I could finally get it?” She asks, as soon as Zack sees her.
His jaw drops, but then he closes it and nods quickly to agree, “holy shit babe, black is your colour,” he says, still slightly dazed, “you look like such a thirst trap.”
She flushes slightly from his comment, before remembering it’s Zack. “Honestly, it’s everybody’s colour,” she says, trying to brush off the blush on her face, “black is the colour you wear when you wanna get laid-- at least, that’s what it’s like according to 10 Things I Hate About You.”
“What’s good?” he winks, gesturing to his all black outfit. Then his face turns serious again, “if you don’t cop that shit, I’m buying it for you.”
Kim grins, delighted, “hang on, dude, there are like, a million more bras I still need to try.”
Zack sits back down, trying to relax how hyped up he was for Kim, while giving her a thumbs up, letting her know he was ready for her to continue on with the show.
She closes the door behind her once back in the stall, looking at all the equally cute sets he’d chosen, if not cuter.
It was pretty clear for Kim that she could never go underwear shopping ever again without the tall boy.
-
Kim’s in the middle of Beyoncé’s Partition when she’s suddenly reminded that she never sent Trini those nudes the other night.
Without thinking, she gets up immediately to open her bags from Victoria’s Secret, grabbing the matching set that Zack said made her a tease, because of how sheer it is.
She throws on the set— but before she can snap a picture, she texts Zack first for his approval.
Kim 9:23pm: k dude im boutta to send trini nudes in the shit we bought today lms if its a bad idea
Zack 9:24pm: nudes from u r always a good idea tf flaunt what u have while u still have it get it sis!!!!!
Zack 9:24pm: but also. i have eyes so dont forget to send them to me too ;p
Kim laughs at his response. Of course she will. It’s not even a question at this point. But she quickly gets back to business.
She lies back down onto her bed and covers the lower half of her body with her blanket, just slightly above her bellybutton. Her right arm extends as she flips her Snapchat camera over to selfie mode, and she’s sure to crop out her face from the shot, using her left index finger to push down on her lower lip as she smirks at the camera. She adjusts her bralette once more to ensure her nipples are on optimal display before snapping the photo and captioning it, “translucent nipples bc u don’t deserve to see the real thing yet.”
She selects Zack’s name, then hesitantly adds on Trini’s, and hits send before she can overthink it.
Zack opens his immediately, while Trini’s is still left unread.
Zack 9:31: holy shit
Zack 9:31pm: ur such a fuckin tease
Zack 9:32pm: ur nipples still remain a mystery but at least now i know they exist
Kim 9:33pm: just take my word for it dude my nipples are perfect
Zack 9:33pm: ill believe it when i see it
Zack 9:33pm: anyway what did tr*ni say
She flips back over from her texts to Snapchat, only to see that it’s still unread.
Kim 9:34pm: idk she hasn’t opened it yet tf
Kim 9:35pm: pls keep talkin to me though i can’t keep thinking about it or im gonna get nervous
Zack 9:36pm: dont be nervous tf!! bitch is gonna nut to that pic but if she doesn’t hey baby what’s good
Kim smiles at that, despite the vulgarity of the sentence. He’s always been good at distracting her.
Kim 9:36pm: thx so much ily wtf
Kim 9:36pm: bitch still hasn’t replied yet!! tf is she doin it’s been 5 mins
Zack 9:37pm: ik ilyt x
She tries to ignore the fluttering in her stomach after that text. It’s probably just nerves building up about Trini.
Zack 9:37pm: wow i can’t believe T is rly out there having a life
Kim 9:38pm: jks she just opened it lmao im not freaking out
Zack 9:39pm: omg ok dw it’s just trini
Kim sighs. Right. Just Trini. There’s nothing to be nervous about.
She paces around her room for a bit, trying not to think too hard about what Trini’s reply might be, before she decides to abandon her phone for a bit while she goes to pick up a glass of water from her kitchen.
Trying not to rush back, she takes her time going back up the steps to her room.
All this is pointless, though, because once she crosses the threshold in her room, she’s diving onto her bed to check her Snapchat.
Opened 5 minutes ago, it reads, under Trini’s name. Kim feels her heart sink.
Kim 9:43pm: trini isn’t replying i don’t think she was ready for the nudes
Zack 9:44pm: wtf T.., i thought she had eyes
Zack 9:44pm: mayb she’s busy tho
Zack 9:45pm: lmAo can u imagine if u sent her nudes while she was babysitting that would suck haHa
Kim breathes a sigh of relief at that. Right. Maybe Trini’s just not in a position to reply to a picture like that.
Kim 9:46pm: omfg do u think i did., rip
Zack 9:46pm: how inconsiderate
Kim 9:46pm: fuck man im emo why can’t she take the hint
Zack 9:47pm: just let it marinate she’s the kind of person u need to b direct to
She frowns at that. Kim is used to playing games— it was basically cheerleading code, back in her day.
Figuring Zack is right, though, Kim accepts it, quickly getting a vague idea on how to be more straightforward.
Kim 9:48pm: tru I’ll tell her on monday i wanna have her babies
Zack 9:49pm: sounds good
-
It’s third turning fourth period on Monday, and Kim has a spare last period, but she tells Ms. Appleby that there’s a cheerleading meeting to get her out of third period early.
She’s been out of the squad for months, but it’s pretty clear the teacher has other things to worry about than high school drama, since she lets Kim out anyway.
Now, she’s pacing outside of Trini and Jason’s math class, watching the clock on her phone as the period comes to an end.
She only has to wait about two minutes after the bell rings for Trini and Jason to walk out together, the two still talking about whatever lesson they’d just shared.
