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�Tommy? What are you doing here?�

�I was in the neighborhood...�

I expected him to laugh and remind me that Reefside was hardly in his neighborhood, but he just stared at me, his face blank. I waited, trying to see through those veiled brown eyes, but Jason�s always been good at hiding what he feels. Over the years I�ve gotten some practice at it, too. Again I noticed the changes: the way his face had matured, the quiet confidence he had gained. There was a deeper change, too, something I couldn�t quite put my finger on, a distance that seemed to have opened up between us.

Maybe all this was a mistake. But - Jason�s visit two weeks ago had brought back so many memories, brought up so many feelings. I�d already lost most of the people who had been close to me. Gained some too, of course; Conner, Kira, and Ethan were great kids - but they were kids, and students, not friends exactly. Hayley was great, too, but our relationship was more business than personal. Everyone I had been close to was gone... moved away, drifted apart... Kim, who had broken my heart, Kat who had put it together again but found no permanent place in it. All gone.

And now Jason, the one who had been there through it all. The one who had held out his hand in friendship when he had every reason to despise me. The one who had become as close as a brother, as well as a teammate. The one who had forgiven me so easily when I took his position of leadership. The one, out of all of them, who had been most important to me, I realized now. And the one who had taken off eight years ago with only a casual goodbye, apparently leaving our friendship behind.

Then, two weeks ago, a fast phone call and a visit that was almost as fast. A visit that ended in my driveway with a handshake, and with a look on Jason�s face that said he didn�t expect to see me again. A look that held something so sad that I hadn�t been able to get it out of my mind, or to stop wondering what had gone so wrong between us. No, I couldn�t leave it like that. After two weeks of thinking, wondering, trying to make a decision, I had just jumped in my car and made the trip. No phone call, no warning; I didn�t want to give him the chance to make up some excuse. I had simply shown up at his door.

�Look, are we going to stand here all night, or are you going to invite me in?� I finally asked.

He smiled at that, and stood aside. �Sorry, I was just surprised to see you. Sure, come on in.�

I followed him into a small living room, decorated with a few discarded pieces of clothing and several magazines left lying around. The home of a man living alone. It was the same way my own house usually looked.

�Want something to drink?� Jason asked as he switched off the television.

�No, I�m fine, thanks.� We sat and looked each other over again. Now that I was here, suddenly I couldn�t think of anything to say. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, I finally came up with something. �You ever hear from the others? Trini, Zack, Billy...?�

He shrugged. �I get a card from Trini once in a while. She said Zack�s living in New York now. Billy�s still way out of town, as far as I know.�

I noticed he didn�t mention Kim. Of course, neither had I. �Funny. After everything we went through together, I thought we�d stay tight forever.�

�Things change, I guess. People change.� His eyes turned dark.

�Yeah.� And I clumsily segued into what I really wanted to talk about. �I - I thought at least the two of us would always be friends.�

That got his attention, as he frowned and answered, �We�re still friends, Tommy. What makes you think we aren�t?�

�Until two weeks ago, we saw each other exactly once in eight years, and that was only because of ranger business. You don�t return my calls. When I catch you in, you�re too busy to talk.�

He didn�t even try to look at me. �I have a lot to do, running the center. I just don�t have time.�

�Don�t give me that bull. You don�t have time to pick up the phone and talk for five minutes?�

Still refusing to meet my eyes, he said, �I just visited you, didn�t I?�

�Yeah, for about an hour. After two years. And six years before that.�

�We live in different cities, in case you haven�t noticed.�

�It�s only a couple hours drive, but you act like we�re on different planets. Why are you avoiding me like this?�

�I�m not avoiding you.�

I leaned towards him. �What is it, Jason? You said you�re over Zordon making me leader. Did I do something else? Did I say something? Whatever it is, I apologize, man. Whatever it is you�re angry about...�

�I�m not angry.�

�Then what is it?�

�Nothing. There�s nothing. Like I said, I just don�t have much spare time.�

I was on my feet, angry now myself, frustrated. �Okay, fine. You�re right, I�m just imagining the whole thing. Forget it. I won�t bother you again.�

�Tommy...� I was halfway to the door when his voice stopped me. He was standing in the middle of the living room when I looked back, his face open for once, and filled with some unhappy emotion. �Look, I don�t want you to leave like this.�

His expression made me more sure than ever that something was wrong. �Then tell me what�s going on.�

�Man... I can�t.�

�Jason, what is it?� The look on his face was starting to scare me.

