Disclaimer: see first chapter

Author's note: Thanks for the reviews! Marcus, your review made me laugh. I can float like the best, hahaha. Anyway, enjoy guys!!

Love is in the air
Decisions

The next morning started out as a regular morning. Hunter, Dustin and Blake had to work at Storm Chargers. Hunter and Blake had arrived nicely on time. Half an hour after the shop opened, there was still no sign of the yellow ranger. If the glare in Kelly's eyes was anything to go by, Dustin was in some serious trouble. It just made Hunter and Blake smile. Dustin and arriving somewhere on time were like fire and water. If they had to guess, Dustin had probably forgotten to set his alarm clock again.

Dustin stormed in ten minutes later, completely out of breath. "Kel, I'm so sorry. My alarm clock didn't work." Dustin said quickly, staring at his boss with those big brown eyes. The glare immediately vanished from Kelly's face.

"Just get to work, Dustin."

"Right away, boss!" Dustin said, smiling and hurrying off into the back to check the inventory.

"I don't know how he does it," Blake muttered to Hunter while they were unloading the boxes on the other side of the store and putting stuff on the racks. "If I was late, she'd yell at me!"

"If you don't stop talking about me, I will yell at you as well."

Hunter and Blake both jumped. They had not heard her come closer.

"Good god, Kel, how do you do that?" Hunter asked, heart beating wildly. She was better at sneaking up on them than they were on sneaking up on her which was a disgrace considering they were ninjas and she was not.

Kelly smiled. "Simple. Guys can only do one thing at the time. So when you're talking, you're too focused on the conversation to notice anything else."

Blake opened his mouth to protest but then closed it again. She might have a point. He settled for glaring.

"Back to work, boys. The shelves aren't going to restock themselves." Kelly smiled again and walked away.

"I bet she's some kind of a ninja."

"With a good hearing!" Came Kelly's voice.

Hunter laughed at the look on Blake's face. It was one of pure disbelief.

Next thing they knew, there was a loud crash in the back which made the Thunder brothers jump and drop the pairs of gloves they were holding. Hunter's worry spiked at once. Dustin was not always the most handy person on the planet. He sped of to the back and reached it before Kelly had and she was closer.

Much to his relief, Dustin was still standing. He seemed to have pushed over several boxes. Dustin smiled sheepishly.

"I'll uh, clean that up," he mumbled, looking down at the ground. A blush colored his cheeks. If anything, it looked cute.

Kelly sighed and shook her head. "Hunter, help him, will you?"

"Sure, Kel." Hunter agreed and bent down alongside of Dustin to clean up the mess he'd made. Luckily, he hadn't pushed over anything with a fluid in it. It were mostly gloves and motorcycle parts.

"I'm such an idiot," Dustin said embarrassed, staring up at him through long eyelashes.

"Happens to everyone," Hunter said soothingly and he squeezed Dustin's shoulder. Anyone else would've teased Dustin about this. Instead, he felt the need to make the younger boy feel better.

Dustin smiled thankfully. They picked up the rest of it in silence. Hunter was very much aware of Dustin sitting so close to him. He could practically feel the warmth of his body, could hear his breathing. These feelings for Dustin, they were definitely getting stronger. He had felt it last night on the beach and he felt it now. He had to be careful though. Not just careful of trying to not show Dustin but also that it wouldn't end up hurting him too much. Perhaps he should just tell Dustin. His heart told him he should, told him Dustin might feel the same. His head told him he definitely shouldn't, that Dustin couldn't feel the same about him. He threw a pair of gloves back in their box with a little bit more force than necessary. He needed to find a solution.

"I better get back to helping Blake," Hunter said. He suddenly felt the need to get away from Dustin. Staying so close to him was not doing him any favors.

"Sure, man, thanks." Dustin said, smiling up at his friend.

"Don't mention it." Hunter hurried off.

Dustin raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why had he hurried off like that? Dustin didn't really understand it but he chose not to think too hard about it. They were nearly done anyway. Hunter probably thought he could handle it alone.

