No, I'm not writing any slash fanfics. And not to be rude, but you know who you are, so please stop asking.

Chapter 4 - Breakfast Chat

After Tiana retrieved all of her camping, she lead Crusher and Pickle out to nice and serene spot in the forested mountains for them to camp out. And when they set up a couple of tents(no thanks to Crusher), a few chilly breezes blew through the night, so Tiana sparked up a campfire to keep everyone warm.

"How often do you light fires?" Crusher questioned flatly while reluctantly getting closer to the fire since he was a little cold.

"I actually haven't gone camping in a while, but I'm glad that I get to go camping again with some new friends," Tiana chuckled.

"We're friends?" Pickle asked with excitement, but Crusher was just as surprised.

"Si! Any amigos of Blaze are amigos of mine," Tiana replied with a smile.

"Ooh, 'amigo' means 'friend', right?" Pickle asked.

"Yes, it does."

"Friends or not, we ARE NOT friends with Blaze," Crusher firmly informed.

"Crusher doesn't really like Blaze 'cause he beats him at EVERYTHING," Pickle whispered to Tiana, and she nodded in realization, but Crusher still heard him.

"He does not!"

"He also denies it."

"I DO NOT!"

"It's ok, Crusher. Nobody is perfect, and you can't win them all," Tiana gently reassured.

"Yes, it does! If I don't win them all, it means I'm a failure!" Crusher protested while scrunching his face up to pout.

"I don't think you're a failure." Rain's words took Crusher by surprise, and he could feel his face become warmer and his heart beat get faster again when she looked at him sweetly, and he awkwardly stared back when he froze and couldn't look away.

"I don't think you're a failure either! You're my best friend, Crusher, and there's NOTHING you could do to make me dislike you," Pickle added enthusiastically while giving Crusher a big hug. And the hug luckily brought the big, dark blue truck out of his frozen gaze towards Tiana, and he sneered the smaller, green truck.

"Yeah…" Crusher sighed while slowly pushing Pickle away, "but then he awkwardly turned away and slowly drove towards the smaller, light blue tent, "I'm goin' ta bed."

With that, Crusher retreated into the tent and quickly sipped the tent closed, blushing a deep red when Tiana suddenly came to his mind…she's just so nice…and pretty…wait, what?!

What are you saying, Crusher? Crusher yelled at himself in his mind, anyone who's a friend of Blaze's can NEVER be a friend of yours…even if they want to be.

Meanwhile, Pickle and Tiana awkwardly stood outside by the fire when they didn't know what to say after Crusher suddenly left.

…

"Well, I guess you're with me, Pickle. Que piensas?" Tiana piped up while shoveling some dirt with her tire onto the fire to smother it out.

"I can sleep in the other tent with you?" Pickle asked with surprise.

"Sure, if you want to. The tent Crusher is using is only big enough for one, and it's a little too cold to sleep outside, don't you think?"

"I guess you're right. Yay, a sleepover with Tiana!"

With that, Pickle and Tiana headed into the other tent, a slightly larger one than that of Crusher's, and it was light green, and Tiana zipped it closed to keep the cold out.

"Goodnight, Crusher!" Pickle called out.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, back at 'cha, or whatever!" Crusher carelessly called back.

"Goodnight, Crusher!" Tiana tried.

"G-goodnight…u-uh…y-yeah, goodnight!" When Pickle heard the nervous stuttering in his voice when Tiana told him goodnight, he smirked when he sensed his theory was starting to sound more and more valid.

"He may be a bit self-centered on the outside, but he's a real softie on the inside once ya get ta know him," Pickle quietly pointed out to Tiana, "just give him some time."

"Si, I can tell that all he needs is a little love," Tiana chuckled softly, and she failed to notice that she was slightly blushing when she thought about Crusher.

But Pickle noticed her blush, and when he saw it, he knew he was one hundred percent correct. Starting tomorrow, Operation: Match Maker is a go.

The next morning, when Crusher tiredly blinked his eyes open, he was suddenly greeted with the terrifying sight of Pickle poking his head into his tent, and his huge smiling face was just a few inches from his.

"AAAHH!" Crusher shrieked and tried to drive back, but he stumbled a bit, and accidentally caused the tent to break and rip, and covered both trucks like a giant blanket.

"Good morning, Crusher!" Pickle greeted happily while not even bothering to get out from under the broken tent.

"Hello, Pickle," Crusher greeted grimly, and yawned soon afterwards.

"Tiana told me ta wake you up for breakfast," Pickle informed while driving backwards out of the flat tent, and lifted it up with a tire to create a hole for Crusher to get through too.

"Really? Well, when you see her again, tell her I prefer to sleep in VERY late," Crusher pointed out, and suddenly pulled the tent back down, just so he could go back to sleep, even if the tent was broken.

"But if you sleep in too late, your pancakes will get cold, Crusher!" Tiana called while carrying a peculiar bag of sorts.

"Did you say pancakes?" Crusher asked quickly and poked his head from underneath the tent.

"Si. And if you want them while they are still warm, I suggest you come out now," Tiana replied with a smirk, and she gently set down the bag and opened it to reveal three Styrofoam boxes, and the delicious smell of pancakes came from them all.

"Well…I guess I could spare some sleep time ta eat," Crusher sighed in defeat while slowly driving out from under the tent, and he and Pickle each grabbed a box and flipped it open to reveal a stack of steaming pancakes and sweet syrup topped with butter.

"Where did you get pancakes?" Crusher questioned, and Pickle immediately started stuffing his face with his pancakes, even without a plastic fork or knife.

"I headed back into town and ordered take-out from a café," Tiana informed while handing Crusher a plastic fork and knife, but Pickle refused when she offered him some.

"Mmm, these are really good! Thanks, Tiana!" Pickle thanked with a mouthful of pancakes, making Tiana giggle. And when he saw Crusher's amazed expression at how delicious his pancakes were when he finally took a bite, he had a little idea.

"If you like the food, you should say thank you, Crusher."

"Seriously?" Crusher asked quietly with disbelief.

"It'd be rude not too," Pickle simply stated with a smirk.

"Oh, fine…thank you for the pancakes, Tiana…they are pretty good," Crusher reluctantly sighed.

"De nada, boys. Now, when we're done, we can finally begin out trip to Axle City," Tiana said while nodding her head, and she finally began to eat too.

"Alright!" Pickle cheered.

"Hurra," Crusher cheered sarcastically.

Sorry for the shorter-ish chapter. I just don't want the story to be too short chapter-wise, ya know?

Anyway, we seem to be getting somewhere with our main characters in this story. Crusher appears to act a little awkward around Tiana, Pickle is going to play match maker, and Tiana finds Crusher rather interesting. What will happen next?

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!