"Helping Hand"
Hunter's eyes began to slowly flutter as he could feel the cool morning breeze swept through the broken windows. It was about seven in the morning, and the sun was barely up. Last night, he and Tori watched a few rented movies and ate junk food to keep their minds off of things. He agreed to keep Tori company in her room until she fell sleep, and once she did, he spent the night in the livingroom to watch for intruders. As Hunter rises from the couch, he began folding the blue blanket that was given to him and placed it on top of the pillow. He plans to go to a home depot nearby to purchase supplies and new glass windows to replace the broken ones. But first he went upstairs to check up on Tori and find that she was still fast asleep. 'Wait.' He pauses after he shut the door of Tori's bedroom. 'I can't just leave her here. What if he comes back?' The thought bothered him deeply. After thinking this through, Hunter decides to phone up the company and have the windows delivered to the house.
Once Hunter was washed up and dressed in gray windbreakers and a crimson shirt that went with black long sleeves, he headed back downstairs to make the call. He grabbed the phone book in the kitchen and began dialing a few numbers. Hunter searched for the best product with a decent price, and when he was satisfied, he gave the salesman his credit card number and made the deal. He hung up the phone and decided for a moment to cook some breakfast. He went through several cabinets, and brought out a box of pancake mix. Hunter then opened both the refrigerator and freezer door to get some milk, butter, eggs, frozen waffles, sausages, and bacon. Once he situated everything on the counter, he grabbed a few pans and started cooking on the heated stove.
Meanwhile, as Hunter continued to whip up scrambled eggs and turn over sausages that were turning deliciously brown; he heard a shrilling cry coming from upstairs that brought him to his full attention. His eyes grew larger as he dropped the spatula and ninja streak to Tori's room. "Are you okay?!" He abruptly bust the door open and found the distressed blonde half asleep on her bed. She was sitting upright and wiping the sweat off her forehead. She sighs deeply and nodded in dismay after having another nightmare.
"God I wish this is all over, Hunter. I want the nightmare to stop." She breathes heavily while squeezing onto the pillow tightly.
Hunter bit his lip as he took a seat next to her. "Me too." He whispers. "Me too."
Tori lowers her head down and thinks carefully about the things she saw in her dream. She had several, and a few were vaguely difficult to emphasize. "I woke up a couple of times during the middle of the night, but when I went back to sleep I had a dream about you at one point." She breaks in and casually looks up at him.
He arches his brow. "Oh really?" Hunter had on a small grin, and for some particular reason, he felt special to appear in someone else's dream. He learned from the Bradleys that when someone shows up in your dream, it's because you can't stop thinking about them. This made Hunter wonder about Tori, although he never believed in the idea--especially in the past, he and the blonde could barely stand being in the same room together. But now things have changed. "What about?" He asks attentively.
Tori pleasantly smiles in return. "I saw your face but I couldn't see the little girl you were with. But you seemed happy to be with her. Who knows, it could be the child that you lost." A sudden gasp escape from her lips as Hunter turns away. She didn't realize what was mentioned till she noticed the hurt look on his face. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said--"
"It's okay." He cuts her off. "Just as long as you're alright." She forces a weak smile as they sat there in cold silence. In the meantime, Tori could smell something scrumptious that was making her stomach grumble and her mouth water in hunger. She turns to Hunter curiously as small puffs of smoke began entering her room.
"Are you cooking something?"
He stares at Tori wide-eyed. "Oh crap!" The dirty blonde quickly got up and ninja streaked back to the kitchen. Hunter got there in time before the smoke detector even went off but was saddened to see that the sausages were burnt. He groaned angrily as he puts on the cooking gloves, picked up the pan by its hot handles, and tosses the sausages in the waste disposal. Tori appeared moments later inside in her blue robe and smirk.
"You didn't have to do all this you know."
He fried fresh new sausages on the pan and turns around to meet her gaze. "I know, I'm just hungry. You didn't think this was all for you right?" Hunter stated jokingly.
Tori rolls her eyes and exits out the kitchen to change.
An hour has gone by around the clock, and it wasn't long ago when Tori joined Hunter for breakfast. She wore low cut light blue denim jeans with a white long sleeve shirt that exposed a bit of her stomach. The two sat on opposites side of the table, enjoying the delicious food Hunter surprisingly prepared that morning. Moments later, the doorbell rang. He gulped down his glass of orange juice and excused himself to answer it--hoping it was a delivery for the windows. But when Hunter opened the door, he found Shane and Dustin standing on the doorway instead.
"Oh. Hey, guys." He greeted them awkwardly as the duo exchange odd glances. They were amazingly surprised to see Hunter; ususally because he only comes over with the rest of the guys, but in this case, he was alone in Tori's house.
"Dude, what happened here?" Dustin asks curiously. "Why are there furniture out on the lawn?" Hunter just shrugged pitifully to avoid the question. He looked away when he spotted Shane giving him the look.
"Yeah, and uhh what are you doing here?"
He groans irritably, knowing what was in the skaterboy's mind. "It's not what you think."
"Oh really?" He smirks. "I could already smell the money."
Hunter scoffs at his response. "Don't get your hopes up. It's not like that."
Dustin scratches the back of his head, trying to figure out what just happened. "Dude, I am so lost."
