Arabella looked around with a little smile on her face. All around, people were talking and laughing and dancing. As worried as she had been about this party, Arabella was having a good time. It was nice to just relax a little bit and talk to some friend. She walked over to the table where all of the drinks were and she poured herself a glass of Pepsi. With a little laugh, she saw Daniel walking over to her, holding a drink. "This is amazing, Danny. I don't know how you pulled all of this off"
"I know. I'm brilliant" Daniel giggled and he gave her a hug "Now, if you'll excuse me..there is a really cute boy over there and he's been smiling at me all night" He started to walk away but Arabella grabbed his arm.
"Have you seen Hunter or Jake?" Arabella asked him and Daniel shook his head. He looked around before his jaw dropped.
"Well, I see Brooke in a very.....interesting dress" Daniel said, he cleared his throat and looked back at Arabella "The guys and probably with her" He shook his head then walked away. Confused, Arabella looked over at Brooke and wrinkled her nose for a second. It was, in all honesty, a beautiful dress but Arabella wasn't really a fan of all the skin it showed.
Hunter slipped his arm around Brooke's waist and smiled and waved as Brooke said hi to people. He didn't know many of them. Or any of them really. He had seen them or heard about them through the grapevine...strawberry vine. He pretty much zoned out for most of a conversation when he realized that she had pulled away from him and was chatting with a group of people. People Hunter had never looked at let alone talked to. He leaned over and kissed her on the temple.
"I'm going to get drinks." He whispered into her ear, met with a slight nod in his direction. With that, he danced his way through the dancers and found the table with the drinks. He grabbed a cup and filled it with pepsi with no ice then spied Jake making a beeline toward Arabella. He was about to leave him to it, but he looked back and saw Brooke still talking to those people and he walked over toward Arabella, arriving at the same time as Jake. At the same time Marina appeared in front of him and she gasped in surprise and turned bright red before disappearing again.
"Well, that was weird. Hey, Arabella." Jake said, taking a sip from his red polo cup. "Do you know what this party is even celebrating? Or is it just a party for the sake of partying? Not that I care either way."
Arabella looked up at Jake with a slightly stunned look on her face. She didn't really know how to tell them that this whole party was just Daniel's way of helping Arabella find the guy that saved her. Her cheeks turned bright red and she took a sip of her drink, shrugging. "Well...Danny, he uh..you can never be too sure with him" She said with a nervous chuckle and then quickly turned to look at Hunter, noticing his outfit. "Wow...looking good, Hunter" Arabella said with a little smile. "You too, Jake." She grinned at them, trying to change the subject from the party.
Hunter looked down at his outfit and chuckled a little. "Thank Brooke for this. Except the shoes. She said they were hideous, but I don't have any other shoes, so..." He let his voice trail off before taking a sip from his cup. "Has anyone else noticed that every party has the same cups? Does anyone wonder how Polo got the clinch on party cups?" Hunter said, immediately feeling stupid.
"No, Hunter. It's really not that much of a conversational focal point." Jake said with a laugh. There was a slight pause before Jake looked at Arabella again. "I mean, Aphrodite cabin lost Capture the flag. Usually there's a party when they win, but this time they lost and now there's a party. Why is that?"
"I uh.." Arabella said and she let out a sigh. Maybe telling them wouldn't be too bad. They might actually know the guy that had saved her. "During capture the flag, I had gotten myself into a bit of trouble and someone saved me but he was gone before I could see who it was. I told Daniel this and he decided that he would throw a party to try and find this guy" She told them, blushing a little bit. Arabella cleared her throat and finished off her drink. "And besides...everyone loves an excuse to party" She said with that nervous laugh again.
Hunter's eyes widened and he almost choked on his soda when he finally realized that she was talking about him. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he wasn't about to go shouting out that it was him. He glanced back at Brooke who was now dancing, a cup raised above her head. He thought about joining her, but he realized how this line of questioning could be pretty revealing.
"Do you uh...Do you have any leads?" Hunter asked, trying to sound disinterested.
"And what's going to happen after you learn who it is?" Jake asked quietly. "You gonna date or something?"