He was very relieved when he picked up the last pair of gloves. He could not believe how much of an idiot he was. He was constantly running things over or just running into them. Probably because he was such an airhead. He didn't understand how his friends put up with him. He wasn't necessarily dumb but his friends were definitely smarter than him. It made him feel bad sometimes, especially when they made fun of him. He knew though they never meant to hurt him but sometimes they actually did. He sighed and continued the work he'd been doing before he'd knocked over the boxes.

From one pm, Hunter was in charge of the counter. He liked that. He could easily watch the people who entered. He liked studying them. Seconds ago, a beautiful girl and her boyfriend had entered the shop. The girl looked very much as if she wanted to be somewhere else while the boy seemed like he was in heaven. He had the feeling they wouldn't last that long as a couple. She didn't seem to be able to force herself to even remotely act interested while he stared at a surfboard with a smile on his face. She was on the phone, giggling. No doubt talking to one of her girlfriends. They were too different, he could tell.

Dustin and him were different too but at the same time, they had a lot in common. They both liked motocross, were very much into sports, liked some of the same music and movies, magazines too. Personality wise, they were opposites but he was sure they would balance each other out. A small smile crossed his face. They would be good together.

The girl and the boy were now quietly arguing and seconds later, the girl stormed out. The boy was left in the shop, glaring at nothing in particular and looking thoroughly irritated. Instead of going after her, he remained in the shop and returned his focus back to the surfboards. They definitely wouldn't be lasting much longer as a couple.

"Checking out the customers again, bro?" Blake asked smirking as he reached around him to grab a pair of scissors.

Hunter grinned, "She was pretty but she looked a bit too snobbish."

"Yeah, I caught part of their conversation. They're so going to break up."

Kelly appeared in front of them, leaning her elbows on the counter. "I agree but don't let him hear you say that." She smiled. "I'm going to take my lunch break. Can you guys hold down the fortress until I get back?"

"Sure thing, Kel."

"Good. Now be sure to actually do some work." She said with a knowing look in her eyes. They tended to not do all that much when Kelly wasn't around. They usually just stood around, chatting and doing some work but not as much as they should. They could though. Storm Chargers was pretty popular in the area but not to the extent that it was continuously packed with people. At the end of the day, they always got their jobs done so Kelly didn't say anything about it.

Dustin joined them just as Shane, Tori and an annoyed Cam entered the store.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Dustin greeted his friends brightly.

"The sky," Cam muttered and glanced around. He had a sour expression on his face.

Shane rolled his eyes, "Cam is a bit upset because we convinced Sensei it would be better for Cam to go to the beach with us. Sensei kind of forced him. Cam's been pouting ever since we left Ninja Ops."

"I do not pout!" Cam said, glaring daggers at the red ranger who just smiled sweetly.

"You do need to get out more, bro." Blake agreed. "Sitting in front of that computer all day is definitely not good for you. Besides, you've got CC."

"I still need to reprogram him because someone decided it would be fun to take him out riding which then made him uncontrollable."

Dustin blushed and looked the other way. He wisely didn't try to defend himself. The others just laughed.

"Anyway, we just wanted to drop by to say 'hi'. See you guys later!" Tori said, sending a smile over at Blake. The Navy Ranger grinned back stupidly.

"Don't forget, training tonight!" Cam warned.

"We know!" Dustin, Hunter and Blake said. If Cam didn't stop reminding about a training three times a day, they would seriously stuff a gag down his mouth and tie him up.

Their three friends left and Hunter smiled at his brother.

"What?" Blake asked, crossing his arms in defense.

"You're sooo in love with Tori,"

"Oh, shut up!" Blake muttered, obviously embarrassed. To escape further teasing, he hurried off to continue doing his work. Laughter follow him and a blush rose to his cheeks. He was in love with the blue ranger. She was the most beautiful girl in the world, both inside and out. They'd been flirting for a while but nothing had really happened yet. Everyone kept telling him to ask her out but he was honestly too scared. He was afraid that they might not hit it off if it was just the two of them and he didn't want things to become awkward between them. He realized though that she wouldn't wait forever.

"If Blake doesn't do something soon, Tori is going to find someone else," Hunter said shaking his head.

"Yeah, man, she might like him … a lot but she's not going to wait forever. He obviously likes her a lot so he should take the risk and tell her. Love is worth the risk." Dustin agreed and turned to stare at Blake.

