Is Love For Real?

Chapter Two - Alone

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm (Wish I did, though ) and I'm not making any money from this fic

Author's Note: Thank you mysterious-muse, pyke, YellowDustin, and CamFan4Ever for reviewing this fic! And... I'm pretty sure my muses won't kill each other

RedFox: -Grumbles a bit, glaring at DarkAngel- Not allowed to. She -indicating the author- needs him

DarkAngel: -Mutters- Like you'd stand a chance against me

RedFox: -Glares- Want to see how good a chance I'll stand against you?

DarkCat: -Claws at the author's arm to draw her attention to the other two-

Me: -Sighs- Why can't there be some kind of spell to repell them from each other like magnets?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hunter lay on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling of his room, silently berating himself.

Why was I so stupid? the crimson thunder ranger raged. Dustin's never shown even a hint of liking males. So why in the world did I kiss him?!

Hunter thought back to when he had realised that he preferred males to females. It had been a little while before his and Blake's adopted parents had been killed by Lothor. Not that they had known it was Lothor's doing then.

Lothor had done a great job of deceiving them. Hunter hadn't told their parents. He had kept meaning to, but he had always been worried about their reaction. He'd felt too insecure. So the only person he had told about his feelings had been Blake, who, after his initial surprise, had accepted Hunter's feelings. Now, of course, Dustin knew.

Not even Blake knew that I was attracted to Dustin, though, Hunter thought to himself. It seemed dumb to have developed a crush on one of the people who was supposed to our enemy... Then again, Blake did as well.

Hunter had actually liked the yellow wind ranger the first time he had met him - on the race track. Going against his feelings to attack the wind rangers was torture to him. He didn't want to hurt Dustin... But after what Lothor had made him and Blake believe...

"Boy was I dumb," Hunter said out loud.

"You ok, bro?"

Hunter glanced up at the sound of Blake's voice, and tried to smile. "I'm fine, bro," he said. He looked at Blake's outfit, and raised his eyebrows. "Hm, who are you dressing up for? As if I couldn't guess," he gently teased.

Blake looked a little embarrassed at his older brother's teasing. "I'm going out on a date with Tori," he muttered, looking down.

Hunter smiled. "So she's forgiven you at last?" he asked.

"Yeah." Blake nodded. Then, he sighed. "If only Cam and Shane were as understanding."

"They'll come round," Hunter replied, hoping inside his heart that it was true. "I mean... It's not like it was all our doing, right?"

"No, it wasn't all our doing," Blake agreed, hearing the undercurrent of nervousness in his brother's voice. He knew that Hunter still felt guilty about attacking him, even though Blake had insisted that he didn't blame Hunter for it.

Blake hesitated, then said, "You know, Hunter, if it'll make you feel better... I can always cancel the date with Tori and stay and talk to you instead." Nothing would come between the two brothers. Blake had vowed that long ago, and so had Hunter. If his brother wanted to talk, then Blake would make sure that he was available.

Hunter smiled easily. "I wouldn't ask you to do that, bro."

Blake just looked at Hunter. "I know you wouldn't," he replied. "But, Hunter, I also don't want you tearing yourself up inside and making yourself totally miserable."

"Not a lot of chance of that happening," Hunter grinned. "You're clearly not about to let me do that."

Blake returned the grin, but then sighed. "Hunter, you know that you can always talk to me, right? I won't laugh at you or anything like that."

Hunter knew that Blake told the truth. His brother was like that. They both were. They both took honour seriously. Which was why they helped the wind rangers after Tori had helped Blake. They had owed the wind rangers then, and, as Hunter had said to the blue wind ranger, they always made good on their promises.

"I know that," Hunter told Blake. "This is something that I need to sort out on my own, though."

That had been the wrong thing to say. Blake immediately came and sat down next to Hunter, who obligingly moved so that his brother had enough room.

"Hunter, I'm not going to just leave you to face something alone," Blake told Hunter.

"What about Tori?" Hunter asked in a last attempt to get his brother to leave him alone. It was a poor attempt, and they both knew it.

Blake merely shrugged. "She'll understand why I'm late." He then looked at Hunter sharply. "Does it have something to do with Dustin?" he asked bluntly.

Hunter flinched at that. "You know about Dustin?"

"I know that you like him," Blake answered. "I'm not a fool, bro. I know you better than anyone else. I could tell how you felt about him, though I decided not to mention it to you, figuring that I might as well wait for you to admit your feelings to me."

Hunter looked down. "I... kissed him," he mumbled. "When I went to apologise to him for our... for my... actions."

"And he didn't take it well?" Blake's tone was sympathetic.

"Understatement of the year," Hunter muttered. "He basically told me that he couldn't deal with that, and then ran out of NinjaOps."

"Hunter, I'm sorry." Blake hugged his brother.

Hunter shook his head. "It was my fault," he muttered. "I shouldn't have done or said anything."

"You just took him by surprise, bro," Blake replied. "I'm sure that, once he has a chance to think it over, he'll accept it. He might not be really happy about it... But he'll probably still accept it."

Hunter just shook his head.

"Do you want me to stay?" Blake asked. "I don't mind if you need me around.

Hunter shook his head again. "No, go out and have fun," he replied. "No sense in both of us being stuck here."

Blake hesitated. Then, he sighed. "All right," he said. "But if you need me, ring me on my cell, ok?"

Hunter nodded, then pointed to the door. "Go," he told his brother. "I'll be fine."

Blake left, leaving Hunter alone with his thoughts.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RedFox: Aww... Poor Hunter

DarkAngel: -Checks to see that the author isn't looking in his direction, then thwacks RedFox upside the head-

RedFox: -Bites his hand-

DarkAngel: Ow! -Snatches his hand back- I'm going to get rabies now!

RedFox: -Growls- I don't have rabies! -Glares at him-

DarkAngel: -Glares right back at RedFox-

DarkCat: -Sends a mental picture of what just happened to the author-

Me: Hey, stop it, you two!

RedFox: -Darts behind the author- Please review this story! It might get better if you do