"I don't really know" Arabella shrugged, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. She took a little breath and glanced away from them. ''I mean...this was all Danny's idea. He gets so worked up about things like this. I wouldn't be surprised if this was really all about him finding a boyfriend" Arabella looked around then looked back up at Jake and Hunter. "Anyway...I hope that you guys have fun tonight. I'm really glad that you showed up"
Hunter nodded and took another drink of pepsi from his cup. "Well, it seemed-"
"Hunter!" Hunter turned to see Brooke stumbling toward him. "Hunter, come...come dance with me, hot stuff." She said before grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him down for a tight kiss on the lips. Hunter was expecting the usual taste of cherries, but was instead met with the strong taste of alcohol. Before he could pull her away she was sliding her tongue in his mouth then biting his lip. Hunter wondered for a second if he could get drunk off her breath. She finally pulled away then grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the group of other people dancing. She turned around and then put his hands on her hips and started grinding against him. Hunter glanced back at Jake and Arabella, hoping that he were there instead of here. When he turned back he felt her grab his head and force it down onto her neck. Hunter thought for a second before placing soft kisses on her neck while she continued to dance against him.
"That looks...contagious." Jake said before looking away from Brooke and Hunter toward Arabella. "Can I ask you something a little personal? Why don't you have a boyfriend and do stuff like that? I mean, you're a child of Aphrodite just like she is."
Arabella wrinkled her nose at Brooke. It was gross, the way that she was dancing against him and she felt bad for Hunter. He looked like he was feeling really uncomfortable. She took a little breath then turned to look at Jake. No one had ever really asked her that before and she didn't really know how to repsond to him. She finally shrugged and put her hands in her pockets. "Aphrodite is more about love than lust. What's the point of giving so much of yourself to someone if you're not in love?" Arabella gave him a little smile then looked back at Brooke and Hunter. "Besides, you're probably right. That's looks very contagious."
Brooke turned around to face Hunter and continued to grind up against him. Hunter looked around and moved slightly with her, pretending that they were actually dancing and not 4 layers away from having sex. He looked around and saw Caleb looking right at him. Hunter's heart stopped for a second before Caleb looked away, more than likely trying to find the guys that pranked him. He looked around again and saw Marina looking at him. He gave her a weak smile and she turned away, giggling to her friends.
"Hunter?" Hunter didn't hear it at first, but Brooke was saying his name. It wasn't until he heard it that he looked down and realized that she had stopped grinding. "Hunter?"
"Yeah. Sorry. What's up?" He said, looking down at her. She looked like she was going to pass out. "Hey, come on. Let's get you some air." He said, quickly slipping an arm around her waist. He took her cup from her and pulled her out of the dancing group toward a tree. He leaned her on it and started fanning her face.
"Uh oh. Someone's gonna blow." Jake said, nodding toward Brooke. He moved a little closer to Arabella and stood next to her, looking out of the corner of his eye. "Does she usually get this drunk?"
"Unfortunately" Arabella sighed and she looked over at Jake. She didn't really notice how close he was standing to her. It was just nice to be with someone who could be a good friend. "She's probably going to be sick and then go back to her cabin and then maybe we'll get to spend a bit of time with Hunter" She said and as soon as she finished talking, Brooke pushed Hunter away and turned to the back side of the tree, clearly throwing up. Arabella wrinkled her nose as she watched Hunter help Brooke up. He was being so kind and gentle and wonderful with her and Brooke was being horrible. "She doesn't deserve someone like him" She muttered.
"Come on, Brooke. You're okay." Hunter whispered to her, rubbing her back as she threw up again. "Oh, goodness." He said, grimacing a little as the smell hit him. He shivered and gagged a little bit then finally turned her around. "Come on, let's-"
"I'm gonna be sick again! I'm gonna-I'm gonna....No, I'm okay." She said before coughing and bending over again. He rubbed her back and when she stopped coughing he slid an arm around her waist and supported her as they walked to the drink table. He grabbed a water and a few napkins and a towel before leaving the clearing, heading for the beach.
"No, but that's Hunter for you." Jake said with a scoff. "I don't always like my brother, but if you need to count on someone, nobody better than him." Jake went to take a drink and found his cup empty. He looked at her cup then up at her face before clearing his throat. "Hey, do you want to dance? And I mean actual dance. Not Brooke dance."
Arabella looked down at her drink before looking up at Jake. What could it hurt? It was just one little dance. "I, uh...sure." Arabella said and she tugged on the hem of her shirt. "I might end up stepping on your toes the whole time, but don't say I didn't warn you" She said with a small laugh. She really didn't want him to get the wrong idea but she didn't know how she could tell him that. Besides, it was one dance. It wasn't like he was asking her for some commitment or anything.
