Arabella flinched a little bit when she felt something fall around her shoulders. Part of her thought that it would be Ethan and that scared her. She didn't want to see him. She couldn't see him. Arabella didn't know what she would do if it was him. Beyond that, Arabella wasn't sure that she wanted to see anyone at all. The last thing that she wanted was to see someone who would just make her feel like crap or ask her a bunch of questions. She didn't really want to someone she didn't trust see her cry. Arabella brushed her tears off of her cheeks before she looked up and glanced at the person who sat down beside her. It was Hunter. "Hi, Hunter" She said in a low voice. There was a moment of silence before she turned towards him and leaned over, resting her forehead on his shoulder.
Hunter took a deep breath and lifted his arm up, gently placing it on her shoulder. He tightened his coat around her a little. "Hi, Arabella." He said quietly. He wasn't sure what to do, honestly. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better or to make any of this a good thing, but he was willing to be with her. Sit next to her. She could cry on his shoulder or she could yell at him or she could hit him. He just wanted her to feel better. That was the priority. He sighed a little and put his arm around her, softly rubbing her shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Arabella sniffled a little bit, taking a deep breath. She felt calm around Hunter and she felt like she could trust him, in a way. Arabella closed her eyes for a moment, just enjoying the feeling of Hunter's arm around her. Finally, she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, too. Danny told me about you and Marina" She said softly, not looking up at him but keeping her head on his shoulder. Arabella genuinely felt bad for Hunter. He was such a great guy and he deserved to be happy in love, even if it wasn't with her. She was worried that he was really hurting over his breakup.
"Oh." Hunter murmured. He wasn't even sure if anyone had really noticed much about him and Marina breaking up. She was spending a lot of time with Kyle and he had just gone back to normal, for the most part. "Don't worry about me." He said with a sigh. "I'm tough. I can take it." He said quietly, giving her a small squeeze. "I didn't mean to say that you're not tough. I mean...you're tough. I'm just..." He stammered, putting on his thinking face for a second. "I mean, you're plenty tough. My toughness level is..." He sighed again with red cheeks of embarrassment. "I'll just...stop talking. Sorry."
Arabella looked up at him, giggling softly for the first time in what felt like a long time. She pulled away from him a little bit but not in a, needing to get away from him, kind of way. She just wanted to be able to look at him better. When she saw the little thinking face that he had on for a moment, she smiled. "What was that look on your face for?" She asked him, brushing the rest of her tears away with the back of her hand.
"Just...thinking. Thinking if I can somehow stop being a dork." He said with a small smile, looking over at her. They locked eyes for a moment and Hunter blushed. He turned his eyes toward the ground. "Stop being a dork around such a pretty girl, at least." He said under his breath. He quickly ran a hand through his hair and looked up at her before seeing another tear roll down her cheek. He gently grabbed the collar of his jacket and wiped the tear off her cheek. The jacket slipped from his fingers and he found himself running the back of his fingers across her cheek. Immediately, he blushed and took his hand back and put both hands in his lap, staring down at the ground. "Sorry."
Arabella blushed a little bit and she glanced down at the ground. Her stomach did a happy little flip when Hunter's hand brushed against her skin. There was a moment of silence and Arabella desperately wanted to fill it. She didn't want things to be awkward or difficult between her and Hunter. She might have had feelings for him and she might still have feelings for him, but that didn't matter, really. She just wanted to have him in her life. "I think that it's a pretty great thinking face. A lot of expression" she told him in a simple voice with a little nod.
"My uh...mom used to do a face when I was crying and it would always cheer me up." Hunter said with a nod. "My thinking face is that face." He said with a shrug. He hadn't really told anyone about that. He didn't talk about his mother. He just didn't. But he trusted Arabella and he just...he was comfortable with her. "So, do you have a thinking face? I'm sure you do and I would like to see it now. So...show me." He said with a laugh, turning to her and looking her right in the face.
Arabella looked at him, locking eyes with him and she burst out into giggles, shaking her head. "I'm not going to do anything with you looking at me like that. You're just making me laugh" She smacked his leg and covered her face with her hands in a playful way. It felt odd, enjoying herself like that. After a week of hiding in her cabin and feeling like crap, letting go and laughing felt almost unnatural. But it was good and she was glad that Hunter was there.
