Disclaimer: Yep, I own them! … In my dreams!

Author's note: Sorry for the delay but this chapter caused me more trouble than I thought it would and I've been busy. My exams have started too today so I don't know when the next update will be. Hopefully soon! Enjoy!

Love is in the air
Date

Hunter put the basket with the last of the stuff in his car. He hadn't even had to try to sneak it out. Blake was out with Tori. It wasn't a date, as Blake kept reminding him but Hunter had the feeling it most definitely was even if they both continued to deny it. It made him smile. It would be great if Blake would get together with Tori while Hunter got together with Dustin. He realized he shouldn't get ahead of himself just yet but he couldn't help it. He couldn't think of anything else than Dustin telling him it would work between them. Perhaps it was foolish, perhaps he just set himself up to be hurt but he was feeling awfully optimistic. He was most definitely in love and hoping for a happy ending.

He checked his watch. Right on schedule. He grinned, closed the trunk and got in the car. He checked his hair in the rearview mirror. It looked good. It was a bit messy but that worked for him. He whistled and pulled out of his parking spot. He'd decided to wear his favorite crimson shirt with the black dragon on it and a blue jeans that didn't have holes in it.

He pulled up outside of Dustin's house at two minutes to seven. Dustin was already waiting outside and beamed upon seeing him. He was wearing a pair of jeans that accentuated all the right places and a white shirt with yellow lines all over it. Dustin never went anywhere without wearing at least something with yellow in it. Same for him and crimson. It was funny.

Dustin jumped in the car with a kind of nervous smile on his face.

"Hi." Dustin greeted.

"Hi," Hunter answered, smiling, "Ready for the surprise date?"

"I'm curious as to what you came up with, dude."

"Don't expect too much though," Hunter said as he started the car and drove off.

"Don't sell yourself short, man. It'll be fun. Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Hunter said, shooting another smile over at an increasingly nervous looking Dustin.

They reached their destination quickly enough. It was a deserted patch of beach right outside of Blue Bay Harbor. On the left side, the side that was next to Blue Bay Harbor Beach, were some dunes, effectively closing off the beach. On the other side, a forest started. No one ever came this far, no one really knew about it. Hunter had learned that not too long after arriving in the town. He'd come here often to think. Sometimes during the day there were some people but at hours like this, it was always deserted. It was perfect. He parked his car on the grass. He took the picnic basket from the trunk while Dustin admired the views. This part of the beach was really unspoiled.



"How did you find this place? I'm sure even Tori doesn't know about this," Dustin said with a smile. He seemed more at ease now, perhaps because Hunter had found a good spot where they wouldn't run into people.

"I was exploring the area, came upon this and made it my thinking place."

"Brooding place, you mean." Dustin teased.

Hunter lightly hit his shoulder and glared playfully. He lead the way onto the beach. He spread out a blanket on the still slightly warm sand and put the basket in the middle. He made another quick trip to the car and came back with a CD player and his CD's. For which purposes, he didn't know yet. But the CD's he'd brought would give them something to talk about. He smiled proudly at his own cleverness. When he got back, Dustin was already sitting on the blanket. His shoes with his socks in them stood beside him and he was burying his feet in the sand. Hunter couldn't help but laugh and sat down next to his friend.

"You definitely are the earth ninja."

Dustin smiled and freed his feet, shaking the sand off. "Got to live up to my role." He threw a curious and hungry glance at the basket which just made Hunter smile again. When there was food involved, Dustin was unstoppable.

"If you're expecting real food, you can stop hoping now. I've brought a big an selection of our favorite desserts and snacks."

"In other words, completely unhealthy food."

"Exactly!"

"I can live with that," Dustin replied laughing.

Hunter reached behind him and grabbed the basket, pulling it closer to them. "I have brownies, chocolate and blueberry muffins, strawberry pie, cheese sandwiches … Oh, and two apples and strawberries. Just so we have some fruit. And for drinks, I have coke!"

Dustin laughed and shook his head but he clearly seemed to like the idea of all the desserts and snacks. "Did you bring whipped cream?"

"Of course!"

"Very good!" Dustin smiled again and took a can of coke from Hunter, "By the way, there are a lot of other things you can do with whipped cream and strawberries."

Hunter nearly choked on his drink. That had not just come from Dustin. There was no way in hell. Dustin was too … too innocent for it. But the fact that Dustin's eyes were sparkling told him his friend was perhaps not that innocent.

