Disclaimer: Buena Vista owns the Power Rangers. No profit from or offense intended to Motel 6, Disney, Looney Tunes, the AMA, or ESPN. Thanks to Adri for phone calls, text messages, and typo-spotting.
"Hey, Power Rangers," Blake remarked. He had his arms crossed, tapping the remote against his shoulder idly as he considered the TV screen. "Who is this? They were right before us, right?"
Hunter glanced over at the TV just as the Red Ranger skidded to a stop in front of the camera. "Yeah," he agreed. "Cole and Taylor."
Blake backed up, gaze still fixed on the screen, and sat absently down on the end of the bed. Then he frowned, looking over his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, Hunter saw him stare at the "strip" card before standing up again. "I shouldn't sit on this bed, should I."
Hunter shook his head, not looking away from the TV.
Blake sighed, grabbing the single chair from beside the bureau and pulling it around in front of the TV. "All right, so Cole and Taylor defeating the pollution monsters, or something else? There's gotta be some anime on."
"I miss the Looney Tunes," Hunter said abruptly.
Blake just shook his head, changing the channel. "You're a looney tune."
"No, I'm just saying," Hunter protested, dropping onto the end of the unmade bed. "Saturday morning cartoons used to be funny. What happened to that?"
"PC, man," Blake told him. "PC. You can't blow up cute woodland creatures on kids' shows anymore, whether they talk or carry dynamite or whatever."
"But they can show Power Rangers?"
Blake just shrugged. "You're still allowed to blow up 'monsters', I guess."
Hunter watched the shows flip by. Everything was dark, dramatic, or too witty to be laugh-out-loud humor. "I miss cute woodland creatures with dynamite," he said with a sigh.
They eventually came back to Cole, Taylor, Wonder Girl and the Wuss Boys. There was some sort of marathon on, and critiquing the other teams' fighting styles kept them busy for quite a while. He kept track of the half hours as they trickled past, and every time they were voices in the hall he looked up. Which was ridiculous, of course, because Cam wouldn't be coming back with company. But he looked up anyway.
"They've got it rough this year, huh?" Blake asked, as the ten-thirty show wound down.
At the same time, Hunter demanded, "All right, where the fuck is Cam?"
They just looked at each other for a moment, and Hunter shook his head. "Don't say it," he warned.
"It's not even eleven o'clock," Blake pointed out mildly.
"Which, for Cam, is cutting it pretty close," Hunter retorted. "I'm gonna call Shane and Dustin."
"Bro." Blake stopped him with a look. "They're down the hall. Let's just go see them, and if Cam's not there, then you can start freaking out."
"I'm not freaking out," Hunter grumbled. "I'm just saying. He's not usually late."
"And you're not usually a mother hen," Blake countered. "Things change."
"Not these things," Hunter said darkly.
Blake just shook his head, and of course he was right. When Shane opened the door to room 120, there was Cam on the floor in the background, sitting with his back up against one of the beds while Dustin hung over his shoulder. Cam was holding a comic book in the way that only Cam could, the way that said "I am not actually involved with this non-literary piece of work, I am only studying it as an interesting cultural phenomenon."
Dustin lay on his stomach on the bed behind him, paying no attention to Cam's obvious skepticism. He was enthusiastically describing some plot point or character element, leaning over Cam's shoulder to illustrate the story with his finger. Cam seemed to be paying little if any attention to the narrative, focusing solely on the comic book in his hands... he didn't look up as Hunter and Blake followed Shane into the room.
Even Dustin looked up. He waved an absent greeting to them, at which point Cam did deign to lift his head. His gaze slid across Hunter and Blake, a polite acknowledgement that didn't involve any actual interaction. Then he asked Dustin to repeat what he had just said, and that was all the greeting they got.
"So, where are we going to eat?" Shane was asking. It might have been directed at everyone, but he was looking at Blake and no one else was listening anyway.
