Hunk was not a morning person. He had perfected the ability to get up, dressed, and showered in ten minutes, get down to the kitchen and eat breakfast in fifteen minutes, and be in Castle Control five minutes before practice began. This meant he could sleep in until half an hour before practice. And he enjoyed every second.

When Paton's alarm went off earlier than he expected, he swore quietly.

Paton's giggles were muffled against her pillow.

"What time is it?" He grumbled.

"5:00."

"AM?"

Paton turned so she was facing him. "Yup."

He swore again.

She rubbed her hand against the stubble on his cheek. "Not a morning person, huh?"

He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him. "I never understood how anyone could be."

"I like to get in a run before work."

"Not this morning you're not."

She snuggled closer, nuzzling his shoulder. "It's never a good idea to get lazy and ignore your regimen."

"Oh, I'm not saying you won't get some exercise this morning." Hunk kissed the top of her head as he rolled her under him.

Forty five minutes later, Hunk followed the scent of bacon down to the kitchen, his hair still wet from the shower. "Something smells amazing."

Paton stood at the stove in her yellow bathrobe. "I feel like we've worked up an appetite."

"You didn't have to make me breakfast," he said, stepping up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I know, but I wanted to."

He kissed the top of her head. "I had a great time last night."

She tilted her head back against his shoulder so she could see him. "Me too. Best. Birthday. Ever."

Paton found she had to make an effort to keep from grinning as she walked into the police station. She felt light and happy and loved, like it was radiating off her in all directions and her entire staff would know she had just spent last night with the pilot of Yellow Lion.

And when she walked Hunk to the door that morning, he turned to her and whispered, "You are beautiful, you are wanted, and you are loved." He then gave her a quick kiss and a wink before leaving for the castle.

Paton couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy.

She had just sat at her desk when there was a knock on her office door. "And so it begins," she muttered. "Come in!"

Sergeant Cheskee, the desk sergeant, entered. "Line 3, Ma'am, she says she's a reporter."

"I don't have time for that, pass her on to media relations, Scholas will deal with it."

"She insisted she speak with you."

"She can insist all she wants, have her speak with Scholas."

"Uh, Chief, I think you better speak with her."

Paton looked up and saw him avoiding her gaze. "All right, thanks Sergeant."

As soon as the door closed behind him, she picked up the phone and pressed the flashing Line 3 button. "This is Chief Lacko."

"Chief! So glad I could get through to you! This is Nova Schlal of Arus Today, how are you?"

"What can I do for you, Ms. Schlal?"

"All business, I see."

"I'm quite busy and I need to get to work. If you have any questions or need a comment on a case you should contact Andria Scholas, our Chief Information Officer, and she can assist you."

"I'd much rather get the information directly from the source."

Paton took a deep breath and fought back the urge to hang up. As much as she hated to admit it, they needed the media as much as the media needed them and she couldn't afford to make enemies with them. "What information?"

"We would love a comment from you about your relationship with Lieutenant Henry 'Hunk' Landers of the Voltron Force."

Paton bolted straight up in her chair. "Excuse me?"

"We have exclusive photos of the two of you at the Café on Main yesterday evening and eye witness accounts of a very romantic meal. Is it serious?"

"What?"

"Your relationship, is it serious?"

"Yes. I mean, no. I have no comment."

"So, it isn't serious, this is just a fling?"

"Absolutely not! We're very serious."

"Can I quote you on that?"

Paton closed her eyes and took a moment to collect herself. She had to be careful as to what she said, but the cat was out of the bag. "Okay, look, Hunk and I are seeing each other, it is serious, but we'd like to have our privacy."

"How long have you been seeing each other?"

"Like I said, we'd like to keep our relationship private. There is no need for you to pry into our lives."

"With all due respect, Chief Lacko, the people of Arus just love the Voltron Force and are very interested in their lives. When one of them finds happiness, we want to share in their joy."

"We appreciate your kind words, we are very happy and that is all I am going to say."

"Do I hear wedding bells in the near future?"

"Are you serious? I have no comment on that!"

"Is there any comment you'd like to make?"

"Yes, I'd like you to leave my private life private."

"If you really wanted privacy you wouldn't have gotten involved with one of the most famous eligible bachelors on the planet."

"That's not fair, you can't really help who you fall in love with."

The reporter made a small noise. "Love?"

You need to shut your mouth! Paton's mentally berated herself. "I have no comment."

"And does Lieutenant Landers love you?"

"No comment."

"This would all be easier if you gave us a little something to keep the readers happy."

