Okay, so, I've had this story done since Christmas of 2017. I forgot about it until I was looking through my Google Drive and found this. I then just... Polished it up. That, and I didn't know how others would react to another PAW Patrol story. But, since my Inktober Writing Prompt back in October got so many views, I figured I'd try this.

These little one-shots go hand-in-hand with the AUish story I'm writing. This is kind of the 'since this happened in the past, this happened in response' type thing.

And yes, they're supposed to be short, okay?

...

Yeah, I'll shut up now.

Ryder and the pups were at the beach playing volleyball. The teams were Chase, Skye, and Marshall against Rocky, Rubble, and Zuma, Ryder the referee. So far, Chase's team was winning. The ball went back and forth until Ryder heard his pup-pad ring.

"Hello, Ryder here."

"Hello, Ryder. It's Mr Porter."

"Hey, Mr Porter. What's up?"

"Well, Alex and I are at the beach near the North Side. Alex has a sunburn, but I cannot get him to come home with me so I can treat it. Do you think you and the pups can help me out?"

"No problem! No job is too big, no pup is too small!"

~Jump to when they get Alex to come home~

"Thanks so much for the help, Ryder," Mr Porter said.

"No problem! Whenever you're in trouble, just yelp for help!" Ryder responded.

"I will, Ryder, I will. Speaking of…"

Mr Porter paused and looked at Ryder's face. The pups and Alex did too. They could see that his face was a faint pinkish-red in colour, especially on his cheeks and nose. Ryder looked away while Mr Porter chuckled.

"It looks like someone other than Alex has a sunburn."

Ryder whipped his head back towards Mr Porter and widened his eyes.

"No. No way. I'm good, really."

"Come on, Ryder. Please? I have to get the sunburn stuff too," Alex pleaded.

Ryder sighed. He knew he couldn't make Alex too upset, especially since Mr Porter was right there.

"Okay okay. You win."

The pups giggled and they all walked into Mr Porter's shop. Mr Porter went to retrieve something and returned with a bottle of clear green gel.

"Okay, Alex. I'm going to spread this gel on your sunburns," Mr Porter said.

"Okay, grandpa."

Mr Porter squeezed some of the green gel onto his hand. He then took his finger and used it to spread some of it onto Alex's face.

"H-hey! That tickles!" Alex giggled. He then shivered, "and that's cold."

"It's supposed to be cold, Alex. It takes the pain of the sunburn away," Mr Porter said with a smile.

Once Mr Porter was done, he turned to Ryder.

"Your turn, Ryder. Do you want me to do it, or do you want to do it?" Mr Porter asked.

The leader of the PAW Patrol bit his lower left lip, a sign that he was embarrassed to say what he was about to say.

"You can do it," Ryder murmured.

Mr Porter widened his eyes a little before nodding. He came closer and put the gel on his index finger to spread onto Ryder's face when Ryder flinched back slightly. It took a couple of tries before Mr Porter was able to touch Ryder without him recoiling back.

"Sorry, Mr Porter," Ryder apologized.

"It's not your fault, Ryder, remember?"

Ryder sighed through his nose, "I know."

The pups and Alex looked confused, but Ryder gave Chase, Marshall, Skye, Rocky, Zuma, and Rubble a look that clearly said that they didn't want to know and that it was for a later date. Mr Porter stepped back when he was done.

"There you go, Ryder."

"Thanks, Mr Porter."

The pups and Alex went off to the park to go play (after asking Ryder and Mr Porter, of course), Mr Porter and Ryder following behind.

"Thank you, Ryder."

"What for? You're the one who helped me."

"For trusting me enough to let me get close to you so I could put the sunburn relief gel on."

"Oh, that. It was nothing."

"You and I both know it wasn't nothing."

"Mmm."

"But still. Thank you."

He couldn't help it. Ryder smiled at the sincerity in Mr Porter's voice.

"You're welcome, Mr Porter."

They then watched the pups and Alex play at the park until it was time to go home. He took a little gamble and rested his head on the elder man's shoulder. He felt Mr Porter start a little but then sigh contently and run a hand along his back.

Yes, Ryder trusted Mr Porter. He knew that Mr Porter trusted him, and now Mr Porter knew he trusted him back. It was a good feeling, Ryder decided. He hoped that the feeling didn't go away.

So, good? Hate it? Brilliant? So bad you've got to wash your eyes out with bleach? Lemme know! Should I continue this?

...

Meh, I probably will anyway, but I wanna know if I should just save my fingers.

~*MegaMon2580*~