�Tommy, there�s things about me you don�t know. Things you don�t want to know.�

�Are you in trouble or something? Can I help?� He turned away, hiding his reaction. I took a step back towards him. �Jase?� I asked again.

�I�m gay.�

I have to admit, it shocked me. Not that the thought had never occurred to me; it had, off and on, over the years. But I had always dismissed it as my own imagination... I just stopped and stared at him.

He turned long enough to take a quick look at me gaping at him like an idiot, and faced away again, head bent and shoulders hunched, as if he half-expected me to hit him. �If you want to leave now, I understand. No hard feelings.�

�Man, I can�t believe this. All the time we�ve known each other, and you never told me?�

�I didn�t even know myself for sure until after I left for the peace conference. And I guess I got pretty good at hiding it.�

�Damn straight. Pardon the expression.� I flopped back into a chair and tried to hold back a chuckle, but couldn�t.

Finally he turned to look at me. Whatever reaction he had been expecting, this wasn�t it. I grinned as he frowned. �Glad you think it�s so funny,� he said.

�Oh, it�s funnier than you think. Hmm. Let me see if I�ve got this right. Because you�re gay, you think we can�t be friends?�

�Well, it would be a problem, wouldn�t it?�

�Why? I have straight friends.�

His voice had a thread of anger in it now. �A lot of straight guys can�t handle it. They think you�re going to hit on them, or look at them in the locker room, or they�re just uncomfortable around you. I thought if you knew, you�d never look at me the same, but I got so tired of hiding...�

And what I had said finally hit him. I couldn�t help it, the look on his face as he did a classic double-take... I cracked up. Which only made him madder. Jason is normally a pretty even-tempered guy - which means it�s smart to take it seriously when he gets angry. I stopped laughing.

�Tommy - what the hell...? Are you telling me you�re...�

�Well, not exactly.� Now it was my turn to be embarrassed. And a little - make that a lot - nervous about how he would react. But he had been honest with me, and I had to do the same. �I - uh - go both ways.�

He stared blankly for a moment. Then, to my relief, his lips began to twitch into a smile. �You�re shittin� me. When? How?�

�When did you become gay? I was always this way.�

His smile had grown into a grin. �I never suspected.�

�Yeah. I didn�t really accept it until after you left Angel Grove the second time.�

�You and Kat...?�

�I guess that was part of the reason we broke up. I was going through a rough spot, trying to decide - well, where I was.� I looked up at him. �I think maybe it�s even harder when you�re bi than gay. I felt like I was in the middle, so to speak. Not knowing if I�m one or the other. Not belonging anywhere. Still feel like that a little.�

�I can understand that, I guess.� He gave me a thoughtful and curious stare as he sat down. �Can I ask you about it? I mean...�

I already knew what he wanted to know; they would be the same questions that the few people who knew always got around to asking, sooner or later. �Yes, I�m attracted to both men and women. I really don�t know if it�s equal, for me it depends more on the person than which sex they are. No, I don�t have to have both at the same time; when I was with Kim, and later with Kat, I didn�t want anyone else. I�ve been with a few men, but I haven�t had a serious relationship with one... yet...� His eyes flickered up to my face when I said that, an expression in them that I couldn�t quite read. A flash of something that looked almost hopeful.

We talked for hours, I don�t really know how long. By the time I left, it was like all the years we had been separated had never happened; the old feeling was back, the old friendship. But something different had been added. I can�t say exactly when it happened. Maybe when we said goodbye at his door, this time knowing it wouldn�t be for long. Maybe when I impulsively hugged him, and felt his arms go around me, and found myself not wanting to let go.

But it had definitely happened by the time we pulled back far enough to look into each others� faces, and then came together again, hesitantly. I felt the nervous impulse to laugh at the idea of Jason kissing me, and me kissing him... But when I felt the soft pressure of his lips, the heat of his body so close to mine, his tongue gently exploring just for a moment; the last thing I felt like doing was laughing.

We had our friendship back, that was the important thing. But now, there could be so much more.

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