Arabella took a small breath then looked away from the sky. Hoping beyond hope that she would finally find out who had saved her. The moon had made everything brighter and with any luck, Arabella would be able to see the face that she just kissed. But when she looked around, he was gone. He left. Arabella's heart sank into her stomach as she slowly made her way back into camp. The guy had left her and now she was left to deal with the fact that Brett had been lying to her. She had fallen for him and he had been lying the whole time. Arabella took a shaky breath as she stepped out of the woods and she saw member of her team cheering and hugging each other. But she couldn't join them. She was too shaken up, stunned and hurt.
Hunter, after he felt he was far enough away from Arabella, ducked behind a tree. He leaned up against it, trying to catch his breath. He was a little weak from the blood loss and he was still in shock a little bit from her kissing him. He felt bad for running, but he wasn't sure how she'd react if she found out it was him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small pink Barbie watch that Arabella has been wearing on her wrist. When she fell it came off in his hand. It was risky to keep it, but it felt like he was keeping hope alive. Like whenever he looked at it, he would be reminded of her. Of her lips on his and her body next to his. After a second, he shoved it back in his pocket and then walked toward the cheering and the celebration. He tore off his ripped sleeve and exited the woods, grabbing a canteen of nectar from the kids handing them out. He opened it and took a quick swig before pouring it on his arm. He winced a little then looked at the cut. It had sealed up except for a thin white scar.
"Hunter!" Hunter looked up when he heard his name and saw Brooke running at him. She threw her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, kissing him tightly on the lips. "We won! We won!" She pulled herself closer to him and let her tongue slip inside his mouth, moaning quietly.
"Whoa. Whoa. Hold on. I didn't win it though. Aren't you upset?" He asked, hating the fact that it was Brooke's lips on his. She pulled away a little bit from him and put a hand on her cheek.
"Hunter, I don't care. Maybe I actually kind of like you?" She said, quoting him from the beach when she was drunk. "Come on. I want to show you something." She said before climbing down from him and grabbing his hand, heading for the cabins.
Arabella closed her eyes, leaning against a tree. She was still feeling rather sore and worn out from the fight but what hurt the most was knowing that Brett had lied to her. All around her, people were either cheering or they were cursing. Evveryone would go to the fire and have s'mores and talk about the game. Arabella just wanted to alone.
"Arabella!"
Arabella looked up and saw Brett walking towards her. He looked like he was angry about something but he was trying to hide it. Before she could stop him, he walked up to her and he hugged her tightly. "Brett.."
"I guess I should say congrats on the win but I wish I had won" Brett said with a chukle and Arabella rolled her eyes.
"Brett!" Arabella said, raising her voice and she shoved him away from her. He looked down at her with a confused face. "Tell me the truth. Did you save me? Did you save me last week?"
"Uh..yeah, of course. I wouldn't lie to you. Arabella, wha-" He started to say but he was cut off when she slapped him across the face, hard.
"Stay away from me" Arabella hissed.
Brooke dragged him to the Aphrodite cabin where she pushed him against the door and started kissing him. He could feel her grope for the door handle and she finally shoved the door open, pushing him inside and closing it behind her.
"Mmm...Let's get you out of these wet clothes." She said, reaching behind him and pulling at his shirt. Before he could resist she pulled his shirt over his head and threw it to the ground before pulling off her own shirt and kissing him again.
Brett swayed on the spot a little bit, looking stunned. He did not expect her to slap him and it was obvious that he was shocked. Arabella took a breath, glaring at him then turned on her heel to walk away. Before she could get very far, though, she felt Brett's hand on her wrist and he pulled her back. "Who told you this?" He asked her, his voice taking on a tone that she had never heard from him before. It almost scared her a little bit.
"The one who actually saved me. I don't know who he is, yet. But he saved me again and he told me the truth. So you can take your lies and shove them up your ass" Arabella huffed and she pulled her arm out of his hands, storming down to the beach. She moved through the group of campers, heading to the fire and laughing. The last thing that she wanted to do in that moment, was sit by the fire and have to put on a happy face.
