gold rush [the wilds, toni shalifoe]

chapter 22

Day Twenty-Three

Hunter smiled as she pushed herself tighter against Toni, the black haired girl sniggering a little as she ran a hand through the girl's blonde locks. The sun had started to rise around an hour ago but the teenagers had no intention of moving just yet, especially as they still were soaking in the peacefulness that had been created by their night of activities.

"Sorry, that was like some fucking weird Chewbacca yawn," Toni laughed after her yawn shook her whole chest, Hunter sniggering against her as she tried to hold back laughter at how strange it had sounded.

Hunter was sure that it would be fairly obvious to everyone once they got back that the girls had been doing more than just gathering lychees, since the huge red hickey on her neck didn't seem to want to be going anywhere.

"Are you worried about what will happen once we finally get off this island?" Hunter eventually murmured, so quiet that Toni almost missed it at first. "That everything will change."

Toni sat up a little, looking down at her girlfriend with nothing but sincerity in her eyes. She could tell from the way that Hunter had been unusually silent while they had been lying there that there was something running through the girl's mind but she wasn't sure what it was until now.

"Hey, regardless of what happens, you know nothing will change how amazing you are. Right?" Toni reassured her, knowing that Hunter was more worried about what would happen between them than what would happen once they got back to their homes. "Heck, not even your little bigoted Texan town that I know literally nothing about."

Hunter giggled at that, lightly pushing at Toni as she also sat up. Looking up with a sigh as she allowed herself one more second to soak in the rays of the sun, she turned to the girl with a small shrug. There wasn't much to say about their small town.

"There's not much to know," Hunter admitted as she fiddled with the band on her wrist, thinking to Hudson who must be stuck there going insane at the thought of Hunter having been missing for three weeks now. "Most of the folk who graduate from Fort Travis High never really want to leave the place, I know my parents certainly didn't - nor did Dot's dad or Shelby's parents. Heck, my dad even went to prom with Shelby's mom, although I don't think Shelby knows that."

"But not you?"

"Yeah, not me," Hunter admitted. "Hudson doesn't want to stay either. It's why he tries so hard with football, he just wants to get a free ride to literally any college thats so far away that he'll never need to come back. Me? I just wanted to get out with him. That's always been our plan - he'd go and I'd follow him wherever."

They sat there in silence for a moment as Hunter fiddled with the bracelet at little more, knowing that Toni was giving her a moment to compose herself. It was obvious that the thought of getting to go home was a conflicting one for Hunter - it meant going back to her twin, but it also meant going back to a town where she was seen as a villain, where her abusive ex's family were in charge of the police force and the school board. It meant returning to somewhere that she was no longer wanted.

"That's changed now, I think," Hunter continued, Toni looking up at her in surprise as the girl rose to her feet with a big stretch. "I love Hudson, but I might honestly take up Fatin on that offer of moving to LA. Just a fresh start, yanno?"

The girls were silent after that, both lost in their thoughts as they began to gather the lychees. They'd left the overs for long enough now, and Hunter knew that Shelby and Martha would likely have gotten back to camp too before the night had fallen. Did Hunter feel a little bad for having sex instead of taking the starving girls food? A little, she would admit. But at the same time, it was a sacrifice she was willing to make on their behalf.