A/N - I have always had a hard time believing Dwight's ex just left him and their child with him, so in my story, she died during childbirth.

When I got back to The Rouge and stepped inside, the first thing I noticed in the mirror by the doorway was a huge, dark bruise just below my right ear. The next thing I noticed was that all the blood and glass had all been cleaned up. Dwight. I'd definitely have to find a way to thank him for this... and get him back for the hickey.

But wait... when did he have time to do this? And how did he get in? He didn't know where the spare key was, did he? God, that wasn't a bit of info I'd let slip when I was too drunk one night and he'd driven me home from The Gull, was it? I couldn't be sure. It was possible, but at this point I didn't care; I just appreciated that I hadn't had to do it myself.

He'd unknowingly raised the stakes though, because now, I had to assure that our date would be absolutely perfect. I had already been anxious all morning, a tingling creeping up my spine and a warm feeling pooling in my gut every time I thought about what was to come. I think I had taken about four showers by noon, because the nerves had me sweating so profusely. That was until I realized we'd be hiking, and sweating was pretty much on the agenda. After that, when it took me almost forty minutes to pick out an outfit, I finally realized I was going crazy.

What was this? Why was I acting this way? I don't think I'd ever been so nervous before a date. At least, not since I was in junior high. And, on top of that, to think that this was all over Sasquatch...? It blew my mind!

After some meditation to try to calm myself down, I wrapped up some simple ingredients in parchment paper and foil that we could throw right on the grill and grabbed one of my best bottles of whiskey to throw in the cooler. (I knew he had wanted scotch, but sorry, that was just too expensive to bring on an outing like this.) It seemed the mediation wasn't enough though, because it still took me a while to calm my nerves down enough to make the drive over to his place.

When I reached his house, he opened the door and greeted me with that gorgeous smile I had asked for. I wasn't sure what to do. Should I lean in for a hug? A kiss? I had no idea! So, I just gave him a huge smile in return, told him to grab his stuff and meet me in the Rover. That was before I realized he had brought so much equipment with him! Not that I minded, really; I just didn't know how we'd lug it all up there. Luckily, when we arrived, he carried most of the burden, to which I was very grateful. The weight of all that on my back would have had me stopping every five minutes to rest, but surprisingly, it hadn't taken us long to get to the spot we'd been talking about.

They were popular camping spots decades ago but rarely used nowadays, so we knew we would most likely be alone up there. Thankfully, we were right. So, we found the flattest spot, still a few hours of light left in the day to set up a little campsite and got a fire going. Even after all the disasters in Haven, there were still some old grills in fairly decent condition left standing. After a quick cleaning, I threw in some charcoal and began on our dinners - foil pouches containing tilapia, summer squash and bell peppers with homemade corn salsa and lime. They were quick to make, and even quicker to cook. It seemed more of a task to get Dwight to take a break from collecting firewood to sit and eat though. We drank a few beers and exchanged pleasantries as we ate, but soon, he was right back to work. I shouldn't have expected any less.

After a while, I came up behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist before I said, "You know, Sasquatch, even if we do run out of firewood, which I don't think we would for about a whole week with all this... I'm sure there are plenty of ways we can keep each other warm."

He blushed, and admitted, "Yeah, sorry. I guess I'm just... nervous. I don't want anything to go wrong."

"It's going good so far." I smiled, before pouting playfully. "It'd be even better if you would start paying attention to your date, though."

"Oh. Okay." he replied, simply, tossing the axe down and turning to place his lips to mine. We both had wide smiles, giggling in between pecks as we moved back to the blanket, strewn out in the perfect spot to overlook the horizon.

We collapsed in an uncoordinated pile of limbs and lingering kisses. I was struggling to stifle moans, trying hard not to look so desperately into this as I was. He was getting reactions out of me I hadn't ever heard or seen; I would have never thought it was possible if it wasn't happening. His lips left mine and kissed underneath my chin, trailing sloppily down my throat.

"God, Squatch, unless you're trying to go farther than you led on, we might want to pump the brakes here... or I won't be able to."

"Am I that irresistible to you, Duke?" he growled, scraping his teeth lightly against my ear, before backing away, "No, you're right. Besides, I believe we have a bottle chilling in the cooler. We can't let that go to waste."