"Brooke, just sto--" His protests were muted by Brooke kissing him again, putting her hands on his neck and running her fingers down his chest to his stomach and to the waist of his jeans. She bit his bottom lip a little as she pulled on his jeans and started to undo them when Hunter finally pulled away and grabbed her hand. She looked confused, but Hunter couldn't do this anymore.
"What? What's going on?" Brooke said, trying a little bit to push toward him again. "Don't you like me?"
"Brooke, I do like you, but I just don't--"
"Whatever!" She said, pulling out of his hands. "You don't have to lie to me. You think I'm gross and ugly. I can tell."
"No! Brooke, I like you. I just don't want things to--" Hunter said, stepping forward, but she pushed him back toward the door.
"Get out! You don't need to lie!" She bent down and grabbed her shirt, covering herself with it, and then she kicked his at him. "I can't believe that you would do this to me, Hunter." She pushed him and Hunter grabbed his shirt, slipping it on then she shoved him again right out the door where he stumbled down the steps and landed on his arm which was still sore, prompting a quiet groan of pain. "Don't ever talk to me again, jerk." She said before slamming the door.
Arabella walked down to the beach, away from the sounds of the campers. She couldn't be around them and she certainly couldn't be around Brett. By the beach, though, she felt a little bit better. Calmer. The noise from the kids was muted and the waves were lapping the shore gently. Taking a shaky breath, Arabella slid out of her shoes and she walked right to the shore line, putting her toes in the ocean water. This was all just one big mess and she couldn't stand it. Arabella folded her arms across her chest and tried to forget about everything that just happened.
Hunter picked himself up and dusted himself off, slipping his shirt back on. He was tempted to try and talk to Brooke, but he really just didn't want to. He was confused about how he felt and he was a little relieved that he had managed to get through this without doing something that he would regret.
"I see the negotiations went swimmingly." Hunter looked and found Jake approaching him. "You okay, man?" He said, patting him on the shoulder.
"Yeah." Hunter said quietly, starting toward the campfire. "Yeah, I'm alright. I don't understand why it had to end this way..." He said, rubbing his face a little. "I don't know. I just...I kind of don't want to go to the campfire tonight, you know? I think I'm going to change clothes real quick and then I'll maybe meet you there."
"Alright. See you later, Hunter." Jake said before heading to the campfire. Hunter watched him go then turned toward the Hermes cabin, walking toward it. When he walked inside he changed into some dry clothes dried off a little bit with a towel then walked back out, thinking about things. Things were done between Brooke and him, but his interaction with Arabella made him really confused. He had always seen Arabella as a goal that was kind of out of reach, but now she felt close. She felt like his friend, but now she felt like so much more. Before he knew it, the ground had changed into sand and he was standing on the beach. He looked up and was a little surprised to see Arabella standing in the water some distance away from him. He figured that she had broken things off with Brett, but he felt bad and he felt a little bit like it was his fault. He walked up next to her and cleared his throat quietly then looked at her.
"You okay?" He asked, standing a little awkwardly.
Arabella looked over at him, quickly shaking herself to try and get out of the funk that she was in. She didn't want Hunter to see her being all emotional but it was kind of hard to hide something like that. "Uh, yeah..I'm okay" She said in a low voice, clearing her throat. "It's been a long day" Arabella added, her voice breaking off in the end. She glanced out at the water for a moment before turning back to Hunter, narrowing her eyes. "What about you, mister? Why aren't you at the fire?"
Hunter thought about it and he couldn't really put his finger on it. "I uh...Brooke and I..." He laughed a little nervously and then cleared his throat. "After the game, she dragged me back to the Aphrodite cabin and she tried to...and so I...and then she...and now we're..." He chuckled a little then fell backward into the sand into a sitting position. She looked down at him and he patted the ground next to him, prompting her to sit. "Why aren't you at the fire?"
Arabella took a deep breath before lowering herself down into the sand. "I'm sorry about Brooke. I wish that I would have said something to you...warned you about how she can be. I guess I was just hoping that it was going to be different with you" She said softly, looking over at him with empathetic eyes. "I broke things off with Brett. I found out that he's been lying to me" She finally confessed in a low voice.
