Weight of the World-p.r.s

16-humanity

The next couple of days passed rather peacefully for Brooke, and she was grateful for that. She had apologized and told the rest of the team about what her mother had done, and they all responded pretty much the same way Jayden and Antonio did. They told her not to feel guilty, and it did lessen the guilt, to a degree. However, it still remained, and Brooke had a feeling it would last until the war was over- or she was dead. Still, she was dealing with it to the best of her abilities, and Jayden giving her samuraizer back to her helped- as she could work on the cage symbol again. Well, now Brooke was on the strength portion of the cage symbol- the second out of the three symbols that needed to be mastered. She noticed that someone was always checking up on her, Antonio mostly, and Brooke actually didn't mind it.

The gold and silver rangers just chatted as the silver worked on mastering the symbol. The entire team noticed that Brooke was quieter than before, and nobody really blamed her. Still, she was coming around to her normal self again, and while the guilt and sadness remained, it was easier to push aside now. Plus, the team provided good distractions so that the silver ranger wasn't spiraling in her thoughts as much.

Such as now, the rangers had taken on the greatest challenge yet. Tomorrow was Emily's birthday, and the six other rangers were tasked with setting up a surprise party without being caught. Which sounded easy- but wasn't, all things considered. They had to skirt around Emily, and it made Brooke feel bad, for some odd reason, but she knew it was for a good thing. They weren't excluding Emily to be mean, it was all for good things. And the six rangers knew the yellow would be happy with her surprise party- well, they hoped. But, knowing Emily, it was going to be a success.

"I'm sure she'll love this-" Brooke started, walking next to Jayden, but she cut herself off when she heard the faint footfalls of Emily. They were growing closer, and Brooke's eyes flashed as she glanced at Jayden. "We need to hide." She whispered, urgency in her tone, and Jayden nodded.

"Hello?" Emily called out, and Brooke and Jayden shared a look that was worry mixed with slight fear. Grey-gold and blue eyes scanned the room, and Jayden found himself making an extremely rash decision.

God, he was going to be kicking himself for this one later, but the red ranger grabbed the silver by the arm and moved quickly. And that's how Brooke found herself cramped in a small closet with Jayden, the two rangers barely having enough room to stand without making things more awkward then they already were. Jayden's arm was wedged above Brooke's head, her standing in between his legs. Brooke was clutching a pack of candles and multiple packs of balloons to her chest, and heat rose to her face as she thought of the implications about the others finding the two like this. However, it also caused old memories to resurface, and Brooke inwardly grimaced. Still, the closet felt hot, and only added to the heat rushing to the pair's cheeks.

Brooke didn't even know if Jayden knew about the implications, but guessing from the way he was somewhat stiff, he was embarrassed. Not that she blamed him, both rangers were grateful that the closet was dark- as they couldn't see the red blooming on each other's cheeks. It only got worse when Brooke tried to move to peek through the cracked closet door. Her hips brushed against Jayden's leg, and she resisted the urge to scream as her heart pounded in her ears. She was sure Jayden could hear her heartbeat.

"Where is everybody?" Brooke heard Emily wonder, and the silver ranger froze when she heard the yellow's footsteps coming closer to the closet.

Jayden heard it too, and the red and silver rangers both stiffened, a feeling of worry adding onto their embarrassment. If they got caught, Brooke knew damn well the team wouldn't let them live it down- and she would have to come up with a bullshit excuse as to why she was in a closet with Jayden. And the only excuses she could think of were not good ones. So, Brooke just squeezed her eyes shut and prayed.