Strawberry (Power Rangers Dino Charge - Tyler Navarro)

Part 2 (3)

"I have another order of fries." Tyler said.

"Coming up." Chase said.

"Anything on Jodi?" Tyler asked.

"You have her number. Call her." Chase teased.

Tyler rolled his eyes and turned back to the door. Just then, Jodi had walked in. Tyler couldn't hide his smile. It had been a while since he last saw her, and nothing had changed. She was still just as cute as she was when he left. He missed her red cheeks. And her smile. He missed everything. He looked down at her bag, smiling when he noticed the keychain he had gotten her.

"Jodi!" Koda cheered as he ran to her, picking her off the floor and spinning her around.

"Hey, Koda." She smiled.

"Hey, Jodi. Been a while." Riley greeted.

"I see everyone is back. I missed you guys." She said.

"We missed you two." Tyler smiled.

"Well would you look at the time. It's time for my break. Carry on to your jobs." Chase said as he handed Tyler the spatula. The others glared at Chase as he grabbed Jodi's arm and led her to the table. Jodi gave them an apologetic smile as she followed Chase.

She could already see the milkshake waiting for her. "How'd you know?" She joked.

"Lucky guess." Chase smiled.

"How was New Zealand?" She asked.

"It was great. I got to spend time with my sister a lot. I did a few skateboarding competitions, won a few of them." He bragged.

"I bet you have a lot of trophies waiting at home to brag to me about, right?" She joked.

"Am I that predictable?"

Jodi nodded her head. "But it's okay. As long as you're back, I'm happy."

"It's good to be back. I kinda missed hanging around everyone."

"I think we all missed each other." Jodi smiled.

"What about you? How have you been?"

Jodi gave him small nod. No better chance to make him more vulnerable than now. "I've been good." She said.

Chase could see her rubbing the center of her palm. "Are you sure?"

Jodi nodded. "I'll admit, there were a few times that I struggled by myself. You know, because of New York. But I handled it. Nothing I haven't done yet."

"Don't tell me it's gotten worse?" Chase panicked.

Jodi shook her head. "Everything is fine. It's not like how you first found me. Those were some tough times." Jodi assured.

"Things have gotten better for me ever since I moved here. I made some great friends that care for me. I don't need to worry anymore about someone hurting me again. I doubt I'll have to runaway another time." She joked.

"Runaway?" Chase questioned. "Who was hurting you?"

Jodi let out an exhale. "My parents had a lot of issues, so they took out on my brother. He protected me as much as he could. But I guess he grew tired of it and left."

"So you were left with the baggage." Chase frowned.

Jodi nodded. "I grew tired of it too." She said.

"How did you end up here?"

"I can't say. Just know that the process was a lot easier for me." Jodi smiled.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that?" Chase frowned.

"It's alright. I got through it. Mainly with your help."

"You should have called me? I would have helped you. I would have flown back here to help."

"I know." Jodi smiled. "I know how caring you can get. You're an older brother. You treat me like a little sister. But you hadn't seen your family in months. I wanted to try and handle it by myself for once. And I think I did a good job at handling it, if I say so myself." She smiled.

In all honesty, she didn't have that many problems. But with Chase gone, she forgot that she was still playing a character most of the time. And she forgot to tell him about her issues.

Chase smiled at her. "I'm glad things are working out for you now. You've grown a lot more." He patted her head.

Just then, Tyler walked into frame, awkwardly placing a basket of fries in front of them. "You heard that, didn't you?" Jodi asked. She wanted him to hear. It meant she didn't have to tell the story all over again.

Tyler awkwardly nodded. "It was an accident I promise. I just wanted to give you guys some fries to snack on. And then, I just couldn't help but to listen. Sorry."

Jodi smiled at him. "It's alright. I was going to tell you anyways. Just glad that I don't need to anymore." She joked.

Tyler smiled at her. "You're amazing." He blurted. Jodi's face quickly turned red. And so did Tyler's face. "Sorry, that came out of nowhere."

Chase began laughing at the two. Jodi glared at him, kicking his foot from under the table. "Ouch!" He yelped.

"Shut up."

"Sorry." Chase apologized. "You can flirt with her another time. Get back to work."

"That's ironic, coming from you." Jodi teased.

Tyler laughed at her words as he walked away. He walked back into the kitchen and started flipping the burgers again. He turned back to Jodi. The two were laughing with each other. Her smile going from ear to ear.

He was happy that she found somewhere safe to be around. And that's all he wanted from her.

"Do you miss him? Your brother?" Chase asked.

"A little bit." No she didn't. "But I have you now. I consider you to be my bother. I mean, you already are one." She smiled.

For some odd reason, she kept running into Andrew for a while. But he never saw her. And his daughter was always around. It made her more angry every time she saw them together. Because while she was suffering back at New York, he made himself a new family. Naming his daughter after her, probably to make himself feel better for leaving Jodi. And with a name like that, she knew that he was thinking about her. And the guilt was probably tearing him apart. Just that thought made her smile.

"At least you have us now." Chase smiled.

Half of what she said was lies. That she cared for them. That she was happy around them. None of it was true, and he believed every word of it. And it just proved to her how naive they all were.

She was helping his enemy steal the gem hanging on his neck. A gem needed to take over the galaxy. And all because she wanted one place gone for good. But now she wanted the whole world to burn. She didn't care what would happen if they found out, how they'll feel betrayed when it happens. She knew that once that time does come, she'd be laughing right at them.

"Yeah."

Sorry for the long wait. I'm feeling a lot better. Regular updates from now on.