A/N: Sorry for the long update. I didn't lose interest though and I hope you haven't either!
Chapter 6: The Reason
Tori was driving down the road as fast as she could. She couldn't stand the news that she had just learned. The tears flowed down her face, as she tried to concentrated on driving. The city lights shined off her as she passed them. Wiping her tears, she swerved around the corner and continued forward. To an unknown destination. It didn't matter right now. She just wanted to stay away from everyone. She increased the speed, not paying attention to the road in front of her. A deer ran into the middle of the road, she quickly swerved out of the way, missing it. Slamming on the brakes, she jerked the wheel to the right and halted to a stop, right in front of a sign. She breathed heavily, climbing out of the van. Stumbling around, she tried to dry her eyes a bit. She fell her to her knees, looking down at the ground. Letting the drops of tears fall onto the concrete. She felt a warm hand on her chin, lifting her head up. Her eyes gazed right into the man, bending down in front of her. The messy brunette hair, brown eyes.
"Dustin?" She whispered. She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure what to believe anymore. She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly, burying her face into his shoulder. They just hugged, no words were exchanged. She just wanted to remember this moment, savior it up incase she was wrong. Tori was tired, emotionally exhausted. Next thing she knew, she fell asleep in his arms.
--
The sound of a door slam woke Tori up, she yawned a bit as she forced
her eyes open. Looking around, she found herself covered in a blanket,
and laying on the couch. Sitting up, she realized she was in the
Bradley's apartment. Rubbing her head, she out the window to see the
sun pouring into the room. What happened? How did she get there? She
ran the questions through her head as looked to see Hunter with a bag
of groceries.
"Morning." He spoke, as laid the bags on the counter, "Sleep well?"
"Mm." She groaned, throwing the covers off, "Where's Dustin?" Hunter paused a sec, before resuming to empty out the bags. She stood up, and turned to him, waiting for a comply.
"What do you mean?" He asked casually.
"I saw Dustin last night." She responded, "I swear. I saw him."
"Tori." He trailed off a bit, "There is no Dustin. You must be talking about Rick."
"No." She stammered, "It was him! I know!"
"Dammit, Tori." He screamed over her voice, she bit her lips, "When are you going to face the facts!? He's dead." He knocked the carton of eggs off the counter. He ran his hands across his face and turned away from her.
"Then explain the casket." She took a step forward, "Explain it!? Can you!?"
"I don't know." He whispered, "They could have burned the ashes. Maybe there was a mistake." He looked at her, "You and Shane, saw him die. There is no way in hell he could have came back to life. No way, Tori."
"Well, I believe he is." Tears weld up in her eyes a bit, "And I don't care what you think! You're just a jerk."
"Tori." He groaned, turning back to her, "I want to believe you. I swear to god I do. It's just so hard to believe. And after last night, I don't know what to think."
She walked over to him, looking up in his eyes. He starred back. The two of them remain silent, the apartment door flew open and Blake came walking in, holding Van.
"Hey." He said as he closed the door, "There's mommy." He spoke to Van. She forced a smile, walking away from Hunter and towards her son.
"Hey Van!" She grabbed a hold on him, "I missed you." She hugged him. Blake smiled and glanced at his brother.
"So Did Hunter tell you how he found you laying in front of our apartment door. Sleeping." He smirked a bit. She bounced Van a bit, looking at Blake.
"No. No he didn't." She responded, "Thank you." She spoke to Hunter, before exiting out. Blake felt the animosity between the two. He turned to see the eggs on the floor.
"Dude. I needed those eggs."
"I need a walk." He muttered, brushing past his little brother and out the door.
--
Tori had finally made her way to her house, seeing the van parked in her driveway. She walked into her home and up the stairs to put down Van. She then left the room and went downstairs to make some coffee. She sighed, as she paused for a second. She did see Dustin last night. She could have sworn. She had wished she had not passed out, but it was too late for regrets now. A knock on the door, broke her silence. She turned to see Shane entering. He closed the door slowly and made his way towards her.
"Hey." He whispered, "I heard what happened."
"I suppose you don't believe me." She turned to sit on the couch, "I guess I do sound crazy."
"No." He made his way over, "You're just trying to find answers." He responded, "I understand that."
"I don't know what I want." She leaned on the couch, "I never thought of how hard this was going to be."
"The best you can do now, is to move on." He suggested, "We'll figure out the whole casket ordeal, but we shouldn't worry."
She nodded, "You're right. You're taking this a lot better then I thought you would."
He sighed, "I know. Weird."
"I need to apologize to Ricky. I feel so bad." She stood up, "I should give him a call."
"He's over at Cam's hotel room with Amber." He informed her, "If you wanna go and check on them."
"All right. Let me go and call a babysitter for Van."
--
"So what do we do now?" Cam spoke, making his way to the kitchen counter in his hotel room, "We have an empty casket. Is there any reason why?"
"That's what were going to find out." Amber crossed her arms, "I need to go contact a few people."