"I'm not concerned with your readers' happiness."

"Well, I guess I have all I need for now, Chief Lacko, I'm sure I'll be in touch."

Paton hung up the phone and dropped her head on the desk. She knew she had said too much and it was going to be twisted around. She had to warn Hunk. Since it was still early he would be practicing with the rest of the team, so she texted him.

Call me when you can.

Two hours later, Paton had stressed herself into a tense ball of emotions. She had never been the focus of a gossip page article. What if Hunk was mad? What if people got the wrong idea about them? About her? About Hunk?

Arus Today was a local gossip website. On the front page was a picture of her and Hunk walking from Petunia to the café. They were holding hands and she was looking up at him, smiling. Beneath that was the brief article.

Sorry ladies, but it appears another member of the Voltron Force is off the market! Lieutenant Henry 'Hunk' Landers, the pilot of the Yellow Lion, was seen going on a very romantic date with Alforia's new police chief, Paton Lacko.

Witnesses say the two had a very intimate date, sharing dinner, holding hands, and even a few kisses!

This is the first time the couple was seen in public together, but according to the Chief herself, things are VERY serious between the two, the "L-Word" was even used!

I'm sure there will be a wedding at the castle before long!

Paton wanted to talk to Hunk before he heard about it or saw the article. She was such an idiot! She knew how to handle the media, how stupid could she be? And where had the wedding stuff come from? She wasn't ready for that. And what if Hunk thought she was trying to pressure him? He had to know she hadn't said that.

Her cell phone rang, causing her to jump in her seat. Her hand shook a little when she saw it was Hunk.

"Hi." She cringed when she heard her voice crack.

"Hey, Paton, what's going on?" The calm sound of his voice already made her feel better.

She cleared her throat. "I did something very stupid."

"I do stupid stuff all the time, what did you do?"

"Have you seen the Arus Today website?"

"Not lately, I don't pay any attention to that crap. Did you know they once reported Allura and Lance were cheating on Keith?"

"You…you were right about someone taking our picture last night and they got it. One of their reporters called this morning and I just couldn't stop talking and before I knew it I was telling her we were seeing each other and that it was serious and that I loved you."

He hesitated a moment before prompting, "And?"

"And? And what? Now everyone knows about us."

"Is that really a problem?"

Paton let out a long breath and sat back in her chair feeling like a fool. "No, I guess it isn't. I've spent all morning stressing out about this. I just have never had the media asking me personal questions before. I mean, I've spoken to the media, but it's always been about cases, not me."

"Paton, are you okay with this? I guess I should have warned you, I just try not to think about it too much. My god, you're beautiful."

"What?"

"I just went to the Arus Today site to see what it said. I should ask for a copy of that picture, you're beautiful."

"You're reading it?"

"Yeah. It's not a big deal, at least they have the full story this time. I hate when they speculate. You can't let this stuff get to you, honey, part of being involved with me means people are going to be curious about you and about us. We've learned over the years to give a little to the media and they'll back off. But we can still keep the important stuff private. We can make this work, right?"

"Yeah, we can," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I just needed to hear you say it."

"And I like people knowing we're together. Any guy tries to get fresh with you will have to deal with me."

She laughed. "And I can kick the ass of any woman who tries throwing herself at you."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Any time."

Feeling herself relax, Paton felt silly about how she had stressed herself out. "I love you, Hunk, so much and I want everyone to know it."

"We could have t-shirts made up."

"That seems a little excessive."

"I love you, too. Still want me to go with you to shop for the party?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, people are going to know about us now, so they'll be looking for us. There will be more pictures."

Paton thought about it and realized it didn't worry her as much as it had earlier, she wasn't alone in this. "It's all right."

"Pick me up at six?"

"I'll see you then."

Early Saturday afternoon Hunk went into Alforia to get the last of the supplies for the party: the beer and booze. With the entire force coming, as well as Nanny and Koran, and Paton's police force invited, they were expecting over thirty people. They had purchased enough hamburger meat, hotdogs, and chicken to feed an army. Hunk and Paton and spent the previous evening making his mother's potato salad and marinating the chicken. He discovered he enjoyed the simple domestic duties and spending the evening with Paton.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant Landers?"

He put the last case of beer in and slammed the trunk shut before turning to the young man standing on the sidewalk holding a tablet computer. "Yeah?"

"I'm so sorry to hear about you and Chief Lacko."

"What?"

"Would you like to comment?"

"I'm sorry, man, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about you being single, again."

Hunk shook his head. "Sorry, dude, but your intel is very wrong."

