Arabella twisted her fingers in her lap, glancing out of the window as the limo sped down the road. She was excited and anxious to get back to Camp Half Blood. Ethan reached over and took her hand, rubbing this thumb along her palm. She looked over at him and gave him a little smile. "Are you excited?"
"Yeah, for sure" He said and she leaned over, kissing his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder. "Are you excited?"
"Very. I'm a little nervous, though" She sighed, closing her eyes. When she thought about how she left, she got a bit of a knot in her stomach. Arabella had left camp so suddenly. She hadn't told anyone that she was leaving and she didn't get to say goodbye to a lot of her friends. Ethan slipped an arm around her and he gave her a little squeeze.
"Everything will be okay" He said and she nodded a little bit, looking down at her empty wrist and wishing that she had her little Barbie watch. There was a few moments of silence but then the car stopped and the door was opening. Arabella took a deep breath and slid out, looking up at the hill. Their camp, her home was only a few steps away.
"Wait...So you kept telling me that my sword wasn't done, so that I would keep hanging out with you?" Hunter asked, a little smirk on his lips. He lifted up a branch, allowing Marina to duck under. "You probably didn't need to do that."
"Well...I...wasn't...thinking." She said quietly, her cheek red from embarrassment. "Sorry. I just didn't you to get done and go back to wasting away in that arena. Whatever it was that had you all bothered, really made your sword skills impressive." She slipped her arm around his as they finally walked out of the woods. "Still not as good as me though." She said with a nod.
"Oh, is that what you think?" Hunter said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Well, how about we find out?" He said, starting to walk to the arena. Marina giggled a little and leaned up on her toes before kissing him tightly on the lips.
"Race you there." she said with a wink before taking off toward the arena.
Arabella dug her bag out of the car and she slung it over her shoulder. She looked around, taking a deep breath as she waited for Ethan. He pulled his bag out of the car and closed the door. "Ready?" He asked her and she nodded. Together, they walked over the hill and down towards camp. It hadn't changed since Arabella had left. For some reason, she felt like it was going to change. Like she was going to get to the top of the hill and find a completely different camp. She grinned up at Ethan then started walking a bit faster towards the camp. She couldn't wait to see her siblings and sit on her bed again. Ethan was clearly itching to get back to the arena. He kept glancing over in that direction as they walked towards the cabins.
"I just want to drop my stuff off and then we can do whatever you want" Arabella said with a little nod. Ethan sighed dramatically but he had a smile on his face.
"Fine..I guess I can manage that" He said and they turned towards the Ares cabin. Arabella waited outside while Ethan dropped off his bag then they walked towards the Aphrodite cabin together.
"I'll be quick" She said and she kissed him quickly. Arabella stepped into the Aphrodite cabin and looked around. It was totally empty but she could see that Daniel had his bag on his bed. She smiled, put her stuff on her bed then walked out. "Okay. Let's go to the arena"
Hunter stepped backward, his breathing a little heavy as he gripped his sword tightly in his hand. He smiled over at Marina who was resetting her stance. They laughed a little before attacking again, their sword clanging together.
"I have to be honest. This sword is a lot better than my last one." He said, pulling his sword back and doing two quick thrusts at her. She dodged backwards and then switched her sword to her left hand, quickly making a few quick attacks.
"Didn't I tell you? Yes, I did." She said with a laugh as she slashed in a wide arc and Hunter dodged backward then quickly stepped behind her placing his sword against her neck.
"And you said you were better than me." He said with a smile before Marina grabbed his arm and tossed him over her head. He landed hard on his back and dropped his sword as he groaned a little. Marina laughed and with a foot on each side of his waist.
"I did and it's because I am." She laughed just as Hunter grabbed her legs, pulling them out from under her. She fell backward on her back and Hunter quickly crawled over her and smiled.
"How about we just call it a tie?" He said before kissing her gently on the lips. She smiled against his lips and put a hand on his cheek. Hunter finally pulled away and stood before helping her up. They kissed one more time then picked up their weapons and started back out of the arena, their fingers entwined tightly together.