Hunter lead her through the woods. After a while he took off her shoes and started carrying them, so that she would stop stumbling. Eventually they reached the beach and Hunter laid down the towel before sitting her down carefully. He sat down next to her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Hey, look at me real quick." He said and she picked her head up lazily. Hunter wiped her mouth and her face with a napkin, getting it a little wet with the water.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" She mumbled, pushing away from him a little. Hunter fed her a little bit of water and she swished it around before spitting it into the sand. "Hunter, why are you being so nice?"
"Well, why not? I don't want you stumbling around and hurting yourself." He said quietly. "Maybe I actually kind of like you. I don't know. Does it really matter that much?" He said, putting an arm around her. She hesitated a moment before putting her head down. He wasn't sure if she was even realizing what he was saying, but he was okay with that. Hunter kissed her lightly on the head and then put his head on hers.
Arabella took a small breath and she let Jake take her hand, leading her over to the crowd of dancers. Gingerly, she put her hands on his neck and when he placed his hands on her hips, a few people around them turned to stare. With a little sigh, Arabella looked down at her feet as they swayed gently to the music. "I told you. I'm a horrid dancer" She said with a nervous laugh.
"You are not a horrid dancer" Jake said with a chuckle and Arabella scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"You're just saying that" Arabella said but she smiled a little bit and looked up at him. "I really can't tell you how thankful I am that you and Hunter showed up tonight. I would have been stuck dancing with guys like that" She added, nodding over towards Caleb.
Hunter actually didn't mind sitting with Brooke like this. It was quiet and even though he had hoped that it were on better terms, he was okay with it. Brooke lifted her head up and turned to Hunter, putting her chin on his shoulder.
"I really appreciate you taking care of me." She said, leaning toward him a little and placing a hand on her leg. He turned to her and kissed her gently on the lips.
"Don't worry about it, Brooke. I just didn't want you seriously hurting yourself." Hunter said, brushing some hair behind her ear. She smiled and there was a look on her face that actually kind of scared Hunter a little.
"No, I really appreciate it." She said in a lower voice, moving her hand up Hunter's thigh. "I want to show you how grateful I am." She said before putting her hand on his crotch. "Have you ever gotten a-"
"Brooke, you don't have to." Hunter said, pushing her hand away. "No thanks necessary." she tried one more time to put her hand back and then fell against him, knocking Hunter down to the ground. He was expecting her to go after him again, but Hunter looked up to find her fast asleep. He took a deep breath and then carefully stood up, picking her up and gathering everything else. He knew the entire Aphrodite cabin was at the party, so he walked inside and carefully placed her in her bed after hanging up her dress. He carefully tucked her into the sheets and looked down at her with a furrowed brow. He sighed and then leaned over. "Good night, Brooke." He whispered before kissing her gently on the forehead.
Arabella scoffed and rolled her eyes at Caleb then she looked back at Jake with wide eyes. "He didn't find out that it was you, did he?" she asked her voice a little nervous.
"If he found out, I wouldn't be able to stand let alone dance with you" Jake said with a chuckle, making Arabella sigh in relief.
"Good. I was really nervous that he was going to catch you" Arabella said and she bit her lip. "He was asking me today if I knew anything about it" She told him and shook her head quickly at the look of shock and horror on Jake's face. "I didn't tell him anything. He didn't bug me for long. But I think that the fact that he was coming to me means that he has no clue whatsoever. He knows that I don't usually do stuff like that" Arabella took a breath and looked around, noticing Hunter walking back into the clearing. A grin spread across her face and she smacked Jake's chest lightly. "Looks who got free from the witch"
Hunter took his time getting back to the party, but he did want to find out how Jake was doing with Arabella. It was hard for him to keep his mind off everything that had happened today and especially tonight. He didn't enjoy taking care of Brooke when she was so drunk. And he didn't want to fight off her trying to make a move on him. He didn't want to have to do that every weekend. He finally made it back to the party and saw Arabella and Jake dancing.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" He said with a forced smile, looking between the two of them.
"Oh, hey, Hunter. How's the little woman?" Jake said, still dancing and trying a little to keep Arabella focused on dancing with him. "Where is she?"
"Oh, she uh...I put her to bed." He said quietly, clearing his throat. "She was really...tired." He said, trying not to give away all of the details of his night. "Well, if you guys are..." He waved his hands a them in a together-ish manner. "I'll just leave you to it then. Good night, guys."