Dustin liked the idea that he'd nearly made the much more mature Hunter choke on his drink and that he'd rendered him speechless. He hadn't really meant to say it but it had come out and now he was glad he had said it. He took a sip from his coke, still smiling. He'd been looking forward to this all day, he'd been bouncing around the house as soon as he'd gotten home from work. In the past couple of days, he'd also had some time to think about it and he was pretty sure things could work out between them but he was not going to inform Hunter of that just yet. It also didn't mean he was any less nervous for this date. He was curious as to 

what else Hunter had planned or what he would do. It was perhaps a bit mean to leave Hunter wondering but he wanted to see him try.

"So, how about some strawberries?" Dustin asked innocently.

Hunter shook his head and grabbed the strawberries he'd brought. Five minutes later, they were gone. Dustin was a pretty damn fast eater when he wanted to be.

"Now, that was good!" Dustin said enthusiastically. "What's next?"

Hunter laughed and shook his head. "You don't want to eat too much stuff at once. You're going to regret it later."

"I think I can manage."

They each took a chocolate muffin.

"Did you know Tori and Blake are going out tonight too?" Hunter asked conversationally.

"They are? Whoa, dude, I didn't know! That's awesome! Tori must be thrilled!"

"Blake says it's not a date though."

Dustin rolled his eyes. "Of course it isn't. Just like this isn't a date."

Hunter laughed, "Exactly what I thought about the entire thing."

Dustin smiled and took another bite, savoring the chocolaty taste. Hunter struck up a conversation about motocross. It proved to have been a good idea when Dustin started talking excitedly about changes he wanted to make to his bike to make it go faster. The conversation evolved from there and soon they were chatting about anything that came to mind and flirting a lot while eating more of the delicious foods Hunter had brought. The sun set but they hardly noticed. They were too focused on their conversation and each other.

Dustin finished a brownie and looked up at the sky. He blinked suddenly.

"Dude, when did it get so dark?"

Hunter looked up too. It was a perfect night. The moon and stars were clearly visible. Once more it hit him how big the universe was and how small they were, how insignificant and short one human life was in the bigger picture. It made him swallow. When he shared his thoughts with the other ranger, a new conversation started, a more philosophical and deeper one.

"Yeah, man, we live for like 80 years which is like nothing more than the blink of an eye for the universe." Dustin said, staring up thoughtfully.

"Do you ever wonder if there's something else out there? Besides Lothor and his goons?"

"Like what? Real aliens?" Dustin said, grinning over at him.

Hunter shrugged. "Why not? Life managed to start on this planet and evolve to what we are now and adjusted to our environment."

Dustin nodded. "I suppose it might. It would be cool that if somewhere out there other people or aliens are also watching the stars, wondering what else is out there."



"It's hard to imagine."

"Yeah, it is. But there are so many things we don't know yet about our universe. It could be possible."

"You're right." Hunter said, "I've always found it weird as well that those stars might not even exist anymore now but that its light is still on its way here."

"Yeah, those stars are already in the past if you think about it," Dustin shook his head, "This is getting kind of confusing though."

Hunter laughed, "It is a bit confusing."

They sat staring up at the starts a little longer, each lost in thought. Hunter had never felt closer to Dustin than in this very moment. Something had definitely changed between them for the better. He could just feel it wouldn't stay with one date. He slid closer to Dustin and laid an arm around his shoulder. Dustin didn't hesitate and leaned into him. A huge smile broke out across Hunter's face. Dustin didn't notice though as his attention had now shifted to the seemingly black sea.

"For the record, I knew it could work between us before coming on this date." Dustin spoke suddenly.

"You did? So you had me worrying for nothing?"

"Hey, couldn't make it too easy for you, could I?" Dustin said , smiling up brightly at him.

Hunter shook his head but couldn't help a smile from breaking out. "You're evil, you know that? Evil!"

"Being good the entire time gets so boring, dude." Dustin said with a wave of his hand.

Hunter snickered.

Silence descended upon them again but it was in no way awkward. It just felt good to be sitting here with Dustin like this, actually on a date. This couldn't go any better. He didn't want to pull away but he hadn't brought his music with him for nothing. He got up and could feel Dustin's questioning stare on his back. He rummaged briefly through his CD's and found the one he needed. It was a CD filled with sappy love songs and songs ideal for slow dancing. He couldn't even remember where he'd gotten it from or why he'd bought it in the first place but he was glad he had it. He put on the first song. He didn't know what it was but he didn't care.

