A/N: Hola! I appreciate all the reviews, so thanks again. I wasn't planning on posting the next chapter till later on this week, but since I'm in a better mood today, and I'll most likely be busy for the time being, I thought I save you all the trouble of waiting. So...here it is!
"Tough Enough"
Hunter and his father, Edward Jay Smith talked for what seemed to be countless hours about life in general. Once he invited him in, the old man offered a cup of coffee along with a batch of chocolate chip cookies that tasted as if they've been sitting out for a while. As the two have supper, they first introduced themselves with basic information and went in dept about personal things they've encountered so far. Mr. Smith was pleased himself to find out that his only son was a graduate of the Blue Bay Harbor University. He wasn't exactly a bright student growing up. In fact, Edward lived in poverty with hardly any education as a child. However, he completed high school and went on to become a carpenter, which surprised Hunter due to the way his house was left. But then again, it reminded him of the fact that his father just got out of jail. With that in mind, Hunter was very eager to know more about it.
"So what did you do?" The dirty blonde asks once he brought up the subject. Mr. Smith hesitated a bit, but eventually responded to his question.
"Well umm...I was caught stealing." He stammers on the sentence as if he wasn't sure what exactly happened.
Hunter wrinkles his forehead. "Stealing? Stealing what?"
Mr. Smith shrugs. "Stuff. Like I said before, I'm not financially stable and I couldn't afford things."
"Yeah, but that doesn't give you the right to steal from others." Hunter replies back sharply as his father looks down in utter shame.
"I know I shouldn't, and I had to learn my lesson the hard way. But I've changed." He reassures him. "I want to leave the past behind me and start on a good note, and so far it's going great now that you're here, son. Finally here, and boy am I glad to see you."
Hunter smiles at the comment. "Thanks, Da--" He pauses and immediately thought about the Bradley's who gave him his rightful name and a family to live by. The only person who Hunter considers his father was Mr. Bradley, and the thought of him gone rekindle moments he shared with him. As for now, he would consider his biological father by Mr. Smith. "Sorry." Hunter chuckles nervously. "I'm just not used to--"
"I understand. You can call me Ed."
He nods. "Okay, Ed. Can you tell me more about my mother?" He asks as his mind trails off on the lovely Mrs. Bradley, who happens to be a kind-hearted and a gentle soul. Hunter was curious to find some similarity between the two.
"Oh, your mother." Mr. Smith says in a vague tone. He looks down and sighs deeply. "Well, your mother passed away about five years ago..."
Hunter's heart dropped. "She passed away???" He reiterates the statement in complete disbelief.
His father nods solemnly. "Yeah. She uhh...had a tough pregnancy, and died after our first daughter was born. Your mother was very loving and caring. I'm sure you would've loved her. She kept telling me how she didn't want to let you go, but we were young and--"
"No. Please don't." Hunter mumbles as a single tear rolled down his cheeks. He could no longer hold the pain that was secretly killing him inside; anguish pain that brought old memories, especially the death of his parents. Now to find out that his biological mother passed away without ever knowing, hurt even more than he would imagine.
"I'm sorry, Hunter."
He sniffs and quickly dried his eyes. "Don't be. It wasn't your fault. You guys were young. None of your parents wouldn't want you to keep me. I mean I get it."
Mr. Smith averts from his gaze, suddenly feeling bad about having a personal conversation that eventually would be mentioned sooner or later. However, he didn't want to start a new father and son relationship this way. "If it's any consolation, Hunter...your mother and I were planning to get you back as soon as we were older and financially enough to support you."
He shrugs. "It doesn't matter anymore, Ed. I'm here now right?"
"Yes you are." The old man smiles in return.
"Do you miss her?" Hunter questions all of a sudden.
He nods. "Of course. Katherine was the love of my life. She has been for many years and will always till the day I die." Hunter lowers his head and stares down at the empty coffee mug. "Listen, son." Mr. Smith places a hand on top of his shoulder as the dirty blonde looks up. "I want you to know that she would've been a great mother to you and your little sister. During our time together, she always talked about having children." Hunter took in everything he said and accepted it. "Anyway, enough about me. Let's talk about you. How did the Bradley's treated you?"
