In Too Deep

Summary – "Determination becomes obsession and then it becomes all that matters."-Jeremy Irvine. When does a simple crush turn into something more sinister? Billy understands that the best way to turn down unwanted advances is to be nice about it. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to help.

Chapter 01

Billy wouldn't ever really say he was shy.

It was just that there were some instances and social aspects he didn't particularly enjoy putting himself in.

Parties for example.

Kim tried to drag him and the rest of their friends to parties as much as she could. Yes, they were the kind of parties that had his classmates drinking until they passed out or hooked up on couches, in bedrooms, and in doorways. There were some parts of those parties he enjoyed; being able to hang out with people he wouldn't usually associate himself with in a casual setting, where he didn't have to worry about being a power rangers.

Yes, some of them were actually enjoyable, when drinking was down to a minimum and the party goers were hanging out with each other. He had moments where he was willing to step out of his comfort zone and enjoy himself a little, but there was still a more logical part of him that knew it wasn't really where he belonged.

It was the same instance with dating.

He had watched Kimberly flirt with guys and Jason and Zack flirt with girls and wondered what it was about him that many girls weren't interested in. While his friends had started to gather crushes in middle school, he was busy tinkering with his next invention or working on a science experiment watching his own crushes from afar. Wondering what it would be that would finally have girls change their minds about him. Then it had just happened that when he had gotten into high school and more girls found him interesting. Marge was the first one that had seemed to really see him. He had dated her for a while, and then there was Laura, and there was Melissa—he and the deaf young lady had gone out on a few dates but decided they were better off as friends. And that list wasn't including the few other girls he had met through Kimberly and Trini.

It hadn't mattered much to him at the time, what other girls thought, when he had started to notice the attention that Trini had given him. She was, arguably, the closest friend he had out of the original group and she seemed to have the same feelings for him. But he was skeptical about it. Why would someone as beautiful and graceful as her want to go out with out with him? To put it mildly, he had been confused when she had, in a way, asked herself out for him. Trini was beautiful, kind, smart, and willing to keep other's feelings in check in comparison with her own.

What would she like about him?

A shy guy that preferred to tinker with his toys in his garage laboratory or in the Command Center. A bit of a hermit, if he was honest with himself. And yet, she always had that special smile; eyes sparkling and dimples appearing in her cheeks that only she seemed to manage to do for him. The other smiles she gave out paled in comparison.

They had their own set of problems; Trini's parents had wanted her to date a Vietnamese man and were very vocal about their not approving of the relationship. But they had dated anyway, and while their relationship had continued to grow, they were aware things would end and it had when Trini decided to go to Vietnam with her family. They had parted on amicable terms, he respected her decision they were still friends. However with her leaving as well as leaving the team with Jason and Zack—who were soon replaced by Rocky, Adam, and Aisha—he found himself alone again. So much so that he hadn't realized that he had developed feelings for his best friend, orange ranger Avalon Mitchell, until it nearly smacked him over the head one day. He had been working on her communicator in his lab and, after having had a conversation with Kimberly, when he had suddenly thought about it. It wasn't a question as to whether or not he did like her, but a confirmation. He had kept it quiet as long as he could before telling the guys.

And now it was all he could think about. Not because he, particularly, was that sentimental or cared more than Kim did. But because Tommy, Rocky, and Kim had been pestering him about it all day.

Thankfully, the orange ranger—and his housemate—had an early doctor's appointment that day so he didn't have to suffer from even more embarrassment.

Still, he couldn't ignore the sly looks the white and pink rangers sent his way and the questions that the red ranger had constantly bombarded him with. If it wasn't for Adam—the black ranger, and Aisha—the yellow ranger, telling them to give him some space, he was sure he would have lost his cool for one of the first times in his life.

He had just arrived at the youth center and changed into his workout clothes, leaving to go to the workout floor when Rocky appeared in front of his face once more.

"C'mon man, you have to give me something," Rocky pleaded. "Some sort of information." He reached out and grabbed onto Kimberly's arm, pulling her to his side. As if on cue, the corners of the pink ranger's mouth turned down into a pout as Rocky pointed at her. "See? Kim's starting to lose that pretty smile of hers because you won't tell her anything."

