Chapter Two

Toni returned to an apartment full of groceries and snack and junk food of the sort. She loved it when Hunter went shopping, he never resisted the urge to pick up what he wanted, and he never whined over every penny he had to spend. Then again, Hunter wasn't the one paying who had to pay tuition; he had a job and a fairly steady flow of money. Lucky guy was born three years before Toni was.

"I love it when you go shopping!" Toni exclaimed as she dumped her bag on the floor and walked to the island in the kitchen.

"Well hello to you too honey!" Hunter said from the couch. It wasn't a large apartment per say but it was big enough to fit a nice, decent sized kitchen, living room, bedroom and full washroom. Only Toni lived here, but Hunter was over quite often. Whenever he wasn't working. He only left in the night, and sometimes he would be too tired to leave and either crashes on the couch or fall asleep on Toni's bed, holding her tightly to him.

"And you are…?" Toni joked around as she open a fruit cup and began eating at its delicious contents.

"Ow," Hunter clasped his chest, feigning hurt, "You wound me milady!"

"And I also kiss you and make it better!" Toni dumped the empty can and seductively made her way over to the couch. She had Hunter in a trance, under her spell. Hunter was sprawled out on his back, lying down on the couch and Toni seductively crawled atop him. They were in a very, very suggestive position.

"So make it better already!" Hunter exclaimed, feeling Toni's breathe on his face. And with that remark, Toni leaned in and kissed him deeply. They didn't mean for it to, but their actions were starting to get heated, very heated.

"Honey, we have to stop!" Hunter pulled Toni off him slightly, gasping as he did. He needed all the restraint and every fiber of his being to stop himself from grabbing her and taking her into the bedroom and showing her just how much he loved her. He had to stop himself before he got so far he couldn't control himself anymore; he just had to. He loved her far too much to make a mistake with her.

"I know." Toni whispered dejectedly, but her voice was sultry as she said it. Hunter was getting mixed signals from her, but he was used to it, he got them all the time, and every time he knew exactly what to do.

"Fine, you can have the remote!" Hunter surrendered, handing it over to the beautiful woman atop him, and her beauty-er-had it's repercussions. Toni smiled and got off of him, snatching the remote as she did, and flipping to Sponge Bob Square Pants. Everyone seems to like that show.

Hunter sat up in the couch and immediately put a cushion over his lap, oh yeah they were in very suggestive positions and well, Hunter's a guy, can you blame him? Didn't think so!

Deryck didn't have much else to do after Philosophy, his next class was at something like eight in the night, so he had about five or so hours to waste. He wanted so badly to talk to that beauty from Philosophy, Ms. Dermel, he still had to get her first name. But he didn't get the chance; she was up and out before he even got his bag packed. Come to think of it, the entire room was empty before he even got his bag packed. He sighed, getting adjusted to this school was going to be difficult and definitely going to take some time, well as long as that beauty was in at least one of his classes, he really didn't mind.

He seriously had absolutely nothing to do. But he did have something in mind. Going back to his dorm room, Culler decided to ransack his room and clean up all his Samantha junk. If she was so serious about it, then he would be too, no point crying over someone like her. 'Look towards the future' his mother always said, and now was a better time than any to listen to her.

The number of things he had that reminded him of her was amazing. So few items, it came as quite the surprise to him. Four months of dating and hardly even half a box of stuff. After sorting through all the stuff, Deryck walked out of his room, a box in his hands, and down the corridor. Oh yeah, Samantha was now living or rooming with Philip and he only lived a few doors down. This last year of college was going to be hell for Deryck he knew that too. But as long as that beauty was going here then he guessed it wouldn't be so bad. Stop thinking about here Dammit! You don't even know her name!

I know her last name!

Oh yeah that'll impress her!

Shut up, why am I thinking about her anyway?

Because you're on the rebound from Samantha, remember? And wake up you're standing right outside Philip's door, would you knock and get this over with!

This occurred quite often with Deryck. He often found himself fighting with himself inside his head, and most of the time his body just stood there, frozen, not moving till one of his brains said that he had to move.

Snapping out of his daze, Deryck rapped on the door and waited for an answer. He could hear some muffled moans, and then some light giggling, more like airy, and then walking. The door opened slowly to reveal Philip's face, and his disarrayed blonde hair. The minute Philip saw it was Deryck at the door, he became conscious of his appearance and immediately made sure the door wasn't open enough to reveal anything inside his dorm room.

"Yo Deryck, what's up man?" he acted all cool. The key word here being 'acted'.

"Yeah," Deryck sighed, "Whatever," he still had to come to terms that it was his best friend with his ex. "Listen, could you just give this to Samantha!" an expression of shock and fear wiped over Philip's face. Deryck was way stronger than Philip and could easily take him, luckily for Philip, Deryck's mind was just as strong as his muscles and he wouldn't do something so dumb and so pointless.

For some stupid reason, Philip decided to play it stupid and act as if he had no clue what Deryck was talking about.

"What do you mean man? Samantha isn't here!" and at the sound of her name, a half dressed Samantha covered her parts and walked to the door.

"Who is it honey?" she cooed with that sickeningly sweet voice, that, unfortunately, made Deryck fall for her. "Oh it's you, what do you want?"

"He knows about us?" Philip asked flatfooted. Now he was scared out of his wits, oh the amount of things Deryck could do to hurt him.

"Uh, yeah!" Deryck really wasn't in the mood, he still, for some reason, had that beauty on his mind. "Samantha," he addressed her like a gentleman would, "I believe this shit is yours!" and he dumped the box at her feet. What? A gentleman isn't always a gentleman…

"Oh, poor virgin boy is heartbroken!" Samantha mocked. Philip snickered at her comment.