"Oh, don't leave yet" Arabella said with a little pout. Jake was great but she didn't want him to get the wrong idea. Having Hunter there would make things a little less awkward and it would keep Jake from saying something he would regret. Besides, Arabella like Hunter and she didn't want his night to be ruined because of stupid Brooke. Arabella pulled herself out of Jake's arms and she grabbed Hunter's wrist, trying to pull him closer and stop him from walking away. But she took a step closer to him and as she moved, her foot caught on a tree root and she stummbled forward. She would have fallen if her arms didn't slip around Hunter's middle and he grabbed her lightly to hold her up.
Hunter looked down at her in his arms in surprise. "You alright?" He said, helping her straighten up a little. She didn't move out of his arms immediately, but just stood, placing her hands on his chest to help steady herself. "If you want me to stay just say so." He said, trying to look not so embarrassed. They pulled away and Hunter cleared his throat. He wasn't sure who should make the first move, but that question was answered when Jake did instead.
"Well, if you're staying, don't just stand there. We're dancing, remember?" Jake said, starting to attempt to dance. "This is a party. Let's party!"
Arabella looked up at Hunter, her hands shaking a little bit. She took a deep breath and finally tore her eyes away from him. She put a smile on her face as a faster song came on. Jake took her hand and she quickly spun under her arm, laughing a little bit. "Dance with us, Hunter. You know you want to" She giggled, wiggling her eyebrows at him and shaking her hips a little bit. Arabella was determined to have a good night, even if it was just a little bit longer.
Hunter laughed and moved between them, starting to dance a little. He didn't actually dance, but just kind of swayed while moving his arms slightly. "I never said I didn't want to." He said with a smile before turning to Jake. He nodded over subtly to Arabella and he shook his head, giving him a look that said, 'don't ask'. Hunter shrugged and took one of Arabella's hands and spun her then took one of Jake's hands, spinning him. He liked letting loose like this and being able to relax. Jake reached over and took Arabella's other hand, holding it as they made a circle, moving to the music. The song ended and Hunter took a deep breath.
"Well, you're a lovely dancer." Jake said with a sigh.
"I'm pooped." Hunter said with a laugh. "Shall we walk the lady back to her dormitory?" He said to Jake.
"Sounds reasonable." Jake said before, they both offered their arms to her.
Arabella looked up at both of them with slightly pink cheeks. Finally, she hooked one arm with Hunter and one arm with Jake and marched away from the party. She hadn't found the guy that had saved her and she knew that Daniel was probably going to be upset with her for leaving so early but she didn't really care. Arabella was haing fun with Jake and Hunter. "Well...did you two have fun?" She asked both of them as they walked through the woods, towards the rest of camp and the cabins.
"I had fun. You're a wonderful host." Jake said, placing his other hand on hers. "The life of the party, really." Hunter rolled his eyes at Jake who might have been laying it on a little too thick. He cleared his throat in an attempt to signal to Jake that he should shut up now.
"I had fun too. Well, I had fun as--" He stopped himself because he didn't want people to know that Brooke was the reason he didn't have fun. He didn't have fun until he came back after putting Brooke to bed. "Yeah. I had fun." He said with a small nod. They finally reached the Aphrodite cabin and Hunter and Jake let go of Arabella. Hunter and Jake stood and waited for her to walk inside before leaving again. She turned around and opened her mouth to speak, but Jake beat her to it.
"Did you have a purse? Oh my gods, you forgot your purse. I'll get it." Jake said frantically before sprinting off back toward the woods. Hunter looked over at him sprinting toward the woods.
"You didn't have a purse, did you?" Hunter asked, cocking his head a little.
"No. Who brings a purse into the woods?" Arabella said, wrinkling her nose a little bit and giggling softly. She turned a little bit and watched Jake dissapear into the woods before turning and looking up at Hunter through her eyelashes. It was the first time that she had spent time alone with him. Arabella looked down at the ground and her eyes landed on his green shoes and she remembered how he said that Brooke told him not to wear them. "You know..I think those shoes of yours are pretty awesome" She told him, playing with her little ring.
"Hmm?" Hunter said, looking up at Arabella when she spoke. He was just trying to not focus on the fact that he was alone with Arabella Foster. It seemed almost real that he was friends with her. "Oh, yeah. Brooke told me I shouldn't wear them, but...I don't have any other shoes, so I'm not sure what she expected me to do." He said with a shrug, letting his voice trail off. He looked up at Arabella and then cleared his throat, looking back toward the woods. "I guess, at some point I should go and get him. He'll never sleep until he's found your imaginary purse." He said with a laugh. "He really likes you, you know?" Hunter said, turning serious for a second. As much as he messed with Jake and made fun of him, he didn't want to see him get hurt. "While we're waiting could you check on Brooke? She was kind of...out of it. I just want to make sure she's okay."