Arabella laughed a little bit at Ethan, who was pretty much dragging her towards the arena. He had missed it and that was obvious. Arabella missed it too, but she would much rather be relaxing or walking around and talking to her friends. Ethan, however, clearly had other things on his mind. It didn't bother her, it wasn't like they were going to be at the arena for a really long time. As they were walking, Arabella saw on her of sisters. She turned away from Ethan as he tugged her along and grinned, waving to the Aphrodite daughter. However, she was not looking where she was going and Ethan clearly wasn't looking either because the next thing she knew, Arabella was walking head first into a hard chest. "Oh, I'm so sorry" She said quickly, not recognizing who it was at first. He looked so different with short hair and a buffer body.
Hunter wasn't really paying attention to what was in front of him, so he jumped a little when he bumped into something. He reflexively caught the person and looked down at the face that was obscured by a thick curtain of blonde hair. She stood up straight and pushed her hair back, revealing her identity. Hunter's heart skipped a beat when he saw Arabella standing before him. He cleared his throat and pulled away from her, studying his feet a second. "Hey, wel-welcome back to camp." He said with a sigh.
"Hunter!" Arabella squeaked, a little shocked. He looked like a totally different person. He had filled out and his hair, which had once been long and curly, was cut close to his head. He looked happier and more confident. She glanced over at the girl he was with, she thought her name was Marina or something like that, and gave her a smile. Arabella looked back at Hunter, still a little stunned. "I, uh...thanks. I just got here about 20 minutes ago" she told him in a slightly nervous voice with a little smile and she tugged on the hem of her shorts.
"We were just doing some uh...sparring." Hunter said a little nervously. There was a long pause when Hunter heard Marina clearing her throat next to him. "Oh, Arabella, this is-"
"Hi, I'm Marina" She said with a smile as she extended her hand to Arabella. "Daughter of Hephaestus. Ethan, it's good to see you back at camp." She said with a grin. Hunter frowned a little at Ethan. He was a little disappointed to see that Arabella was still with him considering what he knew.
"Hey, Ethan. I'm Hunter. Nice to meet you." He said finally, trying not to give him a death glare.
Arabella smiled a little bit, her stomach still a little tight with nerves. She looked at Marina and let out a little sigh. When she had sent him a letter, Arabella was expecting a response from him. But she never got one and now she was looking at the girl who was clearly his girlfriend. "Did, uh, did you have a good year?" She asked Hunter, trying to keep her voice from sounding too awkward.
Hunter took a deep breath and then looked over at Marina. He was with her now. He was done with Arabella and Arabella was obviously done with him. He cleared his throat then smiled a little. "Yeah," he said with a nod. "It was really good." He took Marina's hand and squeezed it a little before smiling a little bigger. "It looks like yours was pretty good, too."
Arabella looked up at Ethan, smiling a little bit. He smiled back at her and he placed a quick kiss on the top of her head before running off towards the arena. Ethan was practically jumping out of his skin to get to the arena. Arabella watching him run away then turned back to Hunter, nodding softly. "Yeah, I had a pretty good year" She said, glancing down at his hand in Marina's. "It's good to meet you, Marina. I heard some good things about you through a couple friends I have in your cabin"
"Oh, well...they're too kind. I'd say the same, except I don't really know any of your siblings." Marina said with a nervous little laugh. "Also, that reminds me..." She checked her watch and sighed a little before turning to Hunter, slipping her arms around his neck. "I told Max and Nyssa that I'd help clean up the forge, so I gotta go." She leaned up and kissed him on the lips. "I'll see you later." She said before pulling away. "It was nice meeting you, Arabella."
"You too, Marina" Arabella said softly, giving her a little smile. She watched as Marina walked away then glanced up at Hunter. Out of habit, she held her left wrist in her other hand, like she was playing with a watch that used to be there. Arabella was worried that things would be awkward between her and Hunter and she was right. She was so anxious about what he thought about her letter but now that he was with Marina and she was with Ethan, they should be able to be friends, right? "I'm really glad that you had a good year, Hunter. Anything interesting happen? Other than the...Marina thing" She asked him, giggling a little bit at the end.
"Umm...I had a really good Christmas. Learned to drive, a little bit. Made a new sword." He said quietly, twisting his hands together. There was a long pause and Hunter took a deep breath, trying to think of something to say. "How about you? How was school?" He asked quietly. "I was about to go hang out in front of my cabin. You mind walking and talking?"