Blake answered, but Hunter was distracted by Cam passing the comic book back to Dustin and remarking that he needed to get his wallet. He had left the room without his wallet? Where had he been all morning? He certainly hadn't been here that long, not if he was still patient enough with Dustin to ask him about comic books.
Again, Hunter got nothing but brief eye contact as Cam headed for the door. Shane and Dustin didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, but Blake glanced over at him as the door closed behind Cam. Okay, so he wasn't just being paranoid. Cam really was giving him the cold shoulder.
"I'll be right back," he informed the room at large. He walked out without waiting for a response.
Before the door shut, though, he heard Dustin ask, "Dude, did we miss something?"
Yeah, Dustin, he thought. Did we ever miss something.
Cam was fast, he'd give him that. He must have just disappeared into the lobby when Hunter left Shane and Dustin's room, and he was gone from there when Hunter entered. Hunter was in time to hear the door to 111 click shut as he stepped into the hallway, and he wondered if he was going to have to hold Cam down in order to have a conversation with him.
Cam had one of the drawers open when Hunter stalked in--of course, because Cam would never do something so irresponsible as to leave his wallet sitting out in plain sight. The list of things Cam Would Never Do was growing by leaps and bounds this morning. And he couldn't say that it wasn't irritating him, either. Things that had stopped driving him crazy years ago were suddenly as noticeable as the scratches on his bike.
Cam's expression was perfectly neutral when he looked up. Or, if it was anything, it was politely surprised at his presence. No resignation, no dismay... not even an honestly startled look, which meant that either he had expected Hunter to follow him, or he was controlling his expression that carefully. That was definitely a Bad Sign.
"Are you avoiding me?" Hunter blurted out.
Cam frowned a little, and it was an annoyingly distant look. "No. I'm getting my wallet." As if to prove his point, he held it up before putting it in his pocket and closing the drawer. "Happy?"
"No." He crossed the distance in three strides, invading Cam's space without apology and staring down at him to emphasize their closeness. He was willing to bet they couldn't move without coming into contact--and Cam had gone just as still as he was. "I want to talk about this."
Cam didn't blink. "That surprises me," he said dryly.
Sure it did. Very funny. Ha ha.
"Look," Hunter began, frowning at him. "Last night--"
"I know," Cam interrupted. The flippant note was gone from his voice, but his dark gaze was as inscrutable as ever. "It won't happen again."
What? Had he gotten to that part yet? No. Cam was not allowed to skip ahead. Especially when there was only one real response to a statement like that. "Why not?" Hunter demanded.
The stoic expression slipped, taking him by surprise. "Get out of my face, Hunter!"
Too startled to comply, he could only watch as Cam retreated to a safer distance and refused to meet his eye. "It was my fault," he muttered, apparently talking to the bed. "I was going through some stuff, and I'm sorry I dragged you into it. It won't happen again."
Oh, so that was what the script looked like, was it?
"Nice speech," Hunter sneered. Leaning back against the bureau in a half-hearted attempt to look unimpressed, he added, "Stupid, but nice."
"It's true," Cam snapped, provoked into catching his eye.
God, he hoped not. "Let's say it was your fault," Hunter agreed. "You dragged me into it kicking and screaming. Fine. But you know what? I wasn't the one looking like a sex toy, and you weren't the one who'd had a few beers. Which means you did it on purpose and completely sober.
"Which is how you do most things," he admitted, almost as an afterthought. "But the point is, if it happened once, it's gonna happen again. And honestly, I wouldn't mind if it did!"
He hadn't meant to say that. Cam was still bristling over the first part of his tirade, though, so it was possible that it might slip by unnoticed. Cam got mad over the smallest things.
"First off," he said icily, enunciating each word. "I did not look like a sex toy."
"Yes you did," Hunter interrupted impatiently.
"No. I didn't. And second, I'm not incapable of learning from my mistakes!"
It wasn't a mistake. He wanted to say it aloud, but something told him he would regret going there on so many different levels. "It wasn't a mistake," he blurted, wishing his mouth ever listened to his brain. "It felt... it felt good, all right?"
