gold rush [the wilds, toni shalifoe]

chapter 23

Day Twenty-Three

"Hey," Hunter breathed as she sat down beside Toni, tucking her legs against her chest as their shoulders brushed against each other. Toni tilted her head to look at her, a smile naturally falling on her lips as she admired the Boyd twin.

"Hey you," Toni softly replied, nudging her shoulder a little with her own and feeling a little sense of pride in her stomach when Hunter cracked a small smile - the first one that Toni had seen on her since they had started collecting the lychees. Toni knew something had changed in Hunter since that morning, and she was terrified that she had done something to push her away.

They sat there a moment in silence, before Hunter eventually leaned slightly and allowed her head to fall on to Toni's shoulder as the two stared across the bounds of endless ocean. Hunter knew she needed to tell Toni what was on her mind, but she was so afraid to do so even though she already knew Toni was nothing like Riley had been.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours, huh?" Toni eventually asked, trying to hide how her hands were tugging at the dirt on either side of her, a stress reliever as she worried for what Hunter was going to say to her.

"You're not going to change on me now, are you?" Hunter asked and as she noticed Toni's face contort as she went to try and reassure her, she continued speaking to explain what she meant. "I know I said I'd stop letting him plague everything but it's just when I first... you know... had sex with Riley, that's when everything started to change and I'm just panicking I guess and then when I asked if you about things after the island I don't know I just panicked you wouldn't want to keep this going."

Toni turned to look at her fully then, scooting her body around in a small quarter circle as she turned so that their knees were now pressed together and her hand was resting on Hunter's face as she sat crossed legged in front of her.

"Hey," Toni breathed as she gave the blonde a moment to allow herself to just relax against Toni's palm on her cheek. "Hunter, I'm all in. I'm all in on this island and I'll be all in when we get off this island, regardless of whether we're in Texas or the Rez or in LA with Fatin and Dot - I'm always going to be all in for you for as long as you need and want me to be."

Hunter nodded at this, sniffling a little as she leaned forward and allowed Toni to wrap her arms around her girlfriend, stroking her blonde hair for a moment as they both looked out across the water and down to the shore, noticing how Fatin was now sitting beside Shelby. Hunter was distracted for a brief moment, noticing how Shelby and Fatin both looked up at her and Toni for a second.

"Do you feel bad for Shelby?" Hunter asked gently, trying not to make it obvious that she was looking at the other blonde Texan. Toni nodded against her shoulder, pulling back from their embrace with a quick glance downwards at the girl.

"Yeah, but I think we've helped her a bit," Toni admitted, noticing how Shelby had risen to her feet and was walking up the hill towards them now. Toni nudged Hunter as the other blonde also clocked on to the fact that Shelby was approaching them both.

They both smiled at her as she hovered beside them for a minute, almost as if she was hyping herself up to take a seat on the grass next to the duo. They were all very aware that once they had this conversation, there wasn't any going back from it.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Shelby eventually asked the two of them as they all sat on the grass, the silence between them growing until she broke it. Hunter smiled gently at Shelby as she reached over and lightly patted the girl on the arm.

"It wasn't our story to tell," Toni replied, casually and as if it was the most simple thing in the world. To Hunter and Toni who understood the pain of people not seeing you for you, it maybe was. Regardless of what Shelby had said or done to them prior to her freaking out and kissing Toni days prior, they knew it was a secret that they'd hold on to for as long as Shelby needed them to. "Besides, you saved my life."