"Yeah, about that... sorry, no scotch. I only had the real expensive stuff, so I just brought some good ole' whiskey. Hope that's okay."

"Cheapskate." he joked, "No, that sounds good. Did you bring cups?"

Damn, I knew I had forgotten something! I laughed and yanked on the cooler, scooting it closer and grabbing the bottle out. I opened it and took a long swig before handing it to him, with an apologetic smile.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then...?" he asked, with a chuckle.

"Come on, Squatch, I don't have cooties."

"You might have some left over from Nathan." he said, playfully pushing me away.

"I'm sure they're gone after twenty years."

"Was it really though?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Twenty years... I got to thinking after you told me about it. You even wondered, yourself... why Nathan was always such a dick to you if he broke your heart. I thought maybe there was something more there...? Something you weren't telling me...?"

I could feel my face go red, because he was right. There was one incident that I hadn't told him about, but I really wasn't sure how he would take it. And I wasn't sure it was a story I had the authorization to tell, to be honest.

Then again, I knew Dwight and I knew that he was good with a secret. He wasn't going to go telling everyone. He was someone that I was sure I could trust.

"Okay, fine. It was when we were about nineteen, I hadn't really talked to Nate in years. I had just got The Rouge and was about to leave town, but he heard about it, so he stopped by to check the ole' girl out... or so I thought. Well, you know how things usually end up between the two of us, so... we were arguing."

"Naturally." he laughed.

"He was pissed about me leaving. He wanted to try and dangle some kind of rekindled friendship with him as a prize in front of me if I'd stayed. I said something along the lines of, 'it's going to take a lot more than that to get me to stay, especially from you'. What I wanted was an apology, but... he kissed me. Then one thing led to another..." I said, trailing off as I took a big shot out of the bottle and placed it back between us. Dwight's eyes were wide at the confession, fearing the worst, so I continued, "It didn't get far, though. A couple of lazy, unfinished hand jobs before I realized he'd never done anything like that before. So, when I stopped and asked him, Nathan looked offended that I could tell somehow, but he confessed that he had just come to terms with his sexuality, and that being with guys, beyond what we did when we were younger, was a completely new thing to him. It turned out he had an ulterior motive - he wanted me to take his virginity... and I refused. I wasn't ready to be someone that significant in anyone's life, let alone Nathan's. Besides, I had already been a lot of his 'firsts' and that wasn't another tally I wanted on the board, you know? Anyway, he freaked out and ran. I left the next day... like I was going to anyway, mind you! But he had always thought that was me running away from him."

"No offense, but it doesn't sound like Nathan was entirely wrong." Dwight replied, earning a scowl from Duke, "So, why'd you leave then?"

"I wasn't trying to be a dick or anything! I had been planning that for a few weeks, at that point. Just sticking to schedule."

"Yet you left the next day? I mean, I'm sure you could have pushed it back one day. You could have discussed things with him first. Something had to have scared you off."

"I can't deny that I had really thought about reconsidering, but I don't think anything 'scared me away'. It was more that... well, I was a dumb kid! I didn't know what the hell to do. I just knew that I had already hurt his pride enough. And any conversation we would have had would have just made the whole thing worse. I thought I was doing the right thing!"

"So, maybe having you be that person for him, his first, meant more to him than you realized...?"

Holy shit! He was right! I always had thought that I had embarrassed Nathan in some way, but now that Dwight had pointed it out, I saw it too. I had hurt Nathan. And he wasn't just there for his first time to be with someone he was comfortable with and who understood his insecurities better than anyone else... He was there because he was desperately trying to get me to stay! Not just for our friendship, but for the prospect of something more. And now that I realized it, I thought of how the past could have been so different...

But... no! That's not what I wanted anymore! I knew what that was now.

"Well, we're not here to talk about a bunch of 'what if's' that could have happened with Nate. He and I have been able to leave that in the past; we're even pretty good friends again! Besides, he's happy with Audrey, and I'm..." I trailed off, making sure he caught my gaze as I added, "I'm pretty happy too."

Dwight smiled and leaned in to kiss me again. "I'm glad."