Cam folded his arms, seeming to withdraw from him without moving. "There are better reasons for sex than just feeling good," he muttered.
"Like what!" Hunter demanded crossly. Damn him for being calm and adult about this!
"Like being in love!" Cam shouted. That was the end of the calmness, but Hunter was too flustered to enjoy it.
"Sex and love are totally different things," he informed Cam. "They have nothing to do with each other. Sex is one thing and love is--" He fumbled for a moment, then finished awkwardly, "something totally different."
"Yeah," Cam agreed, glowering at him. Something in there had earned him a full-out glare, and it was kind of disturbing. "That's my point."
"It's a bad one!" Hunter exclaimed. "Who cares what we do as long as we know what it means! Friends can have sex, okay--it happens!"
"You're not listening," Cam said quietly. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Hunter, but now his look seemed to go through him instead of seeing him. "I care."
"Oh, believe me, I'm listening," Hunter retorted. That look was too much. "My morning has sucked because I listened to you last night, when you first dumped this 'love' crap on me. I guess my reaction isn't up to your standards!"
Cam had gone very, very still. "What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about," Hunter snapped. "I wasn't asleep, Cam."
That expression could have been carved in stone. "You could have said something."
"What the fuck do you say to something like that! 'Gee, thanks a bunch.' 'Okay, well, glad to hear it!' I had no idea, and if you really want to know, I'm not any closer to knowing now than I was then!"
"I didn't mean for you to hear that," Cam told the wall behind his head.
"Then next time don't say it!" Hunter shot back.
"There won't be a next time." Cam seriously looked like he was turning into a statue. "I told you, we're done. It never should have happened, and it definitely won't happen twice."
"What do you mean, 'we're done'?" Hunter asked warily. "We... go back to being friends, right?"
The first sign of emotion flickered on Cam's face then, a bit of hope in an otherwise bleak expression. "Yeah," he said softly. "Friends. If you're still cool with that."
"I am if you are," Hunter said, watching him carefully.
"I am," Cam replied, a little too quickly. "I just--yeah. I am."
What had he started to say? Hunter couldn't bring himself to ask. He knew he should; he knew he would regret not asking later, but he couldn't do it. "Great," he told Cam. "Then let's go get some breakfast."
"Oh, sure." Cam didn't miss a beat. "Because I can't wait to see where we end up with Shane and Dustin controlling the vote."
As he headed for the door, Hunter put out a hand to stop him. But he hesitated just short of actually touching him and Cam didn't pause, not seeming to notice. How did he turn it on and off like that? One second he was Angry Cam, to whom Hunter couldn't say anything right, and the next he was just Cam again, calm and wisecracking and maybe a little more subdued than usual.
He didn't hold the door, Hunter couldn't help noticing. He just pushed it farther open and let it go, so that Hunter could catch it as he stepped out into the hallway. Didn't mean anything, of course. Who did that, anyway--held the door for another guy? It was just weird.
Blake and the others were waiting in the lobby. Dustin was actually chatting up the girl at the desk while Shane and Blake argued over the coffee, and Hunter went over to join them. He was glad there was something so concrete to distract him--he really wanted coffee, suddenly. And it was free. How much better did life get?
His gaze tracked back toward Cam automatically. Okay, maybe it got a little better than free coffee. But at this point he'd take what he could get.
"We're gonna hit the sub shop again," Blake was telling him. "We figured, everyone agreed yesterday. Sound okay?"
"Yeah, sure." Hunter gulped a mouthful of too-hot coffee, swallowing as fast as he could. It didn't keep the bitter liquid from burning his mouth.
Blake was giving him an odd look. "Since when do you drink black coffee?"
Hunter shrugged. "We ready to go? When's Grandma supposed to get here?"
"She's gonna call before she leaves," Blake answered, glancing around the lobby. "Sometime around one, I hope. We're supposed to meet Rosie by two, and you know how long it takes Grandma to get places."