"Haven't you seen the picture from this morning?"

"Who are you with?"

"Arus Today."

"I figured. Look, I'm not interested in whatever b.s. you're trying to peddle as truth."

"Would you like to see the picture?"

"What picture?"

"The picture of Chief Lacko with another man."

Hunk hesitated. He knew he was being baited and there was no way Paton was photographed with another man. But, before he could respond, the reporter held his tablet out for Hunk to see the photo.

It was definitely Paton. She was laughing as she hugged a guy who kissed her on the cheek. He was a good looking, well dressed man with light brown hair. Hunk had never seen him before, but that didn't mean anything, he could be anyone and who knew how old this picture really was.

"I have no comment, Paton is not with another guy, you're just trying to cause trouble."

"So, you are denying Chief Lacko is involved with another man? This picture was taken just this morning."

Rather than answer him again, Hunk turned on his heel and got into the car. He wasn't expected at Paton's house for another couple of hours, but he suddenly needed to see her. Maybe that picture was taken this morning, but that didn't mean anything.

But then, he hadn't heard from her in a while. Her last text had been at 9:00 reminding him to get the tequila for margaritas.

Hunk just assumed she was busy getting ready for the party.

He tightened his hands on the steering wheel and pressed down harder on the gas pedal.

Whoever he was, Paton was certainly comfortable with this guy.

How well did he really know her, Hunk wondered. They had only known each other for a couple of months and they hadn't actually been able to spend much time together this past month. Maybe she has a lot of guy friends he doesn't know. And they hadn't actually said that they were exclusive, he just assumed they were. What if, before they admitted to being in love with each other, she was seeing someone else? Maybe she was breaking it off with him when the picture was taken.

But that wasn't the smile of someone breaking up with a boyfriend.

He whipped the car into the driveway and cut the engine.

Jealousy was not an emotion Hunk was used to feeling and it was making him irritable.

He stormed up the front steps and pounded on the door.

A moment later, it swung open and Hunk stood face to face with the man in the picture. In the hallway behind the man, Paton walked out of the kitchen wearing her yellow bathrobe.

"Hunk, you're early!" She gasped.

"Hunk?" The man repeated.

Pulling himself up straight, Hunk towered over the other man by a good six inches, his hands fisted at his sides.

The man took a step back and held up both hands in surrender. "Okay, I know that look, before you try to beat me up I just want to say I'm an architect and I need my hands."

"Beat you up?" Paton said. "Why would he..." she noticed the look on his face. "Hunk, what's wrong?"

"An architect?" Hunk asked. "Are you…"

"I'm Cam, Paton's brother."

"Brother?"

"Yeah, Cam and Zed came in for the weekend, they decided to surprise me for my birthday." Paton said. "What is wrong with you?"

Hunk took a step back, feeling like a complete fool. He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. There was this picture and I…it was nothing. I'm an idiot."

"What picture?" Paton asked.

He rubbed his hand over his face. "A reporter from Arus Today came up to me with a picture of you and another guy and wanted to know about our break-up."

Paton's face paled. "You…you thought I cheated on you?"

"Why don't you come inside?" Cam said gently, stepping aside.

"No, I don't think he should," Paton said.

"Paton…" Hunk began, but was interrupted by another man coming down the steps.

"Pat, I'm ready for you! Oh, who is this? You are just a big hunk of a man aren't you?" The svelte man walked right up to Hunk. He stood shorter than the three of them, his hair was blonde and his face angelic. "Oh! Hunk! I get it now! You must be Pat's Hunk! She has told us all about you! Come in, come in, let's get to know the latest member of the family. I'm Zed, by the way, Cam's partner and Pat's adopted brother, not legally, of course, that would just be weird given my relationship with Cam, but in every other way. She's the sister I've always wanted and so I need to give you the third degree and ask you what your intentions are when it comes to our Pat."

Hunk allowed himself to be pulled into the kitchen, but when he passed Paton, she refused to look at him.

"We're having wine, but I'm just going to go ahead and assume you aren't a wine guy," Zed said, keeping up the one sided conversation. "Sit, sit, I'll get you a beer, but we're almost out. Pat said you were going to bring the booze, did you?"

"It's in the car."

"Okay, we'll unload it later. So, tell me all about you." Zed handed him a beer and sat on the stool next to him at the kitchen island.

"Zed." Cam said. "We need to give these two a moment."

"Why? He just got here. I want to pick his brain and hear him tell me how amazing Paton is and how incredibly talented you are, I mean he helped build the deck, he knows."

"Zed," Cam's voice carried a warning.