"I'm not going to go to your level," Deryck breathed in, he was better than that, "Because that would mean I would have to sleep with every guy on campus!" But this female specimen was a class act bitch. To hell with her!

Smirking at Samantha, and a quick, sharp, glance at Philip, Deryck walked off leaving the two stunned at the scene that had just unfolded before their eyes. Deryck wasn't so easy going after all, who would've thought. Well there's your moral for the day, 'Never underestimate anyone!'

Hunter had left he house for a bit and Toni was watching some random movie playing, lying down on the couch, eating potato chips, and sniffing occasionally at the romantic scenes; your typical chic-flick reaction.

After Toni realized the bag of chips was over, she noticed that Hunter wasn't there. She turned off the television and turned the lights back on. Now how on earth did they ever go off? She decided to call Hunter, so she made her way to the phone charger on the kitchen island.

"Hey babe, where are you?" she said sweetly when she heard his soft breathing on the other line. Yes, it was that kind of love.

"Oh, now you notice I'm gone!" Hunter pretended to be hurt.

"Well Brad Pitt was on and how could I pass him up, I mean he's just so-" she was cut off by a sigh from Hunter.

Truth was, Hunter was at DeBeers, selecting a ring for her. And well, he couldn't ruin the surprise so…

"Okay, I miss you. Now where are you?" Toni asked. He couldn't tell her, 'Oh I'm out looking for the perfect engagement ring for you, because I love you and want to marry you!' no, couldn't say that at all.

"Where am I?" Always answer a question with a question when you want to get out of a complicated situation. "I'm at…" Hunter looked around, nothing. The store clerk smiled when she noticed that he needed an excuse and motioned for him to listen to her.

"Tell her you're at a flower shop!" the woman suggested. Great idea!

"I'm at a flower shop because I thought you deserved roses for working so hard!" that ought to hold her.

"Awww, you're so sweet. Are you coming back tonight?" she asked quickly. Yes she missed him, but not like sexually craved him or anything, their relationship wasn't like that, she just plain missed him.

"Well I have to bring you the flower's don't I?" he chuckled.

"No, what I meant was are you sleeping here tonight?" she repeater herself, making her voice sound as seductive as possible. She loved it when he slept over.

"Um…do you want me to?"

"Bring you pj's!" she exclaimed.

"Ooh I see; someone misses me!" Hunter liked having conversations like this; it warmed his heart every time

"Don't flatter yourself lover boy, I just want those flowers is all!" Toni laughed. Hunter adored her laugh; it was so full of life. Well if he was ready to marry her, he loved everything about her. Everything! Right down to the last quirk.

"All right, then I'll see you later! Do you have class tonight?" he was about to hang up and remembered it was Friday.

"Oh, crap! Yes I do, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot!" she murmured some other curses and then calmed down.

"That's all right, I'll let myself in and see you after class!" Hunter sighed. Life, with Toni, was perfect.

"All right, I love you, bye!"

"Love you too hun, bye!" Hunter hung up and looked at the pillow of rings in front of him. "I'll take that one!" he pointed to a magnificently cut diamond. It was a simple silver band with a gorgeous diamond set atop it. It looked so beautiful in its simplicity, just like Toni and that's what made it perfect for her. With three prongs to hold the diamond place, Hunter was reminded of Toni's family. Her mom, her dad, and her older brother were the things that kept her strong and made her shine as a striking diamond. From start, that ring, that diamond, was a symbol of Toni herself, and no matter what the cost, Hunter would get it for the woman he loved. The Trident! I love it, I love her, and she'll love it!

Toni packed up what she needed for her next class and left. Night class was always fun because either the teacher was cranky or some immature student tried to rush the class along. Toni knew Hunter didn't much like her going to night class all alone, but he trusted her and he knew she could take care of herself if she needed to. She smiled. Having Hunter was probably the best thing she could ask for. He was always easygoing but not too lenient and he was always sweet but not sickeningly mushy. Hell, just the thought of him made her smile.

She walked into the class and took her seat in the back row. Nighttime wasn't the best time to sit in the front. The teachers were often cranky and threw fits of anger that could make people who sat in the front go deaf; she had learnt this from her previous years. There was about five or so minutes before the teacher walked in and the room was practically empty. Oh well, she decided to pull out her book and start writing down some thoughts. The only thing that was one her mind, though, was Hunter. Oh well, better than talking about law and philosophical shit attached to law. Thinking about Hunter was way better.

There was a slight noise from the door of the classroom and Toni looked to see what it was. That guy from her Philosophy class was having troubled getting through the door with his bag by his side. He looked so embarrassed when he finally got through, there were about five or ten eyes staring right at him. Toni felt sorry for him, not only did he have that incident with the door but he also made the mistake of sitting somewhere in the middle rows. Cranky teachers, and sitting right in front of them…not a good idea!

She thought maybe she would catch up with him on Monday about having a discussion some time, today wouldn't be a good day to ask. After this class he would be sure to be in a bad mood. Yeah, she could wait. Hunter was waiting for her at her apartment and she didn't intend on keeping him waiting.

Deryck had walked into the class only to have a problem with the stupid door and his bag. As if that wasn't embarrassing enough, that beauty was sitting right in the back rows and staring right at him. When he was through with the door he decided it best not to make himself to look more like a fool, so he sat away from the beauty, whose name he still didn't have. Unfortunately, sitting in the front was a mistake on his part. The professor giving the lecture in the night was cranky and obviously coffee deprived and his voice ran clearly in the space between Deryck's ears. Talk about projection.

After class Deryck was planning on redeeming himself with the beauty by asking her out to coffee, and they would take it from there, but when he turned around after class, the entire back row was empty. Dammit! Things just never worked out his way did they? Well he could always try on Monday. He felt it come over him quickly, weariness, right now he needed to sleep some.