"Maybe we should go to her instead of having her come to us," Hunter suggested, taking another swallow of coffee. He wasn't going to be able to taste anything at this rate, but it kept him occupied.
"We're not allowed at the apartment. I'll tell her to meet us at the church if she calls too late." He turned a little, raising his voice. "Dustin, you ready?"
"Yeah dude, say the word," Dustin answered over his shoulder.
"I'm saying it," Blake informed him. "You guys want to ride with me?" he asked, looking from Dustin to Shane.
"Sounds good," Shane agreed, straightening up as Dustin wandered over to join them. Shane had a cup of coffee in his hand too, but he had obviously chosen the more rational route and was waiting for it to cool down. "We'll meet you there," he told Hunter, nodding at Cam as he passed.
"Yeah, I'm starving," Dustin complained, trailing along after them as they headed for the door. "Do you think we could call in an order on the way and get them to have it ready for us?"
"Cheap coffee," Cam remarked. He fell into step beside Hunter as they all milled across the lobby.
"Easy caffeine," Hunter countered. He offered the cup to Cam without thinking, and to his surprise, Cam took it.
Cam took an absent sip before frowning and passing it back. "Too hot," he said, catching the door when Blake let it go and waiting for Hunter to go through. "How can you drink it like that?"
Hunter just shrugged again, ignoring the look Blake threw his way as they passed his car. "Remember where it is?" his brother called.
Hunter waved at him, avoiding his gaze as best he could. It wasn't like they didn't share drinks all the time. It was only practical. He didn't know what Blake was smirking about.
He unlocked Cam's door and went around to the driver's side, watching Shane and Dustin fight over the front seat a few vehicles down. "We could beat them there, easy," he remarked as he climbed into the truck and put his coffee down. "You want to just go?"
"Fine by me," Cam answered, fastening his seatbelt. "I'm hungry."
"You didn't eat?" Hunter started the truck and put his hand on the back of Cam's seat, suddenly aware of how close it made them as he backed out. Cam didn't look at him and he didn't look at Cam, settling back into his seat as he shifted gears. "Where'd you go this morning, anyway?"
Cam put his window down part way without bothering to check the air conditioning. He really was distracted. "For a walk," he said evasively.
"For three hours?" Hunter wanted to know. "Must have been some walk."
"Yeah," Cam agreed. He was staring out the window now, the same way Hunter had been earlier. "It was."
Hunter glanced in the rearview mirror for any sign of Blake's car. "Want to talk about it?" he inquired, gaze sliding over Cam before returning to the road. He looked thoughtful but not sullen. Not as sullen as Cam could look, anyway.
Cam faced forward at last, eyes on the windshield and a half-smile on his face. "We already did," he replied.
"Oh." Hunter considered that with a frown. "Want to talk about it some more?"
Cam shook his head. "Not really," he said, sounding noticeably more amused. "Thanks anyway."
Hunter shot a quick look in his direction, just to reassure himself. Of what, he didn't know... but Cam was still Cam. With the same superintelligent air and smartass comments, the same unexpected intensity, the same silence, the same temper. The respectable front he put on for the rest of the world, when behind it he was thinking the same thing Hunter was: ya think this matters to me?
So why did he seem so different, suddenly?
Now... Hunter kept his eyes on the road, but he knew. He had known all morning; he just didn't want to think about it. Now Cam was possible. He was within reach. He was available, and maybe all Hunter had to do was say he wanted him.
Damn it. Now he was worried about losing something he had never known he had. Could have. Could have had, if he wasn't so stupid. You didn't just jump into bed with someone you were trying to--
But he wasn't. He wasn't trying to start a relationship with Cam. It was just as impossible as it had been before. Whether he wanted Cam or not, Cam wanted love. And that was something Hunter couldn't give.
Could he?
"Try not to miss the entrance this time," Cam remarked.
The warning was probably a good thing, not that he would tell Cam that. He hadn't been paying any attention, and the exit really was a lot more visible than the entrance. He tried to brake hard without making it look like he was surprised, but he saw Cam smirk out of the corner of his eye.
