All day it continued. Toby and Luna went from place to place, with Pete silently stalking their every step. Having eavesdropped on Toby as he made his plans the day before, Pete had traps laid at every turn, but inevitably they would backfire. By the end of the day, he had fallen off of three roofs, gotten his head stuck in two buckets (one of which had previously been filled with rotting garbage) and sat in a pile of snow-covered thorns planned for the canine couple to step in. Toby and Luna, by some miracle, never knew he was there.

Toby could honestly say he had never enjoyed any day more in his life. Sure, he made a few mistakes (mostly courtesy of Pete), but Luna never let them get under her skin. In fact, she seemed to like it for some odd reason when he goofed up.

As for Luna, she was having the time of her life. Toby was lots of fun, and he took heed when she wanted to do something different from what he had in mind, and he was always so sorry when he made a mistake that Luna couldn't have stayed upset with him for long even if she'd wanted to. When they watched the sunset from the top of a sand dune on the beach, she felt disappointed that their date was over so soon, and was only too pleased when Toby suggested a moonlight stroll on the beach. They walked along for quite a while before either of them spoke.

"I'm glad I agreed to this," said Luna.

Toby smiled. "I'm glad I asked you."

Wait for it… thought Pete as he watched them move along the shoreline.

"You know, you look different in the moonlight," Toby went on.

She tilted her head. "How so?"

He gazed at her, noticing that she looked almost white under the full moon. "Well, you look…slimmer, for one thing."

Oh, she'll look slimmer after this one, thought Pete.

Luna's eyes narrowed and her voice grew sharp. "Oh, so I look fat in the daytime?"

Toby froze and started to panic. "What? No, I meant…"

She burst out laughing. "I'm kidding." There was a moment's silence. "So what else looks different?"

"Well, your fur looks…shiny. I mean, it looks good in sunlight too, but right now it makes you look like you're glowing."

Luna shifted, half with embarrassment and half with pleasure. "Go on," she said.

Toby stared at her. "And your eyes…" He trailed off, at a complete loss for words. At any other time, he couldn't help but think in the back of his mind how much her eyes reminded him of the descriptions of Steele he'd heard from his mother's stories. But now, as he stared into them, all he could think about was how beautiful they were. He felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her, but held back.

Come on, come on, thought Pete, mentally willing them to make contact. They were less than an inch from being right where he wanted them.

At that moment Luna's stomach growled. She looked down at it and let out a nervous laugh. "Uh…"

"Uh-oh," said Toby. "We can't have that. Come on. I've got supper all figured out."

Both dogs took a step forward, and Pete sprang his trap. He yanked on the end of a rope he had buried in the sand earlier, pulling a stretch of it tight around Toby's feet. Toby pitched to his left, sending Luna into the water with a tremendous splash.

Toby stared in amazement as Luna broke the surface. With her fur plastered against her body, she looked like a drowned rat. "Uh, here." Toby reached out his neck. "Grab my collar." Luna took his collar in her teeth. But instead of allowing him to help her out, she braced her feet and pulled him headfirst into the water. Toby came up sputtering for breath. "What was that for?" he asked.

Luna answered with a wry grin, "Well, two's company, right?"

Toby grinned and lunged. Soon the two of them were splashing and nipping at one another, making the surface white with foam. Pete was hoping they would do something he could use as blackmail, but to his frustration, Toby practically treated Luna as a sister while they were in the water, and Luna behaved in kind. When at last they emerged, Luna got out first and shook out her fur. Toby followed suite…and succeeded in thoroughly saturating her all over again. "Oops," he chuckled nervously as he stared at her.
Luna just smiled, lifted a paw, and pushed him back in.

After they were done playing in the surf, Toby led Luna to the boiler room and told her to wait by the furnace while he went and got some things. Ignoring the cold air on his wet fur, he went to his house and checked his food dish. As usual, they had given him a portion of tonight's dinner; since he was part of the family now, Charlie insisted on giving him people food once a week. Tonight, it was spaghetti and meatballs, still piping hot. "Close your eyes, Luna," he called to her as he approached the boiler room. He set down the dish and peered in to see her with her eyes closed. "Cover your nose, too," he added.

Giggling, Luna placed a paw over her nose. "You'd better dot have sobthig sbelly," she warned in a nasal voice.