Arabella looked up at him and she nodded, folding her arms across her chest. "Only because you asked me so nicely" She teased in a soft voice and she turned, walking up to the door. She paused though, before she stepped inside and she turned to look at Hunter. "does he really like me that much?" Arabella asked him, her voice a little nervous. It wasn't that she didn't want him to have a crush on her or anything like that, she just didn't want to hurt him at all and she liked being his friend. Him liking her would ruin it a little bit.
Hunter shrugged a little and glanced back toward the woods. "Well, Jake and I don't really have a friendship where we talk about stuff like that, but he the last girl that he liked he waited in line at some concert for 3 hours in the cold to buy tickets for her and her friend." Hunter said, clearing his throat. "She wasn't in your...atmosphere, though, so this is more than likely harmless." He took a deep breath and let it out through his nose. "Just don't lead him on. He doesn't really need that again." He said, letting his voice trail off. "I wouldn't worry. I'll tell you if you need to worry. I got your back." He said with a laugh, shifting a little nervously from foot to foot.
"I don't want to hurt him either" Arabella said softly and she gave him a small smile. She cleared her throat and turned, walking into the cabin. It was totally empty except for the snoring Brooke. Arabella let out a little sigh and she walked over to the side of her bed. She hated that Brooke had done that to Hunter. He didn't deserve it. "Oh...Brooke.." Arabella whispered but then she saw that Brooke did not have her dress on. It was hanging up by her bed. It wasn't looking very good for Hunter. Arabella was sure that Hunter had done something with Brooke in that bed and she wasn't impressed. She never thought that Hunter would take advantage of a girl like that. With a huff, Arabella walked out of the cabin and narrowed her eyes at Hunter. "Brooke looks just fine. But I'm sure you already know that"
"Oh, good. I was worried she-" Hunter said with a sigh of relief, before noticing the tone that Arabella said that in. "Umm...is everything okay? It sounds like she's upset or something and it's somehow spread to you." He said, narrowing his eyes back at her.
"I'm sorry, Arabella." Jake said, appearing next to Hunter. "I couldn't find it. Someone must have stolen it." He hunched over a little, trying to catch his breath. "Oh, Zeus..." He breathed, finally standing back up. "I'm really sorry, Arabella." Jake said before finally noticing the scene that he had walked in on. "What's going on here?"
"It's okay, Jake. I didn't have a purse. Thanks for wanting to help me, though. That was really kind" Arabella said, looking at him and softening her expression a bit. But then she turned back to Hunter and glared at him again. "You, however, need to get a bit of respect" Arabella huffed and she turned around, moving towards her cabin door again. "You know..." She turned around to look at Hunter again. "I thought that you were different. I thought that you were a good guy and you wouldn't take advantage of people, let alone drunk girls. I can't believe I was starting to trust you. I guess we all make mistakes" She let out a sigh then turned back towards her cabin, feeling rather disappointed.
Hunter opened his mouth to speak, but found himself really confused. "I...what?" He said, backing away from the Aphrodite cabin. "She doesn't think that I--OOF!"
"Gods, dammit, Hunter!" Jake said, tackling him to the ground and pounding on him with his fists. "I was on top of it! It was going really well and then you and had to go and remind her how despicable men are!"
"Dude, I didn't do anything!" Hunter said, catching his fists and then hooking a leg around Jake's then rolling so he could painfully pin his arms down.
"Fine! Fine! Let me go!" Jake shouted in pain before Hunter released his arms. "Dude, what is she talking about then?"
"Jake, I swear to you. We sat on the beach for a while. I cleaned her up. She made some very uncomfortable advances. Then passed out and I took her out of her dress and put her to bed. I never would have heard the end of it if she had slept in her dress." Hunter said quickly, brushing dirt off his jeans. "You have got to believe me."
"I do." Jake said after a moment. He took a deep breath. "The question, however, is how are we going to make her believe you?" He said, pointing inside. Hunter shrugged and rubbed his face.
"I don't know. Let's just go to bed and we can figure it out tomorrow. Maybe Brooke remembers more than we give her credit for." Hunter said with a small nervous laugh before heading back toward the Hermes cabin. "What a night, huh?"