After a few lingering pecks, I said, "You know what? I just realized you've never told me the story of when you discovered you liked guys. Is that something you feel up to sharing? Because I'll totally understand if you don't want to. I was just curious, but I have a tendency to overstep my boundaries a lot, as you know."

"Yeah, I'm well aware." he chuckled, "Well, I guess I didn't really 'like a guy', as you so eloquently put it, until Afghanistan. I was twenty, had already been there almost a year, when a new squad had shown up. We were in the middle of the really rough stuff, and I could tell they were all scared shitless. There was one guy, Rawlings, that I kind of took under my wing. I wasn't sure why; there was just something special about him that I couldn't put my finger on. Well, we got close... really close. But we always had that 'don't ask, don't tell' policy in the military; I usually abided by it and so did everyone else. So, I wasn't sure why he'd confessed it to me a few days later. I guess it was because I had taken a bullet for him. Not intentionally, of course; it was my Trouble that had done it. But he assumed it had been on purpose and kissed me. I wanted to correct him, tell him my big secret, but when our lips touched... there was a spark between us. I had never even thought about another guy until then. And I eventually came clean to him about that... and about my Trouble. I was afraid he would think I was nuts, not leaving the second it had activated, but it was the opposite. I ended up just being some big golden god in his eyes somehow because of it. It sounds strange, but he was actually a great guy. He taught me a lot about sex, love. I taught him everything I knew about combat and war... except patience, apparently. One day he got overzealous and ran into a building before they did a sweep. The doorway was lined with explosives, and the whole front of the place collapsed on top of him. He died instantly."

"Damn, that's... I'm so sorry, Dwight." I replied, in shock, "Shit, I shouldn't have pried..."

"It's alright. I can talk about it now, but it was hard for a long time. And luckily, I met Lizzie's mom pretty soon after I got back... but that didn't last as long as I'd hoped for either." Dwight stated, "I guess that's why I'm scared of messing this up so bad. I have such bad luck with relationships. I mean, people don't just leave me; they die."

"That's not your fault." I said, as I grabbed his hand. We sat there in silence for a few moments, watching our fingers tracing each other's, before I said, "Well, no offense to them... and not to sound too egotistical, but... I don't think you've met anyone like me before."

I leaned forward and kissed him briefly, before he backed away a bit and said, "Definitely not."

"I am sorry you had to deal with that much death in your life, Dwight. So young and having to deal with war, loss, then being a widower, a single father... Then..." Losing your child. Shit.

He filled in the blanks and replied, "Hey, it's pain. We all have to go through it, right? And even with all the hurt it's caused me, I still wouldn't want to give back a second of my time with any of them for anything in the world. I am the man I am now because of it."

"Well, I really like that man, if it's any consequence." Duke said, knowing he had to change the subject, lighten the mood. "So, was he the only guy? No one ever since...?"

I saw a slight blush rise to Dwight's cheeks, as he replied, "I said I didn't like having flings. Doesn't mean I never had any."

"Ooh, really?" I replied, a small moan escaping as I kissed him, "Kinky stories for another day, I suppose... but for now, I'm too distracted by just how fucking adorable you are when you blush. I seriously can't resist doing... this." I said, with another kiss, "And this." And another, "And this."

My lips had left his and were now trailing down his throat. I did say I was going to get him back for that hickey, didn't I? Feather light kisses hunted for his sensitive spots before I nipped, and sucked, and nibbled at his skin, earning small moans of appreciation as his fingers tugged at my hair and his head leaned back for more. I bit lightly at his pulse point, when my fingers moved under his shirt, wishing, craving to get my hands on those muscles again... only to be obstructed by that damn vest.

I froze. I couldn't believe I had gotten so wrapped up in the moment that I had temporarily forgotten he had it on. There had only been two times that I had seen Dwight without it, so I shouldn't be surprised he was wearing it. Hunting time might be a few weeks away, but it seemed like there was never an official 'off season' in Maine. Especially in Haven.

I hadn't meant to, but I laughed. I was expecting a sharp reply to it, him being offended that I had but he chuckled too and said, "Yeah, kind of a mood killer, ain't it?"

I came up to meet his eyes and replied, with a devilish grin, "With you? Never."