Hunter closed his eyes a moment, feeling bad. He could have stopped all this. He could have saved her all this pain, but he didn't. And now she was heartbroken. "I'm sorry, Arabella." He said quietly. "I wish that...there weren't guys like Brett." He said with a sigh. "So, he wasn't the guy who saved you then? Do you um..." He cleared his throat a moment. "Do you know who saved you then?" He asked, picking at the sand in front of him.
Arabella shook her head, thinking back to the guy she had spent time with in the forest. Her lips still tingled from the kiss and she wished that he was with her. Hunter was amazing, but she would really love to be sitting with the guy who had saved her. "No...I don't know. I have no stinking clue and I'm back to square one" She said with a huff and she tossed a rock into the water. Arabella let out a little sigh then turned and looked at Hunter. "I just...I wish I knew who he was. The fact that I don't know him makes me want to know him even more"
Hunter nodded softly and turned to look at her a little. She looked really upset about all of this and he couldn't be more sorry, but she probably had in her mind that the guy who saved her was some handsome muscle-y son of Apollo or Ares. Not some random Hermes kid. He ran his hand through his fingers through his hair a second before looking out at the water. "You have nice feet." He said, after a second. She looked at him oddly. "Sorry. I'm just saying that it looks like you take care of your feet. I, on the other hand, don't really." He said with a quiet chuckle as he pulled off his shoes, sticking his feet in the water next to hers.
Arabella giggled, giving his foot a nudge with hers. "Your feet aren't so bad either, my dear" She put a little smile on her face and looked up at him. Sitting with him like that felt good. It felt easy. Hunter could be a really good friend for her, Arabella was sure of that. She needed a friend, someone like Hunter. Someone she could talk to easily, someone who wouldn't judge her. Arabella took a breath and she reached behind her, taking the tie out of her hair and letting her wet curls fall down. "I really am sorry about Brooke. She doesn't deserve you"
Hunter sighed and looked over at her as she shook out her hair a little. She was so pretty. He took a deep breath then stared down at his feet, curling his toes. "Yeah. I'm not sure what I thought was going to happen." He said with a sigh. "I mean, I was hoping that she was different then her reputation. I had kind of been told by people that she was kind of..umm...loose." He said finally.
Arabella let out a little sigh and she nodded. "Brooke is...Brooke isn't a bad person, she's just.." She started but she found herself lost for words. "Brooke is very sensitive and I had a bad feeling that she would pull this sort of thing with you" She finally said and she touched his hand lightly, in a comforting way, showing him that she was there for him. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked. He was her friend and she was worried about him. Arabella didn't want to have to think about Brett when she knew that Hunter could be hurting.
Hunter took a deep breath then cleared his throat. "Yeah. I'm fine." He said with a nod. "I'm just...Honestly, I saw this coming. I just...I had actually started to like her. She's really kind of a sweet girl and she's fun, but I don't think she knows how to have a healthy relationship." He said quietly. "Not that I know much better, but I know that it's not what that was." He sighed a little then nudged her foot with his, hooking his pinky toe on her big toe. "Thanks, though. Are you going to be okay with this whole Brett thing?"
Arabella looked down at their feet and she nodded softly. "Yeah, I'll be okay." She told him softly. She was hurt and she was so angry at Brett but this was something that she could work through. Arabella had dealth with worse than Brett. "I'm a tough cookie" She added with a tired little giggle. Arabella looked up at him for a moment, smiling a little. "Thanks, Hunter. For being here"
Hunter chuckled then smiled softly at her. "It is not a problem." He said, placing a hand on hers. "We're friends, remember?" He nudged her a little and then moved his hand away from hers, leaning forward and making a handprint in the sand. He lifted his hand and a moment later the tide came in and washed it away. "You know how in those old cartoons," He said, laying back and spreading his arms out. "they make those snow angel things? I've never made a snow angel." He said, moving his arms and legs to make a sand angel. "I've always been a little curious as to whether it was worth it or not."
"You've never made a snow angel? Oh, my friend, you are missing out" Arabella laughed and she layed down by him, moving her arms and legs in the same way. After a few moments, she stopped, looking up at the sky and the stars. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. "I miss seeing the stars when I'm home. The lights of New York City just...block them all out" She said in a low voice then turned her head to look at him. "Do you get to see many stars at home?"