“Hey, T,” Kim says, not even caring that she’s interrupting Jason’s questions about trinomials, “can I talk to you?”
Trini gives her a weird look, but nods anyway, “what’s… up?” She asks, looking confused by how much of a psycho Kim probably looks like right now.
Kim side eyes Jason for a second, before turning back to the smaller ranger, “privately?”
The yellow ranger shifts her questioning gaze to Jason, who only shrugs at her. “Um, okay,” she agrees hesitantly, letting Jason take her books to their next shared class together.
“Great,” Kim smiles, before grabbing her hand and leading her to the parking lot.
She doesn’t have a game plan yet, but her car seems like a private enough place to have this conversation.
-
The doors to her BMW slam shut, and the two girls sit in silence for a good five minutes.
“So…” Kim starts, finally breaking the silence, “how’s it going?”
“What?” Trini says, flatly, so that it doesn’t sound like a question.
Kim doesn’t notice, though. She’s too nervous. “Like what’s up? The weather is nice, isn’t it?”
It isn’t. It looks like it’s about to rain.
“Um, I guess,” Trini says, and wanting to cut to the chase, she asks, “Kim, what were you gonna talk to me about?”
The taller girl breathes slowly, trying to calm herself down. “Just,” Inhale.“ Gimme a second,” exhale. “I need to hype myself up.”
“... For what?”
“Um,” Kim chuckles nervously, shifting her body slightly so she’s fully facing Trini, “I thought I’d be way smoother about this.”
She’s by no means a patient person, but Kim is being uncharacteristically jittery, so whatever she has to say has to be big. “What is it?”
Kim doesn’t answer her, instead choosing to lean over the console and cup Trini’s cheek.
But before she can come any closer, Trini stops her, “what are you doing?”
“What…” Kim trails off, face redder than she ever lets herself be in public, “I’m sorry, I thought-“
“-it’s okay,” Trini interrupts, seeming to take pity on the usually confident girl stumbling over herself, “you didn’t think wrong.”
Kim is even more confused. “Oh. Then why-?”
“-because I don’t think you do.”
“What?”
Trini laughs, but there’s no humour in it. “Listen, Kim, I like you a lot and everything, but I don’t think you know what you want.”
“... what?” Trini isn’t making sense anymore. It’s like the more she tries to explain herself, the more confused Kim gets.
“If you still feel this way in a week, we can try again, but, I’m sorry, dude, I’m not one of your impulsive decisions.”
And with that last sentence, the shotgun door is slamming, and Kim’s watching Trini head back to class.
She sits in alone in the car for at least twenty minutes, before finally turning on the ignition, still trying to figure out what the fuck all that meant.
-
She spends a good few hours at her personal pool at the mines before heading home to shower, trying to clear her mind of how she was just rejected.
But the therapy doesn’t do much, and she’s dying to talk about it.
Figuring he’s settled himself at home comfortably by now, Kim texts Zack.
Kim 6:55pm: i told trini at school today that I liked her and then she told me i didnt know what i wanted
Zack 6:57pm: what’d u say
Kim 6:58pm: ok well tbh I didn’t say anything I just tried to kiss her
Zack 6:58pm: lol wtf she ain’t got the clue still??
Kim 6:59pm: ya idk.., she said she didnt wanna be one of my impulsive decisions so is that a rejection
It’s a genuine question. The tiny girl did say she could try again next week.
Zack 7:00pm: idk what that means dude. cant relate
Kim frowns. She hoped he’d have an answer for her or something.
Zack 7:00pm: everything i do is just bc i felt like doin it at that exact moment. T kinda thinks things out more
She nods along to that. She’s the same.
Briefly, she thinks about how Trini rejecting her made her feel today, and types in a few paragraphs before erasing each one.
Finally, she settles on her last paragraph, figuring Zack will understand what she means. He always does, anyway, even when she doesn’t have the words to explain.
Kim 7:05pm: tru.,, is it bad that i dont feel that sad about her rejecting me. I just mainly feel emo about how i couldn’t make out with her today.
Zack 7:06pm: ngl thats kinda fuckt but relatable
Kim 7:07pm: I just haven’t done it in so long im dying., my lips are like “where is another. i need to be moisturized by somebody else’s saliva”
Zack 7:08pm: Honestly S A ME
Kim 7:08pm: wait that gives me an idea
-
Anyone else would be nervous, but Zack isn’t really worried about the possibility of Kim showing up on his doorstep to make out with him. It’s not like he hasn’t thought about it or anything, but the two of them run on impulse. He isn’t really one to overthink. It’s just Kim.
He’s in the middle of a game of 2048 when there’s a knocking on his door.
“Hey, Kim-“ he greets her as he opens his door, but before he can even finish his sentence, the girl in question jumps him, and he stumbles backward slightly, not quite registering what’s happening.
She wraps her legs around his waist, her arms coming around his neck, and it takes him a little while to register that Kimberly Hart is kissing him, and he still hasn’t made any move to kiss her back.
He quickly remedies this dilemma by shutting the door with his foot and placing his hands on her ass, trying to support some of her weight for her. Once sure of her comfortability, he lets himself melt into the kiss, and Kim responds enthusiastically, her tongue slipping into his mouth.
They stay that way for a few seconds, until he feels her grind slightly on his abs, and he sets her down onto the counter so he can kiss her neck.
“Is this okay?” Kim asks once her mouth is free, and he almost laughs at how belated the question seems— she’s already sporting a dark purple hickey on her neck.
“I don’t know,” he grins, and she frowns at him, “what underwear are you wearing?”
She rolls her eyes at him playfully before leaning in to whisper in his ear.
“Take my shirt off to find out. Not clickbait.”
