With the mood light again, they continued on until they found an unpopulated area. Several empty carts were strewn about The only noise was the rustle of carts in the distance.

"Did the apocalypse start?" Grayson asked. "Spooky."

Hunter's eyes rested on a row of abandoned carts. "Empty lanes. Abandoned carts. You know what that means..."

Grayson was genuinely confused. "What?"

"Oh you poor child." Hunter shook his head, his voice full of pity. "Let me show you."

Even after the rules had been explained, Grayson was still confused.

"A race? In here? Won't we break something?"

They stood at the ends of two long aisles.

"No, not if you know how to drive in a straight line." Hunter had abandoned his motorized cart for a regular one. "Now. On your mark...Get set...Go!" They both charged down their respective aisles. Divided by rows of pet food, Grayson slowed down a bit. As he reached the end of his aisle he saw Hunter jet by, standing on the back of his cart as it wheeled away---straight into a wall of laundry detergent.

"Hunter!"

"Don't worry kid." A veteran of Target cart racing, Hunter made a sharp turn. "You're dealing with a pro--" Before he could finish his sentence his cart collided with a column. The force caused him to fall forward into the cart. Despite the pain, the absurdity of it all caused him to laugh hysterically.

Grayson appeared at the side of the cart. "Oh my God. I thought you were gonna break your neck. Are you okay?"

Hunter had yet to stop laughing. "I'm-f-fine. Next time I'm filling it with pillows first."

Grayson shook his head. "You're something else, you know that?" He offered Hunter a hand.

"Oh yeah. Definitely something else." As Grayson pulled him out of the cart, Hunter felt like a child. He held on to Grayson's shoulder for leverage and found his face inches away from his. That was enough to get him to stop laughing. "You're really strong." That was the most coherent thing he muster. It was either that or, 'You have really long eyelashes'.

"You have nice eyes."

Hunter blinked. He didn't say that. Grayson did.

"Uh..."

They had come full circle. And as Grayson brought his face closer, Hunter remembered his own not so pure intentions. He closed his eyes.

"Are y'all using this cart?"

Hunter's eyes snapped open.

A bored employee stood in front of Grayson's abandoned cart with a blank expression.

Grayson stared at the newcomer. "No."

Hunter suddenly remembered what brought him off-campus in the first place. He sat down in the cart. "Excuse me, which way is electronics?"

"To the right."

As the employee disappeared beyond the endless aisles Hunter stared at the floor.

Did he read that mood right? Would Grayson have kissed him then?

His train of thought was interrupted as Grayson began pushing the cart along. He looked back at Grayson over his sunglasses.

"To electronics then..." Grayson stared ahead, disappointment evident in his voice.

Hunter tucked his knees to his chest. What was he doing here again? How many days had passed since he had first met Grayson Lee? They had only spoken twice before now. Wasn't it a little too soon for Target makeout sessions? Things were moving too fast. Just because he was away from the pack didn't mean he had to act like this...

His stomach churned.

Grayson brought the cart to a stop as they passed the men's clothing section. He said something about grabbing a few things, and Hunter nodded as he watched him appraise several graphic laden t-shirts.

He felt as if he were sobering up from a hangover--not that he had tried drinking since New Year's--one glass of champagne was apparently enough for him. Maybe this was part of pack detachment--the phenomenon that sometimes occurred when a werewolf left his pack for long periods of time. He was running wild without any Alphas or guardians watching him.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

Was that really the case? Was he running wild? Or was that the pull of the Alphas again? The thought of that being true made him angry. Disobeying an Alpha always lead to confusion, self doubt, and sometimes sickness. And in that moment, he was disobeying a certain Alpha's wishes--An Alpha he wanted nothing to do with.

So what if he didn't know much about Grayson Lee. He could fix that.

As Grayson dropped two sweatshirts into the cart, Hunter squinted at him over his sunglasses. "What's Boston like?"

"Wha?" He had caught Grayson by surprise. "That's random." He replied with a smile. "It's okay I guess. Some parts of it are cool like Back Bay or Brighton. Almost everything is a piece of history, you can't go far without being near this tavern or that monument."

"Sounds cool." Hunter looked ahead, catching the eye of a woman pushing a baby in a cart. She gave him a look of disapproval and he ignored it. "I'd like to go. Now that I'm away from home, I feel like I can go anywhere."

"We should go." Grayson's brow furrowed as if he just decided on a future trip, a sight that Hunter enjoyed. "I gotta admit, I don't get out much, but if you want to see Revere's house or Fenway, I'm your guy. Maybe I'll take you on a duck boat ride."

"A duck boat?" Hunter repeated.

"Oh yes, the premier form of Bostonian nautical travel. A metal bus and boat combo decorated with a duck."

That was enough to make Hunter snicker. "Oh my gosh, yes please. I gotta see that."

Once they reached the electronics section, they waded through the numerous tv show sets, movies, and specials. Grayson was especially enamored with the $5 season bundles of a few old British sitcoms and when Hunter admitted he had never heard of them, Grayson demanded he come over to his room to watch.

With a future meetup planned Hunter was a little more relaxed as Grayson continued to push him through the store.

When they finally made it to the self checkout, an employee asked how old Grayson's 'son' was, at which point Hunter proclaimed he was a big boy and asked to be let out of the cart.

With a few unnecessary purchases in tow they headed over to the food court, scarfed down a few slices of pizza, and wandered around the shopping complex. By the time the sun had set they had held another shopping cart race in a different store, were kicked out of the toy store for getting carried away with a lightsaber battle, and wasted thirty bucks at a tiny arcade.

The ride back to Redwood was peppered with plans for the future and reminiscing their earlier exploits. Caught up in their reverie, they were the last ones out of the van once it pulled up on campus. It was already after dark, and the grounds were once again lit by patches of lamplight.

"I can't believe we spent the day running around a strip mall." Grayson laughed. "My Mom would disown me if she caught me doing any of that."

"Ha. My Mom wouldn't. Who do you think taught me my mad cart drifting skills?" Hunter raised an eyebrow.

Grayson shook his head." I don't think you're done learning."

"Hey, that pillar jumped out of nowhere!"

"Do inanimate objects attack you often?"

"You'd be surprised."

They walked up to the Howard building. Hunter stopped at the front door, not ready for things to end. "Well, that was fun." He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "We probably shouldn't go back to that Toymart though, the manager was so red I thought he was going to explode."

"Gross." Grayson had his conquests for the day slung over his shoulder, his other hand on his hip. "I'd rather not see that." He towered over Hunter, the lamp post behind him casting shadows on his face. There was something about the dark that made his grin all the more charming. And as he leaned in to kiss Hunter on the lips, the werewolf couldn't refute his advance.

It was a short kiss, over before Hunter could get his bearings.

"Today was totally a date by the way." Was the line that brought Hunter back to reality. "I'll text you." Was the one that prompted him to say goodbye.

And as Grayson walked off into the night with Hunter's heart, the smitten werewolf realized he had forgotten about his phone case.