Hunter stopped moving his arms a moment. "Umm..." He said, turning to look at her. "Camp is more of a home then my technical home, but from there not really. See them great from here though." He said with a nod. "Best spot I've found is from the roof of the Hera cabin." He nodded a little then put his hands above his head on the ground then with a jerk he jumped to his feet, making sure to not step on his sand angel. "Here, I'll help you up." He said, offering her his hand.
Arabella looked at his hand for a moment before she did anything. She gave him a small little smile then took his hand. He pulled her up and with a little squeak of surprise, she landed close to him, with his arms around her. Arabella looked up at him and she took a little bit of a shaky breath. His arms felt warm and familiar. There was a calmness, a feeling of relaxation when she was in his arms. Her stomach knotted up a little bit, so Arabella pulled out of his arms a little bit and she brushed her hands off on her shorts. "I'll have to take you out of camp someday so that you can make an actual snow angel" She said with a giggle.
Hunter blushed a little then looked down at the sand angels that they made together. It kind of looked like they were holding hands. "Sounds like fun." He said, watching as the tide washed their snow angels away. Hunter looked over at Arabella and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Umm...I think the campfire is almost done now, so...We should probably head back." He said, slipping his hands in his pockets a little awkwardly. The two of them started walking back and Hunter turned to her after a second and put on his thinking face trying to come up with something to break the silence. "You said your family lived in the city? Tell me about them."
Arabella smiled softly to herself as she walked, looking down at the ground as she thought about her family. Being away from them was hard sometimes and she missed them but it was all worth it in the end. She cleared her throat and shrugged a little, looking over to Hunter with the same smile on her face. "It's just my dad and my little brother but none of us live together all year. My dad, who is amazing, lives in an apartment in the city. My little brother, Tyler, is at a boarding school in Providence" She told him. "I think you would like my brother. He's a fun kid" As she talked about him, her voice trailed off a little bit. She missed her brother most of all and she worried about him daily.
Hunter laughed a little. "Well, I do like fun." He said with a laugh. He yawned a little bit and stretched a little as they walked, unintentionally brushing his hand against hers. There was a pause and he could tell that in a typical conversation, he would talk about his family, but he didn't like talking about his family. It was a little too painful. "Do you mind me asking who Tyler's mom is? I mean, I'm assuming he's your half-brother or he'd be...here, right?"
"She was crazy" Arabella said with a laugh. "My dad is very well known in the city. He comes from a very old family with very old money. She had come into his life and made him fall in love with her so that she could get at his money. After Tyler was born, she just....left. Tyler's never really known her." She explained to him. Arabella had gotten over it a long time ago. For a while, she was bitter towards that woman but she hated feeling like that so she had worked on letting it go. "She wasn't all there, mentally, either. She was very bi-polar"
"Oh..." He said quietly, studying the ground in front of him. "Sorry. I didn't umm..." He stopped talking when he saw the empty campfire area and he turned to the Aphrodite Cabin. "Well, I guess, this is where I say good night. I'll talk to you tonight. Thank you for salvaging my night." He said with a laugh as they stopped on the porch of her cabin.
Arabella turned to look up at him with a grin on her face. "No, no..thank you for salvaging my night" She laughed and she looked up at her cabin door. Part of her wanted to go inside and change into her pajamas but another part of her wanted to stay and talk to Hunter all night. Arabella didn't want to go inside and have to talk to anyone. She let out a sigh and gave Hunter a small smile. "Sleep well, Hunter" She said, leaning into him and placing a little kiss on his cheek. Arabella waved to him before turning and walking into her cabin.
Hunter stood there for a moment, his cheeks bright red. "Good night." He said after the door was already closed. He turned toward the Hermes cabin and then seemingly floated there, not really paying attention to anything around him. He had a long night and now he kind of just wanted it to be tomorrow, so he could see her again. He could talk to her and then maybe after a while, he could finally admit that he was the one who saved her and she wouldn't be mad, she would just be really happy and he could kiss her and then they could just be happy together. He walked into his cabin and just slipped into his bed, almost immediately falling asleep.