Soft music filled the night. Hunter offered his hand to Dustin who immediately took it and let himself be pulled up in Hunter's strong arms. Dustin's arms slid around his neck while Hunter wrapped his around Dustin's waist. Dustin rested his head against his chest. Hunter had never been more happy now that the boy he loved was here in his arms.

Dustin could feel Hunter's heart beating and it was soothing. This night was perfect and quite frankly, he didn't want it to end. He could stay in Hunter's arms forever, swaying to the music. He felt safe, protected. At this moment, nothing else but them mattered. Hunter was the only thing on his mind.



The song ended and a second one started. Hunter tightened his hold lightly. Dustin looked up, staring directly into Hunter's eyes. His gaze dropped to Hunter's slightly parted lips and before he could contain himself, he leaned in. Their lips met for a soft kiss. His eyes fluttered closed. The only thing he was aware of were Hunter's lips moving against his own. Everything else seemed to have vanished. When Hunter pulled away, a huge, silly smile crossed Dustin's face. He'd never felt more happy.

He rested his head against Hunter's chest again, biting his lip to stop the smile but it was of no use.

When the second song was over, they laid down on their backs, staring up at the sky. Dustin let his head rest against Hunter's chest again and Hunter immediately placed an arm around him. In the background, the soft music still played. The sound of the sea could be heard too. It was all very soothing and Dustin closed his eyes, fully intending on just closing them for a second. He felt the strong pull of sleep and decided not to fight it. He was so comfortable too. Hunter would wake him.

Hunter heard Dustin's breathing even out and smiled. This night had gone even better than anticipated. He lazily ran his hand up and down Dustin's upper arm and placed his other arm under his head. He just stared upwards, just thinking. He wasn't even aware of falling asleep.

When the first rays of sunlight hit Dustin's face, he stirred and woke up. He sat up and blinked. It took him several seconds to realize they were still on the beach. Hunter was snoring lightly and still very much asleep.

He had to really hold back a giggle. They'd fallen asleep here. They'd slept together on their first date. At least in one sense of the sentence. Too bad he didn't want to tell their friends yet. They would throw a fit if he told them that, of course thinking they'd had sex. This time he did giggle. He quickly pressed a hand to his mouth to smother the sound a bit. He felt giddy and way too hyper for this hour of the morning. He was anything but a morning person.

When he had himself under control again, he pressed a kiss on Hunter's lips. It was enough to wake the Thunder Ninja up.

"Morning, sleepy head."

"Hmm?" Hunter asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. When his eyes were focused on the surroundings, they widened, "Shit, we fell asleep."

"It would seem so," Dustin laughed and reached in the basked. "Cheese sandwich?"

Hunter took the one Dustin offered and took a bite.

"Good thing you packed too much, dude," Dustin's sandwich was gone in less than thirty seconds.

Hunter shook his head. "That fast eating of yours is going to get you in trouble one day. Eating too fast is not good for your stomach."

"Sorry, mom." Dustin replied with a slight roll of his eyes.

"I hope Blake didn't get worried that I didn't get back."

"Perhaps he didn't go back to the apartment either." Dustin remarked.



"I highly doubt that. But who knows? Anything's possible."

"Definitely," Dustin agreed. He'd never thought he'd end up a superhero trying to save the world and yet he was. It still amazed him. He had to try to save the world. He could barely take care of himself! Half the time he didn't even know what he was doing. Luckily, his friends had a better of idea what they had to do or at least pretended. Being a ranger was hard on all of them. Most of the time, they were just thrown out there, fighting not only for their lives but also for the lives of many other people. It was a huge responsibility and Dustin often doubted if he was the right person for the job. He'd never shared any of this with his friends. He knew what they would say but that wouldn't help him any.

Half an hour later, they'd packed up their stuff and were driving back, chatting about everything and nothing. Hunter dropped Dustin off first and drove home.

"Bro, where the hell were you?" Blake asked as soon as he entered.

"Out with Dustin. We fell asleep on the beach." Hunter said honestly. "You were gone so I figured I could hang out with Dustin," he added.

"I was worried!"

"How was your date with Tori?"

"It was amazing! We had so much fun …"

Hunter listened to his brother ramble on about how much fun it had been and how it had been the prefect night. Hunter smiled happily. He was happy for himself and for Blake.

Author's note: Wow, imagine that! Nothing bad happened. Those who are familiar with my stories know something always happens, hahaha. Well, not this time! Let me know what you think!