"I can walk and talk" Arabella said softly. She glanced over at Ethan but he was so busy, he didn't notice anything. With a little smile up at Hunter, she put her hands in her pockets and started walking with Hunter. "School, uh, school was good." She told him with a little nod. Arabella cleared her throat, looking around the camp before looking up at Hunter with a little smile on her face. "You should have been there when we were talking about ancient Greece, though. I embarrassed myself so many times. I was the crazy one who spoke about the gods as if they actually existed" She told him, laughing a little bit at herself.
Hunter laughed a little and stuck his hands inside his pockets, twisting his fingers around the pink Barbie watch that rested within. "Joke's on them, right?" He said with a smile. "So, what kind of things were they saying? That Aphrodite was some..vain, selfish, conniving, terrible woman? It's really kind of a rude assumption for them to make, considering they've never met her." He said with a laugh. "Like, when people call Dionysus a drunken boozed up party monster. I mean, that's not true." Hunter said with a nod. "I don't think Mr. D has partied in weeks."
Arabella laughed and she nodded in agreement. "Really though!" She giggled. It was nice to talk to Hunter again. Sure, it felt a little awkward but he clearly wasn't thinking about the letter she had sent him. So she tried to push all of that to the back of her mind. Hunter was her friend and she wanted to be able to spend time with him. "Yeah, I actually snapped once because everyone was saying that horrible stuff about Aphrodite." She confessed, blushing a little bit. "What was driving like?" She asked him.
"To be honest? Terrifying. My uncle said that you get used to it and that it's very safe, but..." Hunter sighed a little, twisting his face to try and think about what it was like. He pulled out the lighter that Julie had given him and started spinning it in his hand, doing simple tricks that Julie had shown him. "Think about it though. You're in control of a ton of metal and steel, filled with highly flammable fluid and being powered by an engine that gets power from explosions and it's all moving at high speeds on 4 rubber circles. I don't know what part of that is the safe part."
"That all sounds exciting. Like an adventure" Arabella said in a bit of a dreamy voice, like she was picturing herself behind the wheel of a sports car. "I'd love to learn how to drive but my dad won't let me. He says that's what drivers are for" Arabella muttered, sticking her nose in the air slightly, impersonating her father. "Besides, driving is a risk but everything is a risk. Especially for us demigods. It's a risk just stepping out of this camp. Playing with a super cool lighter in the middle of a forest is a risk." She said with a little giggle, nodding towards his lighter.
Hunter kept walking for a few steps before he realized what she said. "Oh," he said quietly as he looked down at his lighter. He spun it one more time and lit it then closed it and handed it to her. "It was a gift from my cousin," he said quietly, looking over at it. "Her name is Julie, so she started to etch her name into it, but then she stopped and gave it to me, but changed the J into an H and...yeah." He cleared his throat and with nothing for his hands to do he shoved them in his pockets again. "How was your Christmas?"
"Oh, it was great!" Arabella 's face lit up when he asked her how her Christmas was. "Ethan came over with his mom and we had a big turkey dinner. And my dad got a puppy for me, so...it was pretty fantastic" She grinned up at him "I'm really glad that you got to spend some time with your family. I mean, I kind of got the impression that you don't really see them too much and I don't know...it's nice to know that you weren't stuck at camp over Christmas"
Hunter sighed a little, thinking about how he felt for the first month. Jake was gone and she was gone. Then he started hanging out with Marina and it changed. He felt good about their relationship and he felt really good about his family now that his relationship with his Aunt Lucy had improved. "Oh, my cousin, she's...well, she's a dog enthusiast, but she breeds her dogs together. It's like every time I'm there she has some new dog." He said with a chuckle. "Actually..." Hunter reached into his back pocket and retrieved his wallet. "Here's a picture of her, Christina, with Jojo, Wilbur, and Baxter." He said, showing her a photo.
Arabella gasped, smiling a little bit down at the picture. "Well, they're adorable" She said simply, shrugging like it was obvious. "And your cousin is beautiful. She looks like a really nice girl" Arabella added with a nod and she looked around as they got to the Hermes cabin. "Did you get to spend much time with them? Other than at Christmas?" She asked him curiously before she sat down on the steps outside of the Hermes cabin.
Hunter started messing with his lighter again as he leaned on the railing next to her. He was going to sit next to her, but he was worried that it might come off a little inappropriate. "I went over there for Thanksgiving, but it was only a day. It's a little tough for me to be over there a whole lot." He said quietly, running a hand through his hair.