Hmm, Toby thought to himself. Maybe next time I'll see if there's any Limburger in the icebox. He laughed and brought in the pasta. He quickly pushed an overturned crate into place to serve as a table. Letting down the dish of spaghetti on the table he announced, "I hope you like Italian."

Luna opened her eyes and looked at the food. "Toby, how did you get this?" she asked in confusion.

Toby grinned. "If I told you that," he joked, "I'm afraid I'd have to kill you." He didn't want to let on that he was giving up half his dinner, or she=d refuse to eat a bite. "Go ahead," he urged. "Ladies first."

Luna shook her head. "Age before beauty," she replied. "Your birthday is two days before mine."

Toby pushed the plate toward her. "I insist."

"Same time?"

"Deal."

Both dogs positioned their heads over the dish, ready to dig in. Although neither of them would admit it, both found it a little strange to have their faces so close together. A nice strange, but strange nonetheless. "On three," said Toby. "One, two…"

From his hiding place, Pete made his move. Stomping a paw on a loose floorboard, he shook the makeshift table sitting on the other end. It was no earthquake, but it was enough to make the bowl jump and spill its contents all over their faces. There was a moment's silence as they stared at one another, then Toby impulsively began to clean the food off of Luna's face. It took him almost ten seconds to realize how he was doing it. With a start, he yanked his tongue back into his mouth and stared at Luna, whose face was beet red, and Toby could feel that his was the same color. It wasn't the tomato sauce.

"Luna, I…I…" Toby tried to come up with something to say, but no words were coming out. But Luna just smiled and returned the favor. Toby thanked his lucky stars that no one was watching as he and Luna proceeded to clean each other's faces and finish their dinner, unaware of their stalker.

Pete grumbled to himself in frustration as he watched them enjoy themselves. Nothing worked. He=d tried every trick he could think of and nothing had worked. They just wouldn't break up! He slipped out the door in plain sight, too tired to care if they knew what he'd been doing. But they didn't see him at all. They were too busy staring at each other.

"Come on," said Toby at last, when the seawater had finally dried from their fur. "It's getting late, and there's one place left I'd like to take you before we have to go home."

"Where?" asked Luna.

Toby headed for the door. "You'll see," he promised. He led her through the streets of Nome to an old lot full of boxes and crates. He stopped and sat as Luna came up and sat beside him.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked, wondering why Toby would finish their date at such an unromantic spot.

Toby's mouth dropped. "You don't remember? This is the place we first met. The place we became friends."

"Of course," said Luna. "How could I forget? This was one of the best playgrounds in town."

"Still is," Toby sighed, staring around. "So many memories."

"Forget the scenery and look over here," Luna told him.

Toby turned and found himself nose-to-nose with Luna. He pulled back. "You planned that, didn't you?" he asked.

She smiled. "Define 'planned.'"

Toby chuckled nervously. Though she didn't realize it, Luna had just brought him within an inch of something he badly wanted. How do I say this without pressuring her? He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, trying to decide how best to tell her what he was thinking. "Luna, what do you think about…kissing on a first date?"

Luna laughed. "You mean besides what happened in the boiler room?"

Toby was getting really nervous now. "Well, yeah, sort of. I mean…" He trailed off, not sure what else to say and half-wishing he hadn't said anything.

Luna considered. "Well, if that's as far as we go…" She moved her muzzle towards his. "Then it sounds all right to me."

Their lips met, and Toby could feel his head spinning. He slowly closed his eyes and let the feel of Luna's lips on his sink in, knowing that the first kiss was strictly a one-time thing and would never come again. But he also imagined that any other kisses they might share in the future would be even better. He slowly lifted a paw and wrapped it tenderly around her neck.

As for Luna, her mind was all over the place. When she'd first begun to feel attracted to Toby, every other thought had been what their first kiss might be like. Now, as they shared it, she could finally stop wondering and enjoy it. It gave her immense pleasure to feel Toby's lips on hers, and it only got better when he put his paw around her neck. His touch was kind and gentle, making her feel not only pleasured and wanted, but also loved and protected. She could also feel that someday they were going to take their relationship a step further. But for that one moment in time, the world stood still.

Pete watched with clenched teeth and a scowl as they kissed. He turned and stalked off, almost steaming with anger. Despite all his traps and plans to make their first date the most miserable of all first dates, they still found some way to turn it around and use it to their advantage. I'll get them yet, he growled to himself. And when I do, those two will wish that they had never met.