Billy smirked at Kimberly, reaching out a hand and pressing his fingers into the corners of her mouth and pushing them upwards. "Then she's just going to have to get over it." Kimberly's pout deepened and she pushed his hand away, sticking her nose in the air as she turned back to her boyfriend, looping her arm through his.

Tommy laughed, putting his arm around Kimberly, a comforting gesture which she rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek.

Turning so that he was walking backwards, facing his friends, Billy frowned. "I already told you that I'm not comfortable with expressing my feelings as openly as some of you are," he said. "I just hope that you would treat me with the respect I show all of you." He suddenly stumbled, having bumped into someone.

Adam and Aisha reached out, grabbing onto his arms and pulled him upright before he hit the floor. The sound of items clattering to the floor had grabbed his attention and he immediately whirled around, spotting Violet McKinley lying on the floor, fumbling to put her glasses back on her face. Once they were settled she looked up, bright eyes widening when she potted the blue ranger. "O-Oh! Billy…"

"My apologies, Violet, I didn't see you there," Billy apologized. He reached down and started to gather her pencils and papers together, moving quickly so he could grab them before they blew across the hallway.

"It's OK," Violet replied with a shy smile. She tucked some of her shoulder-length chestnut hair behind her ear. "I wasn't watching where I was going. I'm just excited to get some work done on my art project." She gave Billy a meaningful smile and he gave a half-hearted one in reply.

Behind him, he could hear Kimberly and Tommy try to stifle a laugh.

Oh yes, that sculpture she had made of him, depicting him as a gold power ranger. As she had explained it, he had all of the qualities she believed a power ranger should have. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the thought she had put into her work, he had just been too shy to explain how…peculiar it was to him to be built up like that. It was different when he was a hero that little kids looked up to him to be. But to be, in a way, put on a pedestal of someone else's ideals, the romantic undertones was something he couldn't miss.

"I'm sure it's something the class would find enjoyable," Billy said. He handed her things back to her, before standing up. He smiled at her.

"Thanks." Violet tucked her hair behind her ear once more, fastening her headband so it wouldn't come loose again. "Th-that's very nice of you to say."

"Well, you know Billy," Kimberly said, coming up to the blue ranger's side. She threw her arm around his upper back, gently rubbing it. "He's always been such a nice, caring guy. Any girl would be lucky to have him."

"You're right," Violet agreed.

Billy only smiled throughout the exchange. He was never entirely sure how to react to outright compliments like that. Though he would admit he had been getting more and more female attention since he had taken Jason's martial arts classes as well as some lessons with Trini's Uncle Howard.

He opened his mouth to respond, and then his gaze shifted down the hallway when he noticed Avalon arriving at the Youth Center. She seemed not to have noticed him as she turned her backpack to her look inside it.

"Would you excuse me?" He asked Violet, turning his attention back to her. "I'll, uh; I'll see you in art class."

"Sure, Billy," Violet replied. She clutched her books to her chest, gazing dreamily up at him.

Billy stepped around her and took a deep breath before walking up the hallway towards his friend. "Hey, Ava," he greeted her.

Avalon turned from her locker and gave him a wide smile. "Hey Smurf," she replied. She leaned into him and gave him a hug, which he returned. She pulled back, keeping an arm gently, loosely wrapped around his waist.

"How's your shoulder?" Billy asked. "What'd the doctor say?"

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Physical therapy for a shoulder is not the top of my 'fun things to do' list, yeah?" she admitted. "Especially this one nurse that likes to give me shots, I'm sure she has some sort of sadistic fascination with watching me wince in pain." She ran her free hand through her hair. "Otherwise, I'll be apples."

"That's good," Billy said. "You have ample time for it to heal and you've been diligent about being back to one hundred percent." Reaching up a hand, he rubbed the back of his neck as he gave her a meaningful look.

"What's up, Billy?" Avalon studied him with her eyes.

Billy cleared his throat, lowering his hand from his neck. "Well, we're having another movie night this weekend and it's our turn to host. We just have to figure out which movie it's going to be this time and I thought I'd give you and Kim ample time to argue about it."

"As long as it's anything but that mush of a horror film that Pinkerbell made us watch last time," Avalon said loud enough for the pink ranger to hear.