It was too strange, too normal, to be getting out of the truck with Cam at some unfamiliar stop on the side of the road. Whenever Cam had time off he would come along for the ride, and Hunter had gotten used to road trips being one more thing they shared. There was an enforced closeness that came with it, a dependence created by traveling together, and if they argued more than they agreed then they had at least found a way to tolerate it. He didn't even notice the way they worked together anymore.
Now, as Cam locked the door without being asked and slammed it behind him, putting his hands in his pockets as he came around the front of the truck, he noticed. He noticed that Cam didn't look up, just took for granted that Hunter would be there, that they would go in together. He noticed Cam's surprise when he hesitated by the driver's side door, trying to figure out why it mattered.
He didn't know why. It just did.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he wanted to know.
Cam just looked at him for a moment. "You weren't exactly thrilled," he pointed out. Transferring his gaze to the ground, he added with a shrug, "I kind of expected that."
Hunter frowned. "You didn't want me to be mad."
"Actually, I didn't want to be embarrassed," Cam said dryly. "But if you want to think it's all about you, go right ahead."
Hunter didn't know what to say to that, and they just stood there for a moment, silent. Awkward. It wasn't the first time, but he'd at least gotten to the point where it didn't matter. Cam turned him on. He knew that, and he was pretty sure Cam knew it. But it hadn't mattered before, because they both knew where they stood.
He'd thought they knew, anyway.
Finally Cam offered, "I know, I can't... look, just ignore it, okay? I do. And it's fine."
"Fine for who?" What kind of a secret was that to keep, anyway? "Me, or you? And how long have you... y'know," he finished uncomfortably. "How long?"
"None of your business," Cam snapped. "If I'd wanted you to know I'd have told you before now."
Blake's car was pulling into the space on the other side of the truck, and Hunter stifled his retort with an effort. He hadn't even seen the car turn into the parking lot, but its presence effectively ended the conversation. He frowned over at Cam, who wasn't looking at him anymore. What was that supposed to mean, anyway?
"Hey, Hunter," Shane called, putting his hands on the top of the car as he hauled himself out. "You ever heard of a thing called the speed limit?"
"Nah, man, he doesn't believe in that stuff," Blake teased, following suit.
"It's like his job to break it," Dustin pointed out, as they gathered by the curb.
"I was doing the speed limit," Hunter informed them, deciding to ignore Cam. "Just because some people can't get out of a parking lot in under ten minutes doesn't mean I have speed issues."
"Harsh, bro," Blake said with a grin. He turned around to face them, walking backward through the door to the shop. "We don't have your experience. I swear you guys were in that truck and gone before I even opened the door!"
"We didn't have to argue over who rode shotgun," Cam observed. "And you threw Dustin and Shane off by offering to drive."
The little shop was maybe half full as they shuffled in, the Saturday lunch crowd apparently mingling with the late breakfasters to produce a decent number of patrons. There were several people at the counter in front of them, but Dustin was distracted by the shotgun argument and Hunter figured he might as well get in line. He studied the menu again, listening idly while the conversation continued behind him.
Shane and Dustin were actually discussing whether it was more logical for either of them to claim the front seat when neither of them was driving. What were they, twelve? It was like they had never grown up, just learned bigger words and longer sentences to cover the fact that they still acted like teenagers.
Of course, maybe he didn't have any room to talk there.
He hated this. He hated second-guessing himself. He didn't do it, as a general rule. Things that were past were over, and if he could have said or done something better, well, he would do it that way next time. He didn't like trying to fix things he'd already done--but he couldn't help feeling like he wouldn't get another chance to do this particular thing right. If only he knew what the right way was.
They ended up pushing two tables together so that everyone had a place to put their food. Cam sat down next to Hunter, which normally he would have expected but today made him just a little uncomfortable. One more thing he tried to overlook while Shane struggled with his juice cap and Dustin asked Blake about the honeymoon.
