Wow. I cannot believe that this is the end of Maybe Someday. I loved this fic and worked hard on it. This is the epilogue, but a few days ago I thought of a sequel. So, there will be more to this story, I promise. Okay, on with this chapter.
Epilogue: Maybe Someday
~Three weeks later~
Shane got off of his board and picked it up, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. He saw a girl with long, brown hair talking to another girl. They were whispering, and after one of them said a shocked, "He's what?!" they both sent him a dirty look. He felt confused, but made his way over.
"What did I do?" he asked them, looked as baffled as he felt. The brown haired girl lifted her chin defiantly and turned away, but the blond that she'd been talking to answered him in a haughty tone.
"You stole Jessi's boyfriend away from her," she said as if he'd done so on purpose, Jessi going "Sara, what the hell are you doing?" in an angry voice at the same time. Shane coughed and said in a choked voice, "I did what? I don't know what you're talking about."
Sara examined his face curiously. "You stole her boyfriend. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about." And with that they both flipped their hair and walked away.
Shane shook his head and thought, what, are those girls nuts? before sitting on the bench to think it over. He saw his friend Sergio skating over and few things happened at once. First was the fact that his shirt was hanging around his neck, leaving the top part of his body in perfect view. Shane felt like drooling, but kept himself from doing it, barely. The second thing was that his hair was down and shiny, and he flushed when Sergio caught him staring, and he looked down.
His thoughts were in a whirl, and he didn't notice when Sergio made his way over to him. He jumped when he felt a hand come down on his shoulder from behind. Sergio kept his hand there while he circled to the front of the bench and sat next to his friend.
"What's the matter, Shane?" he asked, his hand lightly trailing down Shane's arm until he lifted it off and turned to the side, his head tilted as he scrutinized Shane's expression.
"Just something weird. Some girl said I stole her boyfriend," Shane said, sounding indignant. He didn't notice Sergio pale slightly and swallow hard. "I don't even know who he is and I don't know what would make her think that."
Sergio took a deep breath. He felt so nervous, and he couldn't believe Jessi had confronted Shane, but there it was. "I think I can explain that, somewhat." He cleared his throat, and Shane looked at him, concerned. Sergio felt his cheeks flame, but went on, "Jessi was my girlfriend. I told her… damn it," he paused, and looked down. He was so unsure, even after seeing Shane be kissed by that guy. "I told her I was bi," the words rushed out of his mouth, and he mumbled, "She wanted to know who I ever liked, so I told her. Then she turned and screamed at me about it."
Shane was shell-shocked. Even with his attraction to guys, he'd never known about his friend. He was hurt. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" he asked, pain in his voice.
Sergio looked at him again, and raised his hand to Shane's cheek. "I didn't think anyone would understand. At least, I didn't think anyone who was straight could know. Besides, I kind of, sort of, well, liked you," if Sergio had been standing he would've been shuffling his feet. As it was he looked like a little boy caught being bad.
Shane looked vaguely happy, as if he had heard but it hadn't sunken in yet. "Wait, you like me?!" was about the only thing coming out of his mouth. Sergio looked surer of himself, now that the confession was over. "Yeah, you. I don't know, you were just such a cool person, not to mention really hot, that I just fell for you... hard. I couldn't tell you before because I didn't know which way you swung and I couldn't risk our friendship just for that."
Shane nodded, and then thought about it for a second. "What prompted you to do this now, then? I mean, you could've just kept quiet about Jessi being your ex and the whys of it all..."
Sergio smiled, unconsciously playing with his long hair, "Well, I saw you kiss that guy over on the docks and that's when I knew I had a chance. Then today when you were staring at me," he chuckled, "well, I'd been hoping for that reaction."
Shane blushed to the roots of his hair and then asked, "Wait a minute, you did that on purpose?"
Sergio grinned full out and Shane caught his breath. God he's so sexy he thought, itching to run his fingers through Sergio's long fall of hair and his hand was in the process of doing that when he stopped himself.
Sergio's eyes were warm and dark as he took Shane's hand and wove their fingers together. He leaned towards him, and then paused, "I do not want to hide this," he said, his accent getting thicker. Shane swallowed hard and nodded his agreement. Sergio leaned the rest of the way in and felt the explosion of sensation in that soft brush of lips. Soft and tender, as first kisses were, they brushed their lips together again. Their eyes met and smiles bloomed on their faces. Shane's ordeal faded in his head as Sergio showed the caring that he'd always longed for.
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Hunter closed his door and gestured nervously towards his bed. "Have a seat. You thirsty or any--" he was cut off as Cam brushed his fingers over his lips. They seared him and then Cam's lips met his and he felt heat rush through him.
Cam kept it simple and didn't push to go further, but he moaned when Hunter's hands ran through his hair, and he met Hunter's tongue in a sloppy kiss. Hunter pulled back and Cam didn't stop him but leaned his forehead against the crimson ranger's as they fought to calm themselves down. His hands were at Hunter's waist and against his warm skin. He caressed the area and Hunter snuggled his head underneath Cam's chin in the crook of his neck. They stood there for a few minutes before Hunter moved away, climbed onto his bed and waved Cam over.
They'd done this before, lay down to just hold each other. It had started directly after Jake had tried to rape Shane, and Hunter hadn't wanted to be alone. Cam had an arm underneath Hunter's shoulders and his breath puffed across his neck, causing him to close his eyes in pleasure. He fingered the small box in his pocket and drew it out.
