Challenge issued by Rangerfan at the crimson_green livejournal community: "Cam wakes up naked in bed with Hunter. How did this happen?"

"We didn't want to wake you up, bro." Hunter was earnest and apologetic and completely unbelievable, but Blake looked more surprised than suspicious. "We couldn't find anything in the dark. And you're kind of a bed hog, so."

They were all staying at a hotel during the X Games, with two rooms between the six of them. Cam had offered to share with Blake and Hunter as long as Tori didn't mind being in with Shane and Dustin. And Blake had already been taking up one of the two beds when they got back, so what else were they gonna do?

"I don't even own a tent," Cam said with some asperity. "Since I don't make a habit of pretending to be one with nature, I don't know where you expected me to sleep."

The guys' approach to what they called "roughing it" wasn't exactly low-impact camping. Of course everyone had their own tent. They'd convinced Tori and Cam to stay for dinner, and the campfire afterward, and once it was dark everyone seemed to sort of lose track of each other.

Tori had slept in the back of the van. Apparently most of them had assumed Cam would do the same. But, as Cam pointed out, Hunter had a giant air mattress and more space in his family-size tent than he knew what to do with. So.

"We had a couple of beers," Hunter offered the next morning. "Figured it was better not to drive anywhere afterwards. And the buses don't exactly run out into the mountains."

Cam had come over to the apartment while Blake and Tori were out on a date. He needed some time away from Ninja Ops, after all. So they hung out, watched TV, and yeah, he could have crashed on the sofa. But he didn't want to be in the way, and besides, he was a light sleeper. Blake would have woken him up when he came in for sure.

"What?" Cam wanted to know. "I was cold, okay? Next time you have to make emergency field repairs to the dolphin zord without your Ranger uniform to regulate temperature, you can make fun of me for wanting some extra body heat."

They had been under siege for three days straight, trapped between the zords and the kelzaks, and Tori's wasn't the only life Cam had saved with his recklessness. He'd gotten the job done, and he'd come back, and lately that was all they asked. If he'd passed up a mylar blanket in favor of another human being, well. They were under a lot of pressure.

Even after his temperature normalized, though, Hunter didn't let him out of his sight.

It probably said something about how wildly improbably the relationship was that their friends missed it for so long. It wasn't like they'd gone out of their way to keep it a secret. Their excuses were more for the sake of form than anything else, and sometimes they argued over whether anyone had actually believed them to begin with.

Then one day, Hunter wound up in one of the treatment rooms with a splinter. No, really. He'd been training. Shirtless. It was a hot day. And he'd slammed his hand into something. He didn't remember what.

Something wooden, Cam said. Obviously. It had broken. So he'd dragged Hunter in here, complaining all the way, and made him sit down on the patient bed while Cam dug the splinter out of his hand. Or his arm. Shoulder. Whatever.

He hadn't been able to see it that well, of course. It was a very small splinter. That's why he was on the bed with Hunter. To look for it.

The rest of the guys had piled into the doorway behind Tori, who was standing there with her hands on her hips as she mostly failed to keep a straight face. "Okay," she remarked. "We've cut you guys a lot of slack. But now?"

She eyed them, eyes dancing as she announced, "Now I am officially not buying this anymore."

Far from protesting, Hunter let out an exaggerated sigh. "Thank you," he declared. Glancing back at Cam, he added, "See?"

"If I recall," Cam murmured, not moving from where he was, "and I do... I was the one who said no one could be that blind."

Hunter scoffed. "You are so not winning this argument." He leaned in to kiss Cam, a gesture that took about half a second and less than two inches to initiate. Cam didn't resist.

Without turning around, Tori held her hand out to the side. Dustin shifted, patting his pockets absently before pulling out a five dollar bill. He slapped it into Tori's outstretched hand with zero complaint.

"Shane," Blake added.

Shane, on the other hand, grumbled loudly before handing over a ten. "I still say you had inside knowledge," he complained. "I should know better than to bet against family members."

Weirdly, it was Cam who chuckled, like he could see the exchange and knew exactly what had happened. "Fine," he whispered to Hunter. "We were both half right. Okay?"

"Less talk," Hunter growled. "More kissing."

After that, there were no more excuses.