"Tori's grandparents have a time share in Santa Monica," Blake said, popping his own drink open with ease and smirking at Shane. "We're leaving tomorrow morning, and we'll get back next Sunday."
"The week before classes start, right?" Shane finally pried the cap off his juice and set the bottle down with a thump. "Why don't you just stay till you have to come back?"
"Tor's got some job training that week." Blake was talking around a mouthful of food, but he managed to convey his disgust at the idea nonetheless. "Plus, it's supposed to give us time to 'settle in.'"
"Dude, you're settled," Dustin pointed out. "You've been living together since June."
Blake shook his head, swallowing and reaching for his drink. "You don't have to tell me," he said. "She thinks it's gonna be different, somehow. I guess it's a girl thing."
"Speaking of girls," Cam remarked, after they had all shared a moment of silence for this regrettable truth. "Watch out for the skaters in Santa Monica."
Hunter found himself coughing, unfortunately drawing everyone's attention and earning a snicker from Cam. He'd been successfully ignoring him until that point, but it was an inescapable fact that Cam did not like being ignored. In retrospect, the whole thing was a lose-lose situation.
"What's wrong with skaters in Santa Monica?" Dustin asked, the picture of innocence.
Hunter made an attempt to clear his throat. He reached for his drink, cleared his throat again, and wondered if not answering was an option. If Cam was trying to embarrass him, he didn't have to make it worse by participating. Right?
"Nothing," Cam said, toying with his breakfast as though it was the most important part of the conversation. "Unless you happen to be a nationally acclaimed motocross rider."
"Bro?" Blake prompted. "What'd you do, bag on street skaters or something?"
"Hey, she was not a street skater," Hunter retorted. "She was a chick with wheels who thought the boardwalk was hers to terrorize."
"And the boardwalk included Hunter," Cam added, abandoning his attitude of studied indifference. "Apparently she'd 'always' been interested in motocross and she thought he could teach her a thing or two."
"I could have," Hunter added darkly. "Stop smirking. You could have done something other than laugh, you know."
"She hit on you," Blake guessed with a grin.
"No," Hunter grumbled.
"Yes," Cam said at the same time. "She did more than hit on him. She was all over him and he was totally oblivious. He almost agreed to sleep with her before he figured out what she was asking."
"I did not," Hunter complained, shifting in his chair. "She was wearing an AMA t-shirt, all right? I thought she was a groupie!"
"She was a groupie," Cam pointed out. Shane was trying to swallow his laughter, but Blake was chortling without remorse. "She was just drooling over something other than your motocross skills. You're usually quicker than that about women," he noted.
"She was wearing the AMA logo!" Hunter repeated. He felt this was important and underrated. "She recognized my face! I expected her to know something about me!"
"She must have thought the whole gay thing was a cover," Blake offered, still laughing. "I mean, it's gotta be a good way to keep the chicks under control!"
"Even after that stunt with Charlie," Cam commented blandly.
"The what with who?" Even Shane was curious now, and Hunter was going to kill Cam.
"Hey, yeah!" Dustin would remember that. He had probably been watching. "Charlie Evans beat you that time at Sacramento, and you flipped him off--"
"We were dating at the time," Hunter interrupted. "He knew I was just messing with him!"
"Which he proved by kissing you in front of every camera there," Cam finished.
Hunter sighed, wondering how much more embarrassment it would take before Cam was satisfied. "It wasn't a big deal," he muttered, frowning at Shane's nonplussed expression.
"Dude, you were on the ESPN highlights for days!" Dustin exclaimed. "That was hilarious! I made my sister watch it," he added carelessly. "She never believed you were really... well, you know."
"Gay," Hunter snapped. "Yeah, I know. Thanks for reminding me. Sometimes I forget. Luckily I have Cam here to point it out every other second."
"Hey, I was just telling the story," Cam defended himself. "It didn't have anything to do with being gay or not!"
"Fine, whatever," Hunter said sharply. "The story's over; someone else talk now."
tbc