It hit Hunter suddenly that Dustin just might run into someone soon too and then his chance would be lost. Yet he didn't know whether Dustin liked him in the same way. With Blake and Tori, it was awfully clear. If Blake made a move, they'd be together in no time. He didn't know if it would be like that with him and Dustin. But like Dustin said, love was worth the risk. Perhaps he should just take the risk. He nodded to himself. He would tell Dustin, right after practice. His courage immediately sank and his doubts returned full force. But he was going to go through with it, he had to.

When Kelly returned, the boys were already working hard.

The rangers all returned to Ninja Ops at eight pm. It was never too late for Cam to have training. They sometimes hated it but they did need it. They were the world's saviors, they could not afford to screw up and get theirs butts kicked, which sometimes did happen but they had defeated all monsters up to now and it was for their own good that they continued doing so.

Hunter, like most of the time, got paired up with Dustin. Shane was sparring against Cam and Tori was sparring against Blake. They each took a training room.

Hunter got into a fighting stance and waited for Dustin to launch the first attack. It didn't take long for Dustin to do so. Dustin sent a roundhouse kick at him. Hunter blocked it relatively easy and sent his own kick at the earth ninja. Dustin's reflexes were quick and he blocked. The fight continued like that, both delivering and receiving kicks. Sometimes Hunter had the advantage, other times Dustin had the advantage and if Hunter was honest with himself, Dustin had the advantage most.

Hunter's attention, however, started to waver. He threw the training was almost over. At this moment, he prayed for a monster attack so that he didn't have to tell Dustin. But he was going to. He was not good with words. He'd thought of ways to say it all day but he knew that he would no say it in any of the ways that he'd rehearsed it.

He was too slow to block a kick which knocked the air out of him and made him fly backwards. He hit the ground quite hard. He noticed the ceiling was really clean. Weird. Not a spec of dirt over the entire surface.

"Hunter, dude, are you alright?" Dustin's face blocked his view of the ceiling.

"I'm fine. Wasn't paying attention." Hunter took the offered hand and pulled himself upright, holding on to Dustin's hand longer than necessary. Dustin's hand was warm and slightly sweaty in his. He could even feel Dustin's pulse beating in his veins. His thumb lightly moved over the pulse point. Dustin titled his head to the side and watched him curiously, with a hint of something in his eyes that Hunter couldn't quite decipher.

Hunter blushed a bit and pulled his hand back as if burned. Just as he was about to speak, Cam's voice sounded through their morphers.

"Training over, come back to the main room."

Hunter hurried out of the room with Dustin following close behind. A moment had just passed between them. Dustin's hand instinctively went to the place Hunter's hand had lingered. He could still feel its warmth. This was both interesting and confusing. His thumb rubbed over the place Hunter's thumb had rubbed over. That had definitely not been a friendship thing. There had been more to the small touch. Or perhaps he just wanted there to more, perhaps he was imagining things. He felt confused. Why did he want it to be more?

"How did it go?" Cam asked, looking from Dustin to Hunter and back.

"Dustin kicked my ass." Hunter admitted.

"What happened?" Cam asked.

"I wasn't as focused as I should've been," Hunter replied.

"Don't let it happen in a real fight." Cam warned. "Blake, Tori?"

Dustin stopped listening, his hand still covering the space where Hunter had touched him. He'd seen something in Hunter's eyes, something he hadn't noticed before. A warmth but something that went beyond friendship.

He was jolted out of his thoughts Shane jabbed him in the ribs.

"Cam said we can go home." Shane said, smiling.

"Right," Dustin agreed. He said good night to Cam and walked by Hunter's side to the exit.

Cam sighed and decided to look at the feed of the practice. He pulled up Dustin's and Hunter's first. He noticed it started out good but half way, he saw Hunter's attention waver up until the point where Dustin sent him sprawling. He shook his head and was about to pull up Blake's and Tori's when he saw Dustin pull Hunter upright. He watched closer. A look passed between them and Hunter held Dustin's hand longer than necessary. His eyebrow rose. He didn't know why it made him curious but it did. He rewound the video and stared again. There it was, that look. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. It seemed that Blake and Tori were not the only rangers in love.