"Oh, that is too sweet." Hunter looked up to see Jake walking toward them, duffel bag in hand. "You guys are waiting for me to get here, so you can welcome me." He stopped and put his hand over his heart, taking a little breath.
"Well, I gotta go." Hunter said, starting to walk off, but stopping with a laugh. "Hey, welcome back." He said, sticking his hand out.
Arabella watched as Jake and Hunter shook hands. She pushed herself up, nervously twisting her hands together. In all honesty, she didn't know how Jake would feel about her and she didn't really want him to be mad at her or anything. When Hunter stepped away from Jake, she walked up to him, giving him a little smile. "It's good to see you, Jake" She said and she hugged him before he could say anything back. Arabella hugged him for a moment before pulling away and grinning between him and Hunter.
Hunter looked at Arabella a moment then smiled over at Jake. "How was your year?" He asked, finally putting his lighter away and sticking his hands in his pockets.
"It was good. School sucked, but it was still pretty good." He said with a nod as he leaned up against the railing. "It looks like it wasn't as good as your guys' though." He said with a little smile, looking between the two of them. "How'd you finally tell her?" Hunter's eyes widened and he panicked. He couldn't believe that Jake had assumed that he and Arabella were together.
"Hey, Jake, look at-" Hunter said frantically before shoving him really hard to the ground. Hunter wasn't sure what to do, but as Jake looked up at him in complete confusion. "Oh, sorry, man." He said, helping him up. Hunter brought him up to his feet and leaned in a little bit. "I didn't tell her anything so shut up, will you?"
Arabella looked over at Jake and Hunter with a slightly confused look on her face. But she quickly shook it off and took a step closer to them. She stood in between them and hooked her arms with theirs. "Tonight. We should sit at the fire together. The three of us, Ethan and Marina. It'll be perfect" She said, smiling over at Hunter then looking over at Jake.
"Sounds great." Hunter said quickly before Jake could say anything.
"Oh, so Marina and Ethan are dating, too?" Jake said with a sigh. Hunter rolled his eyes and stepped on his foot, trying to make it look accidental. "Now, I'm going to be like...the fifth wheel." Hunter smacked him in the back of the head then cleared his throat. "What? With Marina and Ethan dating and you and-"
"Hey, don't you have to get unpacked? Go do that. We'll wait." Hunter said before shoving him toward the door of the Hermes cabin, kicking him in the butt on highway up the stairs. Hunter then put his forehead against the railing a moment before smiling over at Arabella. "So...Yeah. How's your family?"
"Uhm, good" Arabella said, trying to forget about what just happened with Jake. It was beyond awkward and she didn't really want to dwell on that. She put her hands in her pockets and looked around before finally turning her eyes back to Hunter. "Dad works a lot and my brother is in a boarding school, so I didn't really see them a whole lot. But...everything's pretty good" She smiled a little bit. "How's..your family?"
"Good." Hunter said shortly, not sure what else to say. "My uncle got a promotion, so I'll see more of him, hopefully, and...yeah." There was a silence that spread across the two of them. Unfortunately, it was the most awkward of silences. Hunter looked around, trying to think of something to say, but nothing came to him. "So...." He said quietly, trying to find something to say to break the silence.
Arabella nodded a little bit, looking around. She hated the awkward silence. She hated that her and Hunter weren't just talking with ease. She didn't know how to break the silence and small talk was never her strong suit. Arabella played with her wrist a little before looking up at him. "Marina seems like a very sweet girl, Hunter. I hope that she makes you happy"
Hunter looked down at her wrist and his mind floated to her watch in his pocket. "Yeah," he started quietly. "same for Ethan." He closed his eyes a moment recognizing how much he really wished Ethan didn't make her happy. He wanted her to be happy, but not with someone that was lying to her. "He seems nice," he managed to say before taking a deep breath. As much as he wanted to like Ethan and get used to the fact that he was dating Arabella; As much as he wanted to move past this, he couldn't let go of the fact that he was lying to her. He was happy with Marina, but at they very least he was Arabella's friend. "So, how did this whole thing with Ethan start, anyway?"
