Fighting to Love (Power Rangers Samurai)

New Years

A few days after Christmas, it was New Years. 

Jayden had asked me out a few days before. I declined, saying it was a holiday, and we should be with our friends. He understood, but I knew he was slightly disappointed. 

"It's New Years. A clean slate. We better start writing resolutions!" Emily said, and everyone agreed, sans me. I shook my head. 

"I don't have resolutions." I claimed, and all heads turned to me. "I just don't. It usually turns out to wishes and hopes, not goals." 

"Well, I do have one resolution." Jayden said, getting up and wrapping his arms around me. 

"And I have one wish." I smiled. The girls aww'd, Kevin shook his head, and Mike gagged. 

"What is that?" Jayden muttered, resting his chin on my shoulder. 

"Something you'll never find out." I grinned. 

"Ashhh." He complained. 

"Jayyy." I whined back. He unwrapped his arms from me, took his chin off my shoulder and sat next to me. 

Mike gagged again. "Can we please stop with the PDA?" 

"Let them have their moment, Mike." Emily protested. "This is a first." 

"Yeah." I nodded and looked up at Jayden, who looked down at me. I blushed and looked down at my fingers that were intertwining again. "I s'pose it is." 

I'm falling again. No. No. No. Why does he make me feel like this, so helpless. 

I'm falling. I'm crashing down, back to earth, back to reality, back to Jayden. 

I don't want to fall. I am. He's pushed me. He's already fallen and he's down there, ready to catch me. But I didn't want to fall. I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for him to catch me. I want to fall and have no one catch me and have a broken heart at the end. I didn't ask for this. 

Someone is making me do this against my own will. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. 

New Years Wish: To be his girlfriend. 

Wait, where did THAT come from?! Why do I have to be all giggly and blushing and shit?! 

It's your fault, hormones and puberty. 

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The rest of the day is boring. 

Well, not entirely. 

I was in the kitchen, reading, or at least trying to. Dyslexia makes it hard. He had to walk in. Crap. Crap. Crap. 

"Hey." He whispered. 

I turned around. I was in his arms again. "Hey yourself." I whispered back. 

"Reading?" He asked. "Why aren't you with the others?" 

"They're all playing spin the bottle. I decided to leave after I saw Emily kiss Mike on the cheek." I said, then shut my book. "I got bored." 

He removed his arms around me, then sat across from me at the table. 

"What book are you reading?" He asked. So many questions. Why, Jayden, why? 

"Peter Pan." I said, looking at the cover. "My favorite." 

"Why do you like it so much?" 

"Fairies, pirates, magic, the idea of never growing up." I grinned, and my face softened. "I loved all of those concepts." 

"I can see. Do you mind reading a little bit of it? Just the first few sentences." He looked interested. I opened the book again, and started reading aloud.

"All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand on her heart, and cried, 'Oh, why can't you remain like this for ever!' " 

I looked up at Jayden. He stared at me intently and smiled softly. 

"When I was growing up with Evelyn, she always said that guys always give us this look." 

"I think we give that look to girls who are never watching. We love the way their faces light up when they're talking about something that interests them. But now, you caught me." Jayden said thoughtfully. "And the way yours did right now..." 

"We never see the look. I suppose I'm the first." I replied. 

"Read me some more. Please." Jayden begged. 

I sighed and started reading again. "This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end..."

And that was how I ended up spending the whole afternoon. Reading to Jayden.

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On New Years, there's always one cliche that needs to be used. The kiss under the fireworks. 

The fireworks burst above. "Happy New Year." I whispered to Jayden. 

"Happy New Year, Ash." 

"Jay?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Let's start a new tradition." I smiled up at him, and pulled him into the training area. 

"What?" 

"I'm going to teach you how to dance." 

"Ash, I don't know how." 

"Which is exactly why I'm going to teach you." I taught him how to waltz, and after that, we slow danced a little. The fireworks were still going. 

"You know one thing we haven't done yet, right? Under the fireworks." Jayden mentioned. 

"And what I'm about to do." I got onto my tiptoes and... Kissed him on the lips. Another cliche. Sparks flew. I'm not going to go into detail. But it was... nice. 

"Your first kiss?" I asked, once I had gotten my two feet flat on the ground again. 

"I'm glad it was with you. Which brings me to another thing. Ash... I was wondering if you could, maybe, possibly be my..." 

"Girlfriend?" I finished off for him. He smiled down at me. 

"Took the words right out of my mouth." He said. "So, what do you think?" 

"Hmm..." I said, wanting to tease him a little. "Well, we've only had one date and our first kiss moments ago... So I regret to inform you..." His face fell. 

"No? It's okay. Pretend I never asked." He said, then started rambling. 

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again. "I regret to inform you that you now have the pleasure of me being your girlfriend. So I can't simply pretend you never asked." 

He chuckled. "You really are something. I should ramble more often." 

"I know." I replied, and we danced the night away.