gold rush [the wilds, toni shalifoe]

chapter 13

Day Twelve

Hunter almost groaned as she caught up to Toni who had moved rather fast for someone who usually wasn't that quick at running compared to the blonde. Toni was panting slightly, pacing back and forth across the sand as she clenched her jaw and fists in anger at what Shelby had said, even though she always had the suspicion that those would be her beliefs.

"Hey," Hunter breathed, standing her ground as Toni angrily spun around, her anger coursing through her veins before she noticed it was Hunter and visibly relaxed ever so slightly. She knew the rest of the girls didn't share the same views about her and Hunter's sexualities the way Shelby did, but it didn't make her willing to chat to them about how this felt. She'd felt it more often in her life than she liked to admit.

"I can't fucking believe her," Toni spat, continuing to pace before snorting at her own words. "Actually, scrap that, I can believe it. What I can't believe is that Martha even had the guts to defend her and say she wasn't like that when she clearly is!"

"Hey, hey," Hunter soothed, stepping closer to the raven haired girl who took a step back, worried that she would get angry and somehow hurt the fragile girl that was trying to coax her to calm down. "Toni, breathe!"

Hunter reached out again, placing both of her hands on Toni's shoulders as the girl tried to avoid her eye contact as she heaved with anger still, her eyes fluttering down to look at where Hunter was holding her in place. They'd came a long way since the night of the rainstorm and Toni having to restrain the girl. A long way indeed.

"Shelby's just ignorant," Hunter murmered, searching Toni's eyes as the girl finally looked up and met her own. "Harmless, but ignorant. What she thinks about people like us, it doesn't matter."

Toni nodded as she tried to cool down, knowing that Hunter was right. Shelby's thoughts and opinions on them wasn't going to change how they were or how they saw each other. Hunter smiled gently as she let her arms from from Toni's face, taking a few steps away as she turned around and began to move away from the girl now that she had succeeded in calming her down slightly.

"Hunter?" Toni asked, the girl looking over her shoulder as she mumbled a noise of acknowledgement. "With my anger, how did you know I wouldn't..."

"Hit me?" Hunter asked, blunt and straight to the point as per usual. Toni nodded sheepishly as Hunter smiled at the girl, a genuine one that gave Toni literal butterflies in her stomach. "Cause I trust you Toni. You're not like him. You never could be - not to me anyway."

As Hunter began to walk away again, Toni's thoughts all went out of the window as she lunged forward and lightly wrapped her hand around Hunter's wrist to tug her back to face the girl. Hunter spun around quickly, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise as Toni lightly held on to her wrist.

"Is this okay?" Toni asked as she touched the girl, Hunter breaking into a smile as she looked at Toni's afraid face. She was afraid that Hunter would reject her touch and that they'd be right back to square one.

"Only if this is," Hunter told Toni as she moved forward, noticing how Toni's eyes grew wide as she realised what the girl was about to do. Hunter placed her spare hand against the back of Toni's neck, tugging her forward and sealing their lips together in less than a second.

Toni's eyes immediately closed as she adjusted to the feel of Hunter's lips on her own, her mind running a thousand miles per hour as she let her hands tug the girl in closer by the waist, feeling Hunter move her other hand to rest on Toni's shoulder as the other caressed the back of her neck.

As they pilled away Toni grinned widely at Hunter who was looking at her with curious eyes, worried that the raven haired girl wasn't into her the way that she was into Toni. Toni laughed lightly before smugly chuckling to herself, looking Hunter up and down before poking her tongue out slightly.