It had been a couple of weeks since Stephanie and Hunter had talked and agreed to try and go out together at least once a week and they had both kept their word and gone out on a date and were now starting to talk a couple of evenings a week also but despite this neither of them had made the move to share their first proper kiss since they got back together.

Today the two of them were having a lunch date because Linda was so busy with her campaign and Hunter had a lot of promotion and shows this week that it was all that they could fit in but Stephanie was looking forward to it as he had told her that he was taking her on a picnic.

Dropping Mikey off at her parents she gave him a quick hug before he ran inside to catch up with his Grandpa leaving Stephanie alone at the door with her Mom, "thank you for watching him for me, I promise I'll be a maximum of like two hours though but if I'm longer or you need me to pick him up quicker then just call me okay?"

Rolling her eyes Linda shook her head, "I promise you we can spare two hours or a little longer if you take extra time and even if I have to leave early your Dad is doing much better so can handle him by himself for a little while so don't cut your date short on our account. Maybe we can catch up on the weekend though and you can fill on me in on all of the details from your last few dates?"

Smiling softly she nodded her head knowing that she had been keeping her Mom in the dark for a few weeks, "sounds like a plan. Maybe if you have time on the weekend I will bring Mikey over and Dad can watch him and we can talk."

"Deal. You look beautiful by the way, Hunter is lucky to be going out with you."

Shaking her head her parents were meant to say that because it was in their job description, "well thank you for saying that, I just hope he agrees. Now though I have to get going as I don't want to be late for my date."

Linda waved at her daughter as she walked away from the house and back to her car.

Having planned their date for most of the week Hunter had it all planned out and now all he had left to do was pick up the picnic on his way to the park.

Thirty minutes later and Hunter was putting the picnic basket into the trunk of his car, he had picked all of the foods that she had used to love so hopefully she would really enjoy it and they would have a wonderful lunch together. Making his way to the park he pulled up in the parking lot and waited for Stephanie to arrive.

Pulling into the parking lot of the park she drove around a little until she found Hunter's car and pulled into the space alongside of him, she was so excited for this. Getting out of the car she quickly locked it before she walked closer to Hunter, "hey."

Sliding his arms around her waist he smiled softly as he held her, "hey. So how long do you have before you have to pick Mikey up?"

Resting her hands on his chest she smiled, "about an hour and a half so I have time to get him before my Mom has to go back to her campaign so I don't put any stress on my Dad."

Pulling away from her he moved to the trunk of his car and pulled out the picnic basket and blanket, "I was going to buy you flowers too but then I didn't want you to have to think about how you would explain it to Mikey so I didn't."

Smiling softly she held out her hand towards him as he shut the trunk and walked around the car towards her. Once he took her hand she pulled him closer, "thank you for that and this and well everything."

Shrugging his shoulders as he led her through the gates of the park it was no big deal, "no worries, always happy to be a little understanding."

Laughing she swung their hands back and forth, "try a lot understanding but thank you, it means a lot to me that you are going to all of this effort."

He didn't feel like he was doing anything special, he was just trying to do what was best for her and Mikey.

Walking to clearing in the park Hunter let go of Stephanie's hand and put the picnic basket on the floor before he shook out the blanket and laid it down on the grass, "after you madam."

Taking a seat on the blanket she just relaxed as he joined her and started to reveal all of her favourite foods, "did you pack anything for yourself?"

Shrugging his shoulders he motioned to all of the food, "I don't think you'll be able to eat all of this by yourself so there is something here for me."

"I meant any food you like specifically because all of this right here is all my favourite foods."

"Well you see the problem is I am trying to impress you so if I picked my favourite foods it wouldn't really impress you that much. It's not like this food is all of the things I hate so don't sweat it, just tuck in and enjoy."

Not needing to be told twice Stephanie immediately started to tuck into the food as she was starving.

After the two of them had finished eating Hunter packed all of the food away to just enjoy spending some quality time with Stephanie before she had to pick Mikey up.

As he packed all of the food up Stephanie moved across the blanket until she was closer to him and when he settled back against the tree she leant back against his chest and pulled his one arm around her waist, "thank you for today, I have had a really good time."

Resisting the urge to kiss the side of her head he smiled, "I did too, it's really nice getting to just go out on dates with you with no pressure and nobody really knowing about it."

Tilting her head back she looked up at him, "it is nice, I agree. Do you think we're moving too slowly?"

Raising his eyebrow he wasn't sure there was a correct answer to this question, "if I were to say yes then you'd think I'm an asshole and if I were to say no you'd probably think I wasn't really interested in you so I'm just going to keep quiet on that one okay?"

Laughing she slapped his thigh gently with her hand, "it wasn't a trick question, I just wondered if you were happy with the speed at which we are going?"

Shrugging his shoulders he was happy with any speed as long as she was comfortable with it, "honestly I'm happy with this speed or faster or whatever you are comfortable with. Don't over-analyse it Steph because I am happy with where we are if you are happy with it."

"Would you like more if I were ready for it?"

"I know you want honesty but I am too nervous to be truly honest with you as I don't want to mess it up so just go with whatever you want and what makes you happy and I'll be okay with it."

Resting her head on his shoulder she sighed happily, she was starting to fall for this Hunter so much harder than she had ever fallen for the other Hunter.

Aware that she had given him a deadline of an hour and a half when it got to a time where they had been there for an hour and a quarter he nudged her gently, "as much as I don't want to break up this moment or for our date to end it has been about an hour and a quarter since you arrived so we should probably make our way back to our cars."

Lifting her arm to look at her watch she was shocked to see that he was right as it didn't feel like she had been with him for that long, "you're right, unfortunately."

Reluctantly the two of them got up from the blanket before he moved the picnic basket out of the way and went to pick the blanket up to fold it but Stephanie grabbed the other side and helped him fold it before she clutched it close to her chest, "come on then."

Picking up the picnic basket he walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder as they walked back to the parking lot.

Reaching the parking lot he popped open his trunk before he placed the picnic basket inside and turned to take the blanket from her before he slammed the trunk shut, "I guess this is it for today. I'll talk to you at some point over the week?"

Nodding her head she wouldn't miss it for the world, "of course. Do I get a hug before you go?"

Laughing he nodded his head quickly sliding his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against his body, "your wish is my command."

Reaching up she looped her arms around his neck and stared up at him as he looked down at her with so many emotions swirling around in his eyes. Unable to stop herself she pulled his head down so it was closer to hers before she pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

Shocked that she was kissing him he didn't immediately respond but when he gained his bearings back he returned the kiss but didn't push her too far.

After a minute she pulled away from the kiss with a smile on her face, "well that was a nice development."

Laughing softly he nodded his head, "it most certainly was. I've wanted to kiss you for ages but didn't want to push my luck so didn't but now you've made the first move maybe I can kiss you whenever I want?"

Nodding her head she was open to that, "within reason that is a yes."

"I know I know, not in front of other people but don't worry, I have no plans of kissing you in front of other people."

Laughing at the way he was reading her mind she shook her head, "if I didn't know you I would be offended by that comment but I do know you and I know what you mean so you get away with it. I should get going though but I'll call you at some point over the next few days."

Unable to stop himself he pressed a quick kiss to her lips, "I look forward to it beautiful."

Slowly pulling away from him she walked back to her car and climbed in heading back to her parent's to pick up Mikey waving to Hunter as she pulled away.

Watching as she drove away he stood there and waited until she was out of sight before he climbed in his car and headed home with a smile on his face.