It's Not Over, Chapter IV

Never Say Never

"Hi," he replied softly, the breath taken from his body.

Hunter inhaled shakily, his fingers twitching nervously into a fist before unclenching to unsteady hands. After all this time, here was Dustin, standing there looking more perfect than ever. His short brown hair helped frame his bone structure and magnetized every onlooker straight to his reflective amber eyes, and his golden skin seemed darker in the brilliance of the sunset behind him. Beyond the canopy of the forest behind Dustin, Hunter could see the splashes of orange, red, yellow, and pale blue, mixing like anxious swirls all trying to escape the shadow of night. On the inside, Hunter felt the same swirls of anxiety converging, bubbling up inside him like some volcano of emotion.

"You…you came."

"I had to be here for Tori's wedding."

Hunter inwardly flinched at Dustin's use of the word. It had been so long since he'd even heard Dustin's voice, let alone heard him say the word "wedding." Seeing him dressed in wedding attire certainly didn't help, that was for sure.

"I should…get going," Dustin said lowly, putting his hands in his pocket as he prepared to go.

"I miss you," Hunter interrupted, stopping Dustin in his tracks.

"I know," the other male replied, ready to exit.

"So you're just going to leave? Just like that?"

Dustin could hear the ache in his ex's voice, and it clawed at him like a talon of guilt.

"I have to be at my dad's for dinner tonight."

"I would think you'd put him before me enough times already," Hunter snapped. "Can't you at least talk to me?"

"What do you want me to say?" Dustin demanded, spinning around to face Hunter, though he was at least 30 feet away.

"Try 'I'm sorry!' That usually works for a starter. Or maybe tell me why the hell you just up and left without telling anyone anything."

"You want me to apologize for putting my family first? How selfish can you be?"

"How are you putting your family first? You'll never make them happy. You're not what he wants you to be, and at this rate, you never will be!" the blond shouted. "You still feel the exact same thing for me that I feel for you, exactly like we did two, three, four, or five months ago. So why are you trying to fight it?"

Dustin was silent. Hunter was always the better fighter, even with words, and the small amount of defenses Dustin had tried to prepare crumbled like paper walls. Self-righteousness was never his forte anyway.

"Because I have to," Dustin replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "Please don't make this harder than it has to be."

He moved to leave again, but Hunter was right behind him, his ninja speed allowing him to grab Dustin by the arm and turn him around.

"I will not let you go twice." A tense silence arrived momentarily as Hunter searched his former lover's eyes. "I love you."

As if by command, the passion they felt for one another burst forth, pushing them together in a sudden kiss. The longing and sorrow that filled them before was temporarily extinguished as they allowed the sparks between them to burn away all the pain.

They broke a few minutes later, each of them looking at the other as if enlightened.

"You know that I love you," Dustin responded, "So, I…love you enough…to let you go."

Hunter's heart sank in the depths of despair once more, his hope shattered and swept away like a long-lost whispered word. Slowly, he felt the tear ducts in his face flex. He knew what was coming.

"Don't do this, Dustin," Hunter whispered. "Don't let me go. Not again."

"I'm sorry," the shorter male said as he pulled away, their fingers slipping apart.

Hunter blinked back the wet substance behind his eyelids, Dustin suddenly becoming a blurry figure who was fading away into the distance of the wedding hall. His strength all but gone, he allowed the saline fluid to flush his face as he crumpled to the ground. From inside, he could hear the cheeriness he'd always imagined hearing at his own wedding.

—Chapter IV—

Dustin made his way through the wedding crowd, his head held uncharacteristically low. All he needed to do was find Tori and get out. He could give his best wishes, wave hello to some of her family members or his former best friends, and then he could go.

"I can't believe you're still around," Tori said softly from behind him.

He turned around to look at her, all elegant in her wedding gown and up-done shimmering blond hair.

"Yeah…I almost can't either," he said with a faint grin. "I just wanted to come say bye."

"What? You just got here!"

"I know…but I have to be at my dad's for dinner tonight."

She frowned. "Can't you at least stay for a few dances? Dinner won't be until eight at your house, and it's barely six. Stay. Please?"

He sighed. "Tor…you know why I can't stay."

"No," she said firmly, "I don't."

"Because I can't hurt Hunter like that. Just seeing me is probably worse than any laser beam being shot at him."

"And I'm supposed to believe you're just fine?"

"Agh…Tori…"

"Seriously, Dustin; this is stupid. Can't you just, you know, not tell your dad?"

He rolled his eyes. "I have to go."

"Fine," Tori conceded, though her anger was clearly audible in her tone.

He hugged her lightly and turned on his heel, only to be faced with an extremely angry looking moto-jock and former Navy Thunder Ninja.

"Oh, no," he hardly whispered.

"Oh, yes," Blake retorted hotly, grabbing Dustin's arm and leading him outside.

"Blake, I really don't have time for this, I have to—"

Dustin flew to the ground after his jaw was furiously impacted by Blake's right hand fist. His hearing was somewhat fuzzy, but he could easily make out the words of Hunter's younger brother.