Knowing their cover was blown, Kimberly let out aloud huff as she walked over to the blue and orange rangers. "It was Gone with the Wind!" She exclaimed. "And that's a classic movie! I mean, Tommy liked it." She turned to her boyfriend, who gave her a bright smile in return. When she turned away, Tommy shook his head.

"And I'm surprised I wasn't Gone with the Wind of my snoring," Avalon shot back. She exchanged a smirk with Billy, who pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. "Now, if this topic of conversation is over, I bet the rest of you are dying to hear how my shoulder's doing."

"I'm glad it's feeling better," Billy said. He could tell she was doing her best to act all nonchalant about their situation and that was something he thought was funny about the orange range. She could handle attention well and was good at getting her way, but when it was something she didn't find to be a big deal or knew it'd bring her emotions into, she would downplay it as much as she could.

"Me too," she said.

"Now I'm interested in this," Aisha said, popping up at the rangers' side as Kimberly had just watched the two of them interact with each other, a big smile on her face. Her eyes shifted back and forth as the blue and orange rangers continued to talk.

"Me too!" Kimberly agreed. She and the yellow ranger looped their arms through Avalon's and started to drag her backwards down towards the girls' locker room. "So, tell us everything! I want to know every last detail."

"How about we start with not wearing down the rubbers of my shoes," Avalon protested. Rocky, Adam, and Tommy, and Billy laughed as they watched the girls. "Hey boofheads, I just got told by the doctor that I can't lift for a few days. So unless you want to injure me even more…" Avalon pointed in the opposite direction where the boys were standing."

"Oh yeah."

"Woops."

The pink and yellow rangers let go of the orange ranger and smiling, the three of them walking back over to the boys. "I'm sure that didn't help my shoulder much," Avalon said, rolling it as she walked along.

"As long as you follow the rules the doctor gave you and continue to ice it, it should heal properly," Billy said.

"Speaking of which." Avalon slipped her backpack off her shoulders and held it out to him. "I'm not supposed to carry a lot of weight and I figured you wouldn't mind holding this for me." She gave him a sweet smile.

Billy watched her sweet expression for a moment, feeling his cheeks flush, then chuckled and took the backpack from her as Rocky noted, "He doesn't really have a choice in the matter does he?"

"No," Avalon said simply. She laughed along with the rangers and fell in step with them as they headed off to the workout floor. She fell into step beside Billy and looped her arm through his, hesitating a moment before bringing her hand down and lacing her fingers through his.

"Well, finally!" Rocky declared, throwing his hands in the air. "At least we get something!"

"Leave them alone, Rocko," Aisha said. She walked over to the red ranger and gently shoved him on the shoulder, propelling him backwards.

Rocky's eyes widened in disbelief as Adam chuckled. "Who was the one that was just dragging her down the hallway?"

"That's different!"

"How?"

Billy smiled, exchanging a knowing glance with Tommy; both having the same thought of how easily excitable and rambunctious the new rangers were with every little thing. Sure, things had been awkward when they had first replaced Jason, Trini, and Zack, but at least they were getting used to each other and working well as a team when the time came.

Tommy, Rocky, and Adam went off to get some practice pads so that they could practice martial arts, Aisha went to lift weights, and Kimberly started to get the gymnastics equipment put together. Billy walked Avalon over to the table the rangers usually occupied and let go of her hand. He handed over her backpack and smiled at her again as she sat down before he went to join the other boys.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Violet looking at him. Billy turned to her and she smiled, cheeks flushing, and turned away.

Billy smiled back and turned away as well.

If only he knew the sort of trouble he had just gotten himself in to. Because not only was Violet watching him but she was seething with anger.

Did she really see Billy walking into the youth center holding hands with Avalon? Weren't they just friends? Well, Billy did stand her up for a date to the movies. He hadn't said anything about it either. No phone call to set up a different day to go out, no apology, nothing. But she understood, he was probably still reeling from the loss of his mother and was taking any sort of comfort he could get.

She could understand that.

Billy would never try to purposefully hurt her or anyone. She knew that. He was always sweet that way. That's what she really liked about him.

It was something he was going to like about her too.

A/N: Eh, my first chapters are always short. This was an idea I got off of a dream I had, actually, and I realized it would work well for Billy and Violet, so here you go. This story is centered on Billy and Violet, so working from their heads shall be pretty interesting.

I hope you guys liked the first chapter.

~Avalon