Zed looked from Hunk to Paton and back again, suddenly realizing something was amiss. He glared at Hunk through narrowed eyes. "What did you do?"

Before Hunk could answer, he went on.

"If you did something to hurt my Pat, I don't care how big you are, I will destroy you."

Cam walked over and took Zed firmly by the arm. "Come on. Hunk, if you give me your keys, we'll carry the stuff from your car to the deck."

"It's in the trunk," Hunk said, holding out the keys.

When they were alone, Hunk crossed quickly over to Paton. She stepped just out of his reach, clutching her robe closed at her throat.

"Paton."

"You thought I would cheat on you?" Her voice was low. "Just the other day you were telling me how you paid no attention to what they published on that website, that I shouldn't let what they say and do upset me, but then one of their reporters tells you I'm cheating on you and you just believe them?"

Hunk realized then that she wasn't disappointed or even angry with him, she was hurt. Deep down in the soul hurt. And he had done that to her.

"Paton, I'm sorry. I…I was an idiot."

She didn't raise her eyes, staring at his chest. "Yes, you were."

"I've never been a jealous person before."

"What changed?"

"I guess I just never cared so much for someone before."

"Then I would think you could trust me."

"I do trust you. Look, Paton, I told you I have done a lot of stupid things in my life and I'm going to do a lot more stupid things, but I would never intentionally hurt you. I have a tendency to act before thinking. Sometimes it works, like when I crossed the bar and had Keith introduce me to you. And sometimes it blows up in my face, like it did today."

She finally looked up to meet his eyes. "I don't like this jealous side of you."

"Neither do I."

"This is all new to me, Hunk, I've never been in a relationship before that was in the public eye."

"They're only interested because it's new. The novelty will wear off. This is new to me too, I haven't had a serious relationship since I came to Arus. But I know we can deal with it. Together."

She let out a long breath. "I'm not breaking up with you, I'm just annoyed by your reaction to the picture you saw. Was it really that bad of a picture?"

Hunk shrugged, embarrassed. "It showed you hugging and kissing a guy I didn't know. And I overreacted. Don't let my behavior ruin your evening. This party is going to be amazing, we're going to have a lot of fun with our friends. If you let it ruin your day every time I do something stupid, you're going to have a lot of bad days."

The corner of her mouth quirked up as she tried to hold back a smile, "You're not doing a good job selling yourself."

He smiled at her. "Babe, you bought what I'm selling weeks ago and I don't accept returns."

"Damnit, Hunk," she laughed. "Don't do it again."

"I won't. Am I forgiven?"

"For now."

Hunk reached out and cupped the back of neck with his hand, pulling her close. "I love you."

"I know."

Grinning, he leaned down to brush his lips over hers.

They jumped apart at the sound of a knock on glass. Cam was standing at the backdoor, his nose pressed against the window.

"Are you done?" He shouted through the window. "Can we come in?"

Paton rolled her eyes and motioned for him to come in.

"Everything okay?"

She nodded.

"I think I found it!" Zed said. He walked in behind Cam, his head down as he stared at his phone.

"Found what?" Paton asked.

"The picture that sent Hunk flying into a jealous rage."

Hunk felt the heat rise to his face. "I wouldn't say it was a jealous rage."

All three of them looked at him.

"You weren't on the receiving end of it." Cam pointed out.

"It was definitely a rage," Paton added. "I had never seen anything like that before."

"I'm sorry, Cam, that was not the impression I wanted to make on Paton's family," Hunk apologized.

Cam shrugged. "It's all right. I'd rather see that than you making out with my sister."

"Oh, if this is the picture, I totally get it!" Zed cried. "I mean, Cam looks hot! If I saw him kissing my girlfriend, I would be furious. But they cut me out, I was standing right behind you."

Cam and Paton both hurried over to look over his shoulder. Hunk groaned and rubbed his hand over his face.

"Looks like there is trouble in paradise," Cam read. "Just days after being seen on a romantic date with Voltron's Lieutenant Landers, Alforia's Police Chief, Paton Lacko, was seen canoodling with a mystery man."

"Canoodling?" Zed laughed. "That is a wonderful word! I'm going to find a way to work that into conversation tonight."

"Is the police chief toying with the heart of one of Arus' heroes?" Cam continued. "It would appear her words of love were not as serious as she claimed."

"Oh, honey, you come off like a heartless slut," Zed whispered.

"I'm going down there and demand a retraction," Hunk growled, his hands fisting at his sides.

Paton shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Just let it go."