Arabella smiled a little bit, chewing on her lip. "Well...I don't know if you remember or not. But last year, when that guy had saved me during capture the flag..apparently, it was Ethan" She said, glancing over at Hunter, smiling a little bit. "He found me before I left for school and he told me and since he was going to be going home to Brooklyn, we were able to spend a lot of time together during the year" She told him then she let out a little sigh. "I really don't know what I would have done without him. It was really kind of difficult going back into school and not having any friends or really anyone that I even knew."
Hunter nodded and cleared his throat. He looked at her and sighed. If only he had gotten to her before she got to Ethan. His whole year would have been different. Hunter took a deep breath then sat down next to her on the steps. "Why'd you leave?" He asked quietly. "I don't mean to...Sorry. I just mean that if you didn't want to leave then why did you?" He sat on the other side of the steps looking over at her with a concerned look on his face. He really hoped that it wasn't his fault, but he knew that it probably was.
Arabella thought about it for a moment. She wasn't hurt by his question or anything like that, she just wanted to make sure that she gave him a clear, honest answer. Arabella was quiet for what felt like a long time before she finally answered him. "Last year had been really rough on me. I mean, it wasn't like anything really terrible had happened. But I had been really hurt by a guy just before the summer started and then I found out that Brett has lied to me...." Arabella took a deep breath then waved her hand, like she was waving it all away. "A lot of people at camp were saying things about me and I just didn't want to deal with it anymore. So I took a school year away from it all"
Hunter took a deep breath and nodded a little. "Okay. Sorry. I was just wondering." He said quietly. Hunter wished that she had stayed. Maybe he could have done something and maybe they would be holding hands and cuddling, but instead they were having trouble making small talk. He took a deep breath and quickly changed subjects. "Speaking of Brett, though...Did you hear what happened to him? Well, I should say what we did to him?" He smiled a little proud of himself. "It was a lesson in why you don't mess with Hermes cabin."
"No...I didn't hear anything!" Arabella giggled and she turned towards him. She rested her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. She looked over at him with wide, curious eyes and kept a big smile on her face. It was really wonderful, sitting with Hunter and talking like that. It was easy to sit and talk with him, it was easy to feel comfortable around him and it was easy to have feelings for him. Arabella almost wished that it wasn't like that because that just made her relationship with Ethan more complicated.
Hunter smiled to himself and then leaned in a little. "He actually doesn't know I was involved at all, but he apparently slept with Chelsea and then completely screwed her over. So, we decide that he's going to get a little bit of a comeuppance. Especially considering what the douchenozzle did to you." She nodded softly, but her eyes didn't move away from him as he continued. "Well, Chelsea told him that she wanted to have sex with him again, but he had to come to camp. So he did, but we were waiting for him. It was great. Chelsea got him naked. And I mean, birthday suit naked and then snatched his clothes and ran out of the cabin. Brett, of course, gave chase, but what he didn't know is that Marina and I had set a landmine that exploded sticky glitter once he stepped on it. He did. The front of the Apollo cabin gets covered in glitter, leaving a stunned, sparkly, clothed in a shield, Brett Wilcox. At that moment Chelsea burns his clothes just as we let down a banner on the front that reads, "STDs: You name it, Brett's got it!" in big red letters."
Arabella bust out laughing. She giggled until her cheeks were sore. Arabella put her hand over her mouth before brushing away a few tears. "That..." She said then cleared her throat, still giggling softly. "Is the best thing that I have heard in a very long time" Arabella took a breath, trying to calm herself down a little bit. "He totally deserved it. I can't believe that he would do that to Chelsea, though..."
Hunter finally calmed down enough and nodded. "He almost did it to you, so what's stopping him from doing it to someone else. Plus add in Chelsea's insecurities and I'm surprised something like that has happened already to her." Hunter took a deep breath. "I apologize on behalf of men for what Brett tried to do to you. I just wish the real person who saved you could have gotten to you before some lying jerk." He said, biting the inside of his lip a little to stop himself from saying something he shouldn't.
Arabella smiled softly at him. She reached over and gingerly placed her hand on his arm for a moment. "Thanks" She said lightly. Arabella took her hand off of his arm and she folded her arms across her chest. "Brett was a jerk. But I'm glad that I didn't really get involved with him. I don't know how I would have been able to deal with his lies once something happened between us." She bit her lip for a moment before glancing back at the Hermes cabin. "How is Chelsea? Is she okay with all of it?"