Hunter's eyes opened at the rustling and movement, and they widened as he saw the velvet box. Cam scooted down until they were both level and he flipped the lid. There were two sterling silver bands with what looked like vines intertwined engraved into them. He sat up suddenly and Cam felt bereft with the loss of warmth. Hunter looked unsure of what the rings were for, but he had a feeling…
"They're promise rings," Cam said quietly. "I want you to know that I care about you, and that I'll be there for you." He felt sure of his feelings, but he was willing to give Hunter all the time he needed.
"I-I don't know if I can accept this," Hunter whispered. He scratched up and down his arms. "You don't know how much that means to me, that you don't see me like I see me. But I don't think I can do it, Cam. I really don't."
Cam looked at him calmly and asked, "How do you see yourself?" He closed the box and laid it on the bedside table. His hands were trembling a little. It wasn't unexpected, but it hurt all the same that the answer seemed to be no.
Hunter shook his head and drew his knees up to his chest in a protective motion. Cam didn't approach him, but he didn't back away. "I'm dirty, Cam. And you make me feel like I'm not, but it doesn't change anything that happened."
Cam crawled closer to him slowly, and sat next to him. He softly ran his fingers through Hunter's hair, down his face, across his cheeks and lips. "You think you have something to be ashamed of? I don't see how. You survived your abuse, you beat your abuser. You didn't want what happened or ask for it."
Hunter felt a tear streak down his cheek. "Some of what happened felt good. It felt good and bad and it confuses me that I could feel that way. It makes me feel—ashamed, that it could feel good."
Cam looked concerned, "Hunter, you didn't ask for it. You didn't want it to happen. Whatever he did, your body reacted. It wasn't a conscious decision. When you kiss me, hug me, do anything like that, that's a choice. You've made a choice to be with me. Jake took advantage of you, just because you were there. Don't ever think you're dirty because of that, you hear me?"
Hunter stared at him with tears in his eyes and nodded. Cam drew him down next to him again and rubbed down his side. He used his touch to comfort Hunter and he felt himself relaxing more and more. Hunter cuddled closer to him and sniffled, and there they both fell asleep.
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Seems like everyone else gets a happy ending Dustin thought bitterly. He knew they thought of him as the airhead, the stupid one, but he really was smarter than he sounded. He wanted so badly to have a happy ending of his own, but there didn't seem to be one in sight.
Marah her name popped into his head and it hurt to remember. He'd trusted her, and she had betrayed him. He got a wrench out and continued to work on his bike. A chain bit into his wrist and he cursed, dropping the wrench and getting a rag to wipe the blood off. Why didn't he get a happy ending?
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Blake and Tori sat by the lake near Ninja Ops. He'd been worried about her. Ever since their confrontation with Jake she'd been withdrawn, she wouldn't even talk to him at all. He took a deep breath and for once took the initiative.
"Tor, how're you doing? Dealing with all this, I mean," he asked in a timid voice.
"I'm just trying to get through each day. Jenny has her justice now, so that is a good thing. But I really wanted to murder him when I saw him," once the words started, they wouldn't stop. "And all I could do was restrain myself and keep from sinking to his level. But I still hurt for her, and I still feel guilty. I should've been there for her, Blake! Then maybe she would be alive today!" She had tears in her eyes, but refused to let them fall.
Blake shook his head, his chocolate brown eyes showing that he knew just how she felt. "I wish I could've killed him too. He hurt my brother in a way some people never recover from. But by not sinking to his level, we've beaten him Tor. Shane, Hunter, Jenny, the rest of us. He will never win, because A) he kept really good, detailed notes. And B) we caught him and thanks to Shane and Cam we knew where he was and made sure he couldn't do it again. So now what do we do?" He sighed, "We grieve and we go on."
Tori nodded and settled back into him, snuggled as close as she could get before she broke down and cried her heart out. His head leaned against hers, Blake let a few of his own tears of grief fall.
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Hunter woke up with Cam next to him, and blinked sleepy eyes at the clock. It was only 7. He saw track marks from tears on Cam's face and felt ravaged by guilt. He'd hurt him, and he didn't ever want to do that. He stroked his fingers down Cam's face and kissed the tears away.
Cam's arm tightened around him and rubbed his back, sending shivers up Hunter's spine. It felt good to be held. Even better to be held by this man. He leaned his head down and caught the green ranger's lips with his own, slowly bringing him into the waking world.
They kissed softly for a minute before Cam deepened it, and Hunter went along with him. Before long, Cam drew back and tried to catch his breath. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go that far," he said, his voice wary.
Hunter shook his head, his eyes full of confusion. He swung his leg over Cam's hips and sat upright, looked down with darkened eyes. He took a hold of Cam's arms and held them down before leaning down to kiss him once again.
They went on like that before once again Cam tore his head away and broke the kiss. "I can't do this, Hunter," he said, and Hunter slid down beside him again. Cam sat up next to him, and looked at him for a moment. "Will you trust me?" he asked hesitantly. When Hunter nodded, Cam used one hand only and began tracing Hunter's features.
When he reached his collarbone, Hunter had sighed and started to relax with the caresses. Cam drew the crimson shirt off of his love's body, and Hunter stiffened up again, and so Cam started over again with the caresses, at the forehead and in the hair, down the cheeks and across the lips, ticklishly down the neck and across the collarbone. On he went until Hunter was feeling like a puddle of gooey liquid.
There Cam stopped, and slid down until he could bring his arm across Hunter's midsection. Hunter didn't stiffen this time, content that they would go no further. It was different from his memories of Jake. The sure caresses from Cam had been full of tenderness and love, and had instilled in him a trust that was beyond what he'd had before.
"I love you," Cam whispered, and they both fell into a light slumber, content with what they had for the moment.
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Hey everyone. Been a long journey, but it's helped me, and I'll be starting the sequel soon. I don't think it'll be a very long sequel, but you never know. Blessings on you. 3, Chero