"No, they…"

"Hunk," she said sternly. "Let it go. When word gets out that he's my brother, they're going to look like fools and people will know what kind of journalists they are. We're not going to let the media dictate our relationship or our behavior. Don't do anything stupid."

"You're right." Hunk walked over and pulled her into a tight hug. "You stopping me from doing stupid things will change my life."

"All right, we need to get moving," Zed announced, shoving his phone in his pocket. "Hunk, you showed up early, Paton was going to make a grand entrance. To make up for ruining that, you can get the beer on ice, the wine in the fridge, and set up the bar while I help her get ready."

"I can do that."

"I'll help," Cam offered. "We brought the beer out back and the coolers are filled with ice already."

"I'm really impressed with what you guys did out here," Cam said as they walked out on the porch. "I had planned on coming out to help Paton build the deck this summer, but she was never a patient person. When she wants something, she wants it now."

"The blueprints were really well done and made your vision easy to follow."

"Wait until you see what I've come up with for her kitchen. I will help out with that, it'll be a lot of work."

Hunk knelt down beside the two coolers and flipped up the tops. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Zed and I were actually thinking about making the move to Arus permanent."

"That would be great, I know Paton would be thrilled."

Cam started setting the liquor bottles under the shade of the umbrella that stood over the dining table. "I know Arus is rebuilding and still has a ways to go, I feel like I can really help with the town planning."

"You should talk to Allura tonight, she'd love to hear what you're thinking."

"Allura? You mean the queen?"

"Yup. She and Keith will be here for a while. They can't stay long. Technically, we're all still on duty and need to be near the Lions in case there's an attack and Keith can't stand being away from the castle when there's a threat. If we're lucky, they'll be here for an hour."

"I've never spoken to a queen before."

"Allura's the sweetest person in the universe and all she wants to do is grow Arus. Don't worry about it."

Cam came over to break down the boxes that had held the beer. "I'm really glad Paton found you."

Hunk closed the filled the coolers and stood. "Actually, I found her first. But it was the best thing to ever happen to me."

"And her. We were worried about her coming here alone, my parents and my brother and I. But she wanted a new start and it seems like it worked out for her. I haven't seen her this happy in years."

"A new start?" Hunk asked.

Cam shook his head. "She didn't tell you about her ex, did she?"

"No."

Paton's brother look conflicted. "I'll take these out to the garage."

Hunk went into the kitchen and grabbed the beer Zed had gotten for him earlier. Paton hadn't told him about any of her exes, but then he hadn't told her about any of his. Hunk didn't feel any of his ex-girlfriends were important enough. He was sure he had found the love of his life in Paton, why dwell on the others?

"Look, it's really not up to me to tell you about it," Cam said as he reentered the house.

"But I think you should," Hunk replied.

Before he could answer, Zed hurried down the stairs. "Are you ready?"

"For what?" Cam asked.

"For Pat's grand entrance!" He turned to Hunk. "For her birthday, I found her the most perfect dress and I knew she had to wear it tonight. Hair done by me, make-up done by Pat." He turned to call up the stairs. "Come on down, honey!"

"I hate when you do this, Zed!" She shouted back.

"Oh, stop being a buzzkill and get your pretty butt down here! I want to show off how right I was about that dress!"

"I thought today was about me!"

"You thought wrong! Get down here!"

Hunk watched her descend and his mouth went dry. She was gorgeous.

She wore a sundress the pale orange color of a creamsicle. The bodice was fitted and accentuating her curves in the best possible way. The skirt was full and brushed the top of her knees, showing off her miles of shapely legs that ended in white eyelet espadrilles with a strap around her ankles. Her hair was curled and pulled back on the sides, held in the back with a carved barrette. From her ears hung a pair of pearl earrings and around her neck was the necklace Hunk had given her.

"Twirl." Zed commanded when she came to the bottom of the steps.

"No."

"Twirl or I will twirl you."

"Just do it," Cam said. "He will twirl you if you don't, he's stronger than he looks."

Rolling her eyes, Patton twirled, the skirt flying out, showing more leg. The back of the dress was laced up like a corset.

All Hunk wanted to do was pull on the ribbon and see what happened.

"Well, isn't she a vision?" Zed prompted.

"Beautiful." Cam agreed.

"She's a dream come true," Hunk said, his voice full of awe.

Zed sighed wistfully. "You are too much. I think we'll keep you, Hunk."

But Hunk didn't appear to hear a word he said as he crossed the kitchen to take Paton's hands. "I've told you before how beautiful you are, but that just doesn't seem like the right word. You are exquisite."