"I can't believe I went on a date with my cousin's ex." Ricky sighed, "That must have been completely awkward for her."
"So what are the chances he is alive?" Cam had to know, "Or do you think there was just a mistake."
"Tori keeps saying that she sees him." A voice echoed behind them. The others turned to see Hunter making his way to the kitchen. He leaned on the counter and sighed deeply, "If she keeps saying that, there has to be some form of truth to it."
"Nice for you to join us." Cam adjusted his glasses, "So where do we go from here? I don't even know where to start looking."
"We don't look." Ricky responded, "If Dustin doesn't want to be found. Should we be going off to find him?"
"He shouldn't be doing this to us." Hunter snapped, "That selfish jerk hiding himself away all these years. Do you know how much pain he puts Tori through."
"Your just mad because he is the center of your's and Tori's relationship problems." Amber muffled under her voice. Hunter shot her a look before a knock on the door caught their attention.
"Come in!" Cam screamed, "Were in the kitchen." Tori and Shane opened the door and walked into the room. They found the others in the kitchen, Tori noticed Hunter but kept her mouth shut. She sighed and leaned on the wall, as the others remain silent. Ricky made his way towards her.
"How are you doing?" He asked.
"Okay." She responded, "I'm sorry what happened last night."
He laughed a bit, "It's all right. It's a shock to all of us." He paused for a second, "So you saw Dustin last night?"
She nodded, "Twice. Once before I dug up the casket and a second time when I almost hit a deer. I swore it was him. I hugged him tightly before I passed out or something."
"Honey." Amber wasn't sure how to respond, "You sure it was him? I mean, Hunter found you sleeping in front of his apartment. Maybe you just wondered there and fell asleep."
"I know what I saw!" She screamed, "What is the matter with all of you?" She stammered a bit, "You guys keep insisting he's dead. Why can't you just hope that there is a slight chance that he may be alive. Am I the only one that cares about him still!?"
"We care!" Hunter snapped back at her, "You keep missing the point. We don't want to get our hopes up and think were wrong. It's just so hard to believe after all these years. Can you give us a reason why he would fake his own death!?"
"But--"
"Can you tell us why he would come now. After all these years?" Hunter kept going on, "I can't think of the slightest reason why he would cut us off. Especially after his life was coming back. You and Shane saw it yourselves. He was dead."
"I hate to say he's right." Shane whispered, "We were there."
"I'm not saying this to be a jerk, Tori. If you think I'm mad at him for blaming me that I killed his father, your wrong. I wish he was here. I wish we weren't having this conversation; you just need to come back to reality for 5 seconds." Tori just paused, everyone was quiet. Hunter was making a good point. No one could go against it. No one had good reasons too, "Besides." He continued, "If he was alive, where would you start looking?"
"I don't know.' She responded softly, "I guess you're right." She looked at him, "But I wont deny what I saw. You may be right, that he has no reason to do this. But for all we know, he may have a reason we can't understand yet. Why don't you get out of reality, and just hope a little. That even a slight chance, just a slight chance, that he could be alive. That he was watching over me, checking if I was okay. That he is still alive! There is no reason that the funeral has to be the end of his story." She looked at each every one of them, "You can all say he's dead. That there is no way for him to be alive, but I won't. Not till I not for sure. And don't tell me that's not possible. Were ninjas for Christ Sakes. Aliens came and attacked Blue Bay Years ago. Anything can happen!"
"Aliens?" Amber arched her brows.
"Ninjas!?" Ricky was just confused. Cam glared at her and just laughed a bit.
"She's just joking." He stated, "As an example, and she's right. Anything can happen." Amber and Ricky just slightly nodded. Hunter just groaned, the two of them were obviously not going to change their opinions.
"Ninjas?" Ricky was still stuck on that part. Tori just shrugged,
"Nothing Ricardo." She muttered, "I was joking on that part."
"So now what?" Amber asked, "Shall we check out the places where Tori spotted him?"
"It's a start. Maybe I can find some clues." He then scratched his head, "Actually. I might have an idea."
"What is it?" Ricky asked.
"Im not sure. You guys go and follow Tori in the locations." He suggested. The others nodded and began to leave the kitchen. Tori walked over to Cam and looked at him.
"Are you going to Ninja Ops?" She asked.
He nodded, "Maybe I can get a signature on him." He responded, "It's a crazy idea, but it's worth a shot."
"Does that computer still work?"
"I haven't used it for a while, but the data should all be there." He smiled. She nodded and turned, "Tori." He spoke up, "I'm glad you didn't give up hope. I wouldn't have."
"Thanks." She said before turning to chase after the others.
----
End Chapter
A/N: So what side are you choosing? Do you believe Hunter makes a valid point or do you believe Tori makes a valid point? Dun dun dun..
Also check out my website Wild Card Online. It's a sitcom/story I have been writing up and it's really good! Sign the guest book! Talk in the chats! Read the episodes! It's a Drama/Comdey Story/Sitcom. So you would enjoy it if you enjoy this fic! Cause it'st he same style writing. Check my profile for the URL.