"Oh, they've been great." He stated proudly. "Best family that I could ever asked for. But then Blake is the only family I got right now."
"Blake?"
Hunter bobs his head. "Yeah, my brother. He was adopted too."
"Oh I see."
"Yeah, so...after our parents died we basically moved to Blue Bay Harbor and met new friends thanks to Dustin, who has been so good to us during our stay."
Mr. Smith smirks. "Got a girlfriend?"
"Ha. No." He answers truthfully; feeling slightly embarrass about it.
"Why not? It's Blue Bay Harbor. There are many attractive women out there." His father concluded.
"Yeah, but they're not exactly my type."
"Oh I see. You must be picky when it comes to women."
Hunter shrugs his shoulders. "Hey, what can I say? The right girl will eventually show up. You just gotta have patience."
He chuckles. "That's right, son. That's what I like to hear!"
After moments of sparing a few laughs, Hunter's cell phone suddenly went off as it plays some funky ring tone. He checked the caller I.D as Dustin's name and number flashes on the screen. "Uh excuse me for a minute. I must take this."
"Go right ahead. You can use the spare room to your left."
"Thanks." Hunter rises up from the stiff couch and excused himself into a connected room. He made sure the door was shut before answering the phone. "Hello?"
"Hunter, it's Dustin. Where are you?" The goofball asks from the other line.
He rubs the back of his neck. "Uhh...I'm actually at his house."
"Oh...sorry for interrupting."
"Dude, it's cool. So what's up?"
Dustin heaves a deep sigh. "It's Tori."
Hunter rolls his eyes at the sound of her name. "You're not making me talk to her again are you?" He grunted irritably.
"No. I'm just letting you know that she's at the hospital right now."
"What?!" He gasps in surprise, as his eyes grew larger. "Whoa. Whoa. What happened? Is she okay?"
"I'll tell you all about it when you get here. Don't worry, she's fine."
"Alright. I'm on my way." Hunter flips his phone shut and rushes through the other room where he found Mr. Smith waiting patiently for him. "Uh hey...sorry to cut this short, but I really have to go."
He arches his brow curiously. "Why? What's wrong?"
"It's my friend Tori. She's at the hospital right now."
'Tori.' The old man thought carefully in his head. For some odd reason, the name sounded quite familiar to him. He looks up at his grown son and pouts. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Is she alright?"
"Yeah. I'm not exactly sure what happened though." Hunter rubs his face frustratingly. "Look I gotta go. Maybe we'll meet later?"
Mr. Smith smiles at the idea. "Of course. You know where to find me." He led Hunter out the door and watched him drive off in the distance before heading back inside the house.
"For the hundredth million time, I'm fine!" Tori grunted in annoyance as Dustin and Shane continued to lecture her nearby. The blonde sat on a hospital bed with a wrapped up bandage around her arm and stitches above her brow. She looked over at the window where she could see a flock of birds soaring above the clear blue skies and bushes slightly blocking her view of the entire beach. Sighing, Tori turns her gaze back to Dustin and Shane as they plaster their concern looks. "What?!" She splutters out exaggeratedly. "Stop staring at me like that!"
"Tor, what were you doing surfing on your own?" The goofball questions in a grumpy tone. "You know you weren't supposed to. You even gave Blake your word."
Tori rolls her eyes. "Well Blake isn't here now is he?" She retorts back. "And besides, I wasn't alone. People were there."
He groans. "You know what I mean."
"Look, if you want to take surfing seriously you'll have to be extra careful. It's dangerous out there, and you almost got yourself killed." Shane added as Dustin nods his head in agreement.
"You two got to be kidding me." The blonde folds her arms, completely annoyed of being overprotected by two of her closes friends in the world. "I don't need babysitting. Surfing is a risky sport, and I'm willing to take my chances. You can't expect me to be free from injuries forever, yah know. I just hit the rocks. Big deal."
Momentarily, before Dustin and Shane could say anything, they were interrupted by Hunter who came walking in half an hour later. Tori looks up and grunted even louder at the sight of him. "What is this, a visit to the morgue? Hello! I'm not dead yet!" She splutters out angrily.
Hunter ignored the comment and turns his gaze over to the guys. "So what happened?"