Hunter nodded quickly. "Yeah. Jake will never admit it, but she's the toughest one in our cabin." Hunter took a deep breath, feeling a little disappointed that something happened to her. "She basically get really sad then really angry then even angrier and then just kind of shuts down for a little while then a day later, presto change-o, brand new Chelsea." Hunter said with a laugh. "She's currently off in the woods being even angrier."
"Alright.." Arabella sighed, biting her lip. She turned back to Hunter and gave him a little smile. "If she wants to talk or not talk or anything like that, would you let her know that I'm here for her?" She asked him. "I mean, she might want to talk to someone who knows what it's like to be hurt by Brett.." Arabella added with a little giggle. She leaned back a little bit, looking around at the other cabins as people walked between them, getting settled and talking to friends. "Have you seen much of Brooke?"
"I assumed you would have seen her before I did." He said with a shrug. "I know she went home for the year, but past that I don't know anything." He picked at the step of the cabin a little. "She probably doesn't really want to talk to me though, so I'm probably not the best source. I'm not really on her...social level. I'm not on yours either really, but somehow you talk to me." He cleared his throat and stretched a little, lifting his shirt up to reveal the completely flat muscled stomach that he had somehow achieved over the year. "How did school go? I'm not sure I asked that."
"Yes, you did" Arabella said with a little laugh. She glanced at his stomach for a quick second before looking up at him. "What I want to know...is what the heck happened to you?" Arabella asked him, giggling. She reached over and ran her hand over his hair in a teasing sort of way. "You're all....muscle-y and you cut your hair.." Arabella couldn't believe that it was the same guy, in all honesty. Hunter wasn't ugly or anything before, but now he looked different. He looked like he was a lot more sure of himself. Arabella figured that it had something to do with Marina.
Hunter looked down at himself and flexed his arms a little. "I don't know." He said with a shrug. When Fall started I just didn't really have anything else to do. All my friends were gone and the summer ended...rather disappointingly. I just started practicing a lot and my hair was annoying me, so I had Daniel cut it before he left." He stood up and flexed then lifted up his shirt. "I mean, it's not like I'm The Situation now, I'm just not the little stick person that I used to be." He laughed a little then leaned on the railing again. "And then...I don't know. I just had a pretty good year. At least it seemed extra good because of how much last summer sucked."
"Well, you look incredible, Hunter..really" Arabella told him, smiling. She put her hands in her lap, picking at a loose string on her shorts. She really was glad that he had done something like that, that he felt good about himself and where he was. "I'm really happy for you, Hunter. I'm happy that you've had a good year and everything is sort of...falling into place for you" Arabella nodded. To be honest, she was a little jealous of Marina. If Hunter had answered her letter and told her that he had felt the same way, she would have been the reason that he had such a good year. She wanted to be the thing that made him so happy.
Hunter smiled at her and took a deep breath. "Well, look at you. You're dating a...guy and you look great. You always did, though, you know? Umm..." He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I mean, Ethan is a lucky bast--guy. He should be glad that you haven't uh..."
"Hey, Hunter, not that it matters, because I fixed it, but why did my sheets look like they went through a garbage disposal?" Jake said, emerging from the Hermes cabin wearing a Hawaiian shirt.
"Well, I don't know, Magnum. You're a PI. You should be able to figure it out."
"Oh, Ha. Ha. Yuck it up. You like my shirt, don't you, Arabella?"
Arabella looked up at him and she bit back a laugh. "I love it" She told him, giggling softly. She was really happy to be back in camp and sitting with Hunter and Jake. They were really good guys and they made her laugh. "You are going to be beating the girls off with a stick because of that shirt" Arabella said in her most serious voice possible. She nodded then felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind. "Oh!" She gasped in surprise and turned around quickly to see Ethan's smiling face.
"Hello" He said, grinning. He looked great now that he had gotten some time in at the arena. After exercising like that, he had a glow and an excitement about him.
"Hi" She replied happily then turned toward Hunter and Jake. "Have you guys met officially met, yet? Ethan...this is Jake and Hunter"
"Nice to meet you" Ethan said, sticking his hand out to Hunter to shake.
Hunter stared at Ethan's hand in front of him then took hold of it, squeezing it tightly. "Nice to meet you." He said quietly.