Suddenly, the door opened wide as they all turn their heads to Tori. She stood next to Hunter and forces a smile at their unexpected appearance. "Oh hey. Umm come in, guys."
Shane stopped Dustin from walking as he raised his arm up across his chest. "What, dude?"
"Do you mind telling us what's going on first?" He asks facing the two blondes.
Tori and Hunter exchange glances. "We're just training." The former Blue Wind Ranger replies straightforwardly with a smile. "But I guess it got out of hand, don't you think?" She nudges Hunter's shoulder.
He nods. "Oh yeah. Sure. Uh huh. Definitely." There was uncertainty in his voice.
Puzzled, Shane and Dustin arched their eyebrows in unison. "Right...and why were you guys training here?"
Tori turns to an angle so she could face Hunter. She stared at him blankly while mouthing a few words to him so the others wouldn't noticed. He wasn't able to comprehend but he figured she wanted him to say something. "I don't know. We were at the umm woods...and uhh...she ninja streaked here and I j-just followed." Hunter stuttered nervously. "Yup. That's how we got here."
Dustin let out a sudden chuckle. "Oh man. You two amaze me."
"Yeah. Weird." Shane thought. "Uhh...I guess we'll leave you two alone then."
"You don't have to go." Tori reassures them before they headed out. "I'm actually glad you guys here. There's no competition what-so-ever and it's getting completely boring."
Dustin laughs as Hunter glares at her direction coldly. Although Tori was making the whole thing up, he knew he had to somehow play along to make the story seem real. "Dude, she told you!" The airhead blurts out.
"You're not gonna let her get away with that right?" Shane smirks for his amusement.
"Pshh. You kidding? Of course not, I was holding back yah know."
Tori rolls her eyes. "Oh please. I don't want to hear anymore of that 'I don't hit girls' or 'I'm going easy on you' crap." She stated in a mocking tone. "It's getting real old."
"Speaking of old, we just saw your old man walking not too far from here. I think he's looking for you, dude."
Hunter's eyes widen as if a bullet struck him. "Ah shoot!" He places a hand over his forehead in utter disbelief. "I totally forgot!"
"Forgot what?" Shane asks as he watches Hunter buries his face in hand. "And dude...you're like totally freaking out, man."
"My Dad, h-he was attacked last night and I swore to him that I'll come back until I found the person that did this to him." Tori looks away.
"Attacked?!" Dustin shrieks surprisingly. "B-But how? He told us he had bike trouble and stumbled over a branch."
Shane nods. "Yup."
Hunter arches his brow. "You sure? I swore I heard him say--" He lost his train of thought and sighs. It has been a long, hectic day and Hunter could barely think straight. "Perhaps I heard him wrong." He thought. "Anyway, do you know which direction he went to?"
"Well It looked as if he was heading out to the beach."
"The beach?" Hunter questions bewilderedly. "Why would he be going there?"
Dustin shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm starved." He rubbed his grumbling stomach to show how hungry he was. "You don't mind if I get something to eat do you, Tor?"
"Tori?" He called the second time as they all turned around and find that the blonde beauty was no longer standing behind them. The guys looked up at the flight of stairs and heard the door of her bedroom close.
"Hey, Bradley!" One of Blake's many friends that worked for Factor Blue, Jesse entered the locker room with an envelope in hand. "She finally wrote to me, man." The brown head showed the letter to Blake with a huge smile on his face as the star rider briefly schemes through it.
"Who? Regina?"
Jesse nods. "Yup! She's waiting for me back home. I'm visiting her next week!"
"That's awesome. I'm happy for you, bro." Blake pats him on the back as he puts on his motorcross gear and prepares for another race in about fifteen minutes. Just then he thought about Tori. "Hey...umm, anything for me?" He asks expectantly. Blake sighs once Jesse nodded in dismay.
"Nope. Sorry, man."
"That's okay. I should've known."
Jesse frowned on his behalf. "Look, it's been almost a year since you broke it off with Tori. I thought you moved on by now."
"I know...I just can't stop thinking about her that's all." Blake sighed. Jesse heard his story many times before and he felt bad for the guy. The two were inseparable and deeply in love with one another, or so he heard. Weeks before Blake left for Factor Blue, he finally had the courage to tell Tori how he felt and how much he wanted her. Luckily, she felt the exact same way. Tori and Blake spent the next two weeks and a half going out--doing whatever there is to do in Blue Bay Harbor as a happy couple; and for only a short amount of time, it was quite obvious to everyone that they were certainly much in love. Once he left for the summer, they would write each other letters every day and keep in touch as much as possible despite their busy schedules. However, once they lost contact for three whole months, Blake comes back and sadly, ended the off and on long-distance relationship with Tori. Till this day, it's been nearly a year and the two haven't spoken one word. Blake has lost his first love, and whenever he comes upon other riders talking about their girlfriends, he finds himself alone and longing to be with her. It wasn't too long ago when Blake realized he made a regretful and stupid mistake.
"So..." Jesse spoke up after lingering in silence. "What are you planning to do for that one month break?" He asks curiously.
Blake looks up at him and smiles, knowing exactly the first thing he was going to do. "I'm going home to Blue Bay Harbor." He pauses for a brief moment as Jesse waits impatiently for him to finish.
"Okay. And?"
He smiles. "What else man? I'm going to do whatever it takes to win her back."
A/N: Stay tune for the next chapter and don't forget to review!