"Another wild wipeout." Shane murmurs under his breath. "The waves were pushing her in and eventually she got caught between the reefs and sprang her arm."
"Ouch." Hunter made a painful face. "Maybe next time stay in the shallow end."
Tori glares coldly at him. "Don't even go there."
"What?" Hunter sneers. "Don't tell me you're trying to show off in front of those macho wannabe surfer guys."
Dustin and Shane exchange quizzical glances. "What guys?" They asked in unison.
"Well when I was at the beach looking for Tori--"
"Hunter!" The blonde interrupts his train of thought with an abrupt snap as all eyes turn to her. Bewildered, she bit her lip--trying to think of something clever to say to cover up what Hunter witnessed at the beach. Tori refuses to go through another faze where she'll have to hear another of Dustin and Shane's bickering, which limits her chances to actually go out in the water again. "Umm...yeah...what he's trying to say is that...I was with a group of surfer guys who were encouraging me to umm…start going for the umm...umm fierce and much bigger waves." Hunter wrinkles his forehead while Tori mouths something to him. He continues to stare at her weirdly without comprehending anything she was trying to tell him. However, he decided to just follow her lead anyway so he wouldn't' get her upset. "Right, Hunter?"
Dustin and Shane turn to him. "Uh...yeah. What she said." He slightly hesitated in response.
They nodded. "Dude, if you're gonna do something like that again please becareful." Dustin tells the blonde sincerely. "You scared the heck out of us back there."
Tori shrugs. "Sorry for making you guys worry too much, but I'm fine. I'll be extra careful next time. So can I go now?"
Shane takes a look at his red watch. "Uhh...dude?" He taps Dustin on the shoulder while looking up at the clock nailed to the back wall of the room. "What time do we actually teach class?"
"Exactly one. Why?"
"Well...uhh we're running kind of late..."
Dustin looks at him wide-eyed and noticed the big hand was already at the thirty. "Ah dude! We gotta go."
"What? You can't just leave me here." Tori exclaims.
The goofball pursed his lips and turns to Hunter. "You watch over her, and take her home afterwards. But then you'll have to fill out all sorts of paperwork before you do." The dirty blonde slightly opens his mouth at the favor he was asked to do. He felt inactive about it, especially when it comes dealing with Tori and her stubbornness. However, despite all that, Hunter knew he had to do it for the sake of his friends, including her, especially when he almost killed her in a car accident.
"You two are actually leaving me with her again?" He whimpers in a joking matter. "Gee thanks."
Tori gives him the evil eye. "Oh shut up. I'm not as thrilled as you are either." Hunter mocks her impression while turning to the guys. Dustin and Shane snickered silently from behind as they head out the door.
"Alright. We'll see you guys later."
Once they left the room, Hunter looks down at Tori and situated a chair next to her bedside. The two kind of wandered off in complete silence as they stare off into space, avoiding any eye contract. Hesitating a bit, he finally had the nerve to ask a simple question that dealt with her odd behavior a few moments ago. "Why did you lie about the guys at the beach?" He asks curiously. When no answer came about, Hunter immediately noticed the disoriented and lost look plastering all over her face. She was looking down, as if the question struck her in some way. He figured that perhaps Tori was either avoiding the question, or in deep thought about it. With that, Hunter decided to go for another one. "Okay...so umm...why is it that you need to look tough in front of them?" This time, Tori lowered her head as a distant memory became much clearer than ever before. She shuts her eyes, and remembers one moment in particular when she first felt vulnerable--allowing a guy to take over her dignity and self-respect.
"How about a kiss huh?" The elder man gently caresses the little girl's face. She faltered a bit while leaning forward and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. However, it made him feel unsatisfied as he roughly pulls her shoulder closer to him. She screams.
"Tori?" Hunter waves a hand in front of her as she snaps out of a memory trance.
Bewildered, she turns to him. "Huh?"
"Are you okay?" He asks worriedly. Tori bit her lip and weakly nods. "So...are you going to answer any of my questions?"
She thought about it for a moment before smiling at him. "If I tell you, I'd have to kill you. But first," the blonde pauses as she points a finger up in the air, "you owe me dinner."
A/N: Review! Review! Review!