"What you have to do is stop being a dick, Dustin! What has Hunter ever done to you to deserve this?"

Dustin, as he pushed himself off the cool pavement of the cathedral's steps, yelled back: "Besides try to kill me on two different counts, lie to me about his ninja training, and ask me to ditch my family?"

Blake moved to punch Dustin again, but stopped short. "You can't just throw the past in his face forever, dude. You don't know what's been going on the past few months, and it's taken its toll on all of us! Even Sensei's worried! I don't get why you can't see how stupid you're being. I mean, this is worse than that time you 'really thought Marah was good.' Do you ever use your brain?"

"Apparently not, otherwise I wouldn't have come here."

"Right, well, maybe Hunter's the stupid one for ever getting involved with you."

"Take that back!"Dustin growled under his breath.

"Don't pretend to care now, Dustin, when you didn't even have the common decency to show my brother any mercy before you left."

With a primal cry of rage, Dustin lunged at the navy ninja, smashing him into the ground. Just seconds after Dustin had flattened Blake, half the wedding party was outside staring in confusion. It was Tori's enraged cry that froze the two men where they were.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing on my wedding day?

Blake was the first to rise, tugging on his tux angrily. "Sorry, Tor…he just…"

"I just what? You're the one who went in there dead-set on dragging me out to have a little 'heart-to-heart.'"

"Would you both just stop?"

The two looked up to see Hunter at the top of the stairs, his jacket slung over his shoulder and his hair now its causal messy style.

"Bro, I was just…"

"It's fine. I'm fine. Just…let it go."

Dustin—his face throbbing, heart searing, and eyes teary—stood up, brushed himself off, and set off in a steady gait to his car.

"You're just gonna let him go again?" Blake demanded of his brother.

"There's nothing I can do."

"Bullshit! You—are—Hunter—Bradley! You're not just gonna sit there and lose over and over for absolutely nothing!"

By now, most of the wedding was outside staring, the bride simply staring after Dustin in disbelief.

"Just go talk to him," Tori encouraged finally.

Hunter sighed. "Fine."

He re-entered the cathedral, changed his clothes, and headed out before leaping on his motorcycle. "When this all falls apart, I'm gonna be calling you to come cheer me up; got that?"

Tori rolled her eyes. "Just go."

Cam shook his head as he put his hand on her shoulder. "And I thought girls were dramatic. Looks like the gays got it."

Tori lightly slapped his chest. "I take offense to that."

—Chapter IV—

Dustin slowly pulled his car into the driveway, sighing heavily as he did so. He glanced in the rearview mirror at the large red mark spreading over his jawbone, and let his head fall back into the headrest of his chair. He hardly noticed the tears trickling down his face until he sniffed, half-startling himself in the process. When he opened his eyes, he could see Janie making her way out of the garage with a knowing look on her face, her eyes full of empathy.

"How'd it go?"

He reached for her pack of cigarettes and took one with a shaky hand. She didn't hesitate to light it for him, and she was patient as he let the nicotine affect his body.

"What the fuck am I doing, Janie?" he finally asked, his voice still raw from the tears.

"Dustin…I admire what you're doing," she said apprehensively, "but…you're killing yourself."

He smirked bitterly as he inhaled again and flicked his cigarette. "Ironic," he spat, "Hunter's doing the same."

"So, fuck dad!" Janie yelled angrily. "He's gonna be pissed no matter what you do. You've known that all along."

"Yeah, but you guys are all I've got," Dustin argued as he fiddled with his cigarette, rolling it between his index and middle fingers.

"Dustin, you have so many other people who love you—especially Hunter. Make a new family and stop trying to cling to the past. If he's smart, dad will get over it; you and I are all he's got, too."

The earth ninja had never thought of it that way. As he sat in the wake of Janie's words, autonomously inhaling and flicking the nicotinic drug, he couldn't think of any solid reason to stay. A grumbling snapped him from his thoughts as a motorcycle pulled in behind his SUV. Dustin hardly had to check his side mirrors to know Hunter had followed him.

Janie took her queue and briskly headed inside, but not before giving Dustin's leg a reassuring squeeze.

Opening his door and taking his last drag, Dustin stood and tossed his cigarette butt into the yard, facing Hunter.

"Dustin, look," Hunter began, "I know you think your family's all you've got; and maybe you're right in putting them first. But, maybe you're not giving me enough credit—maybe you're not letting me even try to fight for you. All I know is that I deserve a chance—after everything we've been through, I think I've earned that much."

Dustin was mulling over in his head everything he'd heard in the past 24 hours—hell, the past 4—and he realized nothing was going to change if he didn't take action. Sitting passively was no longer an option.

"I know you say you've let me go, but—"

Soft lips that had been absent a lover's kiss for too long took Hunter's in a familiar and welcoming way, and the thunder ninja responded heatedly as he grasped to Dustin for dear life.

When the two of them parted, letting their baited breath loose from their seared lips, Dustin silently uttered to his partner—his fiancé—one simple sentence: "I'll never let you go again."