"Oooooooh...." Jake finally said, nodding his head. "You're dating him and he's dating--okay. I've got it now. Yeah. I'm Jake. Good to meet you."
"Weren't you that kid that Caleb tripped last summer?" Ethan said with a nod. "Man, that was hilarious." Hunter blinked at him before forcing a smile on his face.
"Well, don't expect another one. I'm not sure I see slapstick humor in my future." Hunter said, clearing his throat. "Now, Jake, here. This guy does it all, y'know?"
"Oh, stop. You're being too kind." Jake waved him off then crouched down next to Ethan. "Hey, since we're sort of friends now, do you mind hooking me up with a girl? I mean, being the fifth wheel kind of sucks and, let's be honest, I'm a keeper."
Ethan looked over at Jake, shifting a little bit, as he tried to figure out how to respond to him. Arabella thought that Jake was hilarious but Ethan had tensed up a little bit, like he was slightly uncomfortable. "I'll see what I can do"
"Oh, Jake...you'll get a girlfriend. Just be patient. She'll be worth the wait" Arabella said to him with a comforting smile.
"Yeah, you don't need my help" Ethan quickly added, as he slipped an arm around Arabella's waist. He sat down beside her and she automatically leaned into him slightly. She really, really wanted Ethan to get along with Hunter and Jake. They were her friends and she wanted to be able to spend time with all three of them.
Hunter stared at the two of them for a long moment before shaking himself and standing up straight. "Well, speaking of other things that make me better than Jake, I am going to go check on Marina. Make sure there wasn't some horrible catastrophe that would leave her horribly disfigured." Hunter said with a sigh. "I'd have to leave her if that happened."
"Oh, is that right?" Hunter turned around and saw Marina with a little smile on her face. Hunter nodded.
"I'm only in this for your looks, Marina. The sooner you understand that the better." He said before putting a hand on her side and kissing her on the forehead. "Mmmm...You smell like smoke."
"Oh, yeah." She said with a sigh. "Sorry about that."
"No, I like it." He said, wrapping an arm around her. "You up for a walk?" He asked her with a smile. She nodded and Hunter turned to Arabella. "Alright. I'll see you tonight at campfire? Jake, we're sitting with them at campfire. Marina, we're sitting with them at campfire. Also, Jake, I hear that Lindsey just broke up with her boyfriend, so...discuss with Ethan. Maybe he can help you out. I'll see you guys." Hunter said before turning toward the beach with Marina.
"What was that about?" She asked with a smile up at him.
"Just...making friends."
Arabella watched as Hunter walked away with Marina then turned back towards Jake. "You really are going to get tons of girls in that shirt, Jake" She said in a teasing voice.
"Awh, you really think so?" Jake said in a playful, joking voice. "That's sweet"
"Just don't let it go to your head" Arabella laughed. She pulled away from Ethan so that she could stand up and she brushed her hands off on her jeans. "I think that I'm going to go unpack, though. I know that my stuff is all messy and unorganized and it's driving me crazy" She laughed a little bit. "I'll see you at the fire tonight, Jake" She said and turned to Ethan, kissing him lightly before walking towards her cabin.
Hunter lifted a tree branch and let Marina walk under before letting it snap back into place. "Can I just say that you're the exact opposite of my previous girlfriend?"
"Wow. You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet." Marina said with a laugh.
"I mean that in a good way. Brooke was awful. Things moved...pretty fast." Hunter said as he took her hand. "Things with you are nice and slow. It's great." He said as they arrived at the little cave that they had hidden inside of after the prank.
"It is great." Marina said, kissing him on the cheek once before moving a rock away from the entrance. Hunter grabbed the last one and heaved it behind him before stepping inside.
"How'd you find this place?" He asked, looking around a bit at the ground that seemed to be matted down enough to be solid.
"Stargazing." She said with a nod. Hunter cocked his head a little and she pointed out the top. "Stargazing." Hunter looked up and saw that there was a clear view of the sky from inside. No trees obscuring and no lights blocking the sky. Hunter carefully laid down and looked up at the sky, kicking off his flip flops to wiggle his toes. Marina joined him after a moment, laying right next to him.
"This is nice." He said quietly. She slid her head to his shoulder and looked up at the sky again.
"Yeah. It is."