Hunter's smile grew a little bigger and he angled his head to look around her hands. She turned her head, so he couldn't see and he kept moving his head, so she could see it. He laughed a little and then grabbed her wrists gently, yanking her hands away. "Come on. Let's see it, Arabella. I showed you mine." He said with another laugh.
Arabella looked up at him, trying really hard to be serious. She was able to calm down long enough to look up at him with her thinking face, which was almost like a tiny little pout but with a bit of biting on her bottom lip, but then she giggled again and she closed her eyes for a moment, not wanting to take her wrists out of his hands to cover her eyes. "See! You're making me laugh!" She accused, taking deep breaths.
"What?" He said through his laughs. "I'm not even doing anything!" He held her wrists for another second and then blushed, shaking himself a little. He looked at her again and stretched his face a little. He tried to look calm, but as soon as he looked at her, a smile started spreading across his lips and it made Arabella giggle again. "Sorry. Sorry. Okay. Try it again." He said, letting go of her wrists and stretching his mouth again. "How about we close our eyes and then on three we both do our thinking faces? Agreeable?" He said with a grin.
Arabella cleared her throat and nodded, putting her serious face on. She pushed her hair behind her ears and adjusted herself so that she was sitting more comfortably and facing Hunter. "Okay. Close your eyes" She said and she quickly shut her eyes. There was a brief moment of silence before Arabella said "Are your eyes closed?" Getting a little chuckle from Hunter. "Okay then...on three. One..." she started to count down and as she did, she started focusing on being serious and finding her thinking face which was, in all honesty, causing her to have her thinking face on.
At this point, they were each straddling the log and facing each other. Hunter started with his eyes closed, but soon opened them. He watched as Arabella twisted and contorted her face. He wasn't completely sure what she was doing, but he loved every minute of it. It was adorable how she'd try something and then make this face like she was chastising herself for doing it. It was in this time that Hunter started to slide toward her on the log a little bit, his eyes not moving from her face. "Two..." He said quietly, moving a little bit closer.
"Three" Arabella bit her lip and she opened her eyes. She tried to keep her thinking face on but she was a little shocked to see how close Hunter was to her. She wasn't complaining, really. But it was a little shocking to open up her eyes and find herself face-to-face with Hunter. She was so close, she could see the flecks of a lighter brown in his eyes. Arabella didn't really know what to say to him so she did the only thing that felt right, she leaned a bit closer to him, biting her bottom lip.
Hunter licked his lips a little and blushed. "Hey, Arabella?" He said quietly. "Would it be okay if I kissed you, right now?" He asked, his heart pounding. He wasn't sure how she would react and he was almost shaking until she bit her lip and nodded softly. "I think I'll be ready this time. And you'll even know who it is you're kissing." He chuckled softly and moved closer, leaning in to kiss her.
Arabella pulled away, looking at him with a confused face. "What do you mean?" she asked him in a low voice. Nervously, she twisted a piece of hair around her finger and she looked away from a quick moment before looking back at Hunter. She scooted back, putting a bit of distance between them. "When you say this time...?" She was afraid of what he would say to her and she was afraid that he was about to lie to her like everyone else did.
Hunter stared at Arabella for a second, not sure what to say. "I...Oh, gods..." He said, rubbing his eyes. "Arabella, I know that you've been lied to, but I need you trust me when I say this." He went to move a little closer to her, but she scooted away again. "No, listen. I'm the guy who saved you. Both of those times." He could see her face fall and she stood. He stood with her. "No, listen! It was right here!" He said, pointing to the ground. "It was raining. I gave you my shield to fight. My arm was bleeding and you bandaged it and then you kissed me. Please, Arabella. You have to believe me." He said, reaching out to her.
Arabella turned away from him, her head spinning. How could this be happening? It wasn't fair. Hunter was her friend and she thought that she could trust him. At this point, however, how could she trust anyone anymore? Especially after so many people had lied to her. Arabella moved away from him as he reached out to her and she shook her head. "No, I don't believe you. I can't believe you." She took a breath and looked up at him. "I trusted you, Hunter. I trusted you more than anyone and now you're going to use this to get with me? No. No" She folded her arms across her chest and starting to walk away from him.
"No! Oh, my gods." Hunter said, rubbing his face. "Arabella, I promise you that I'm telling you the truth. You can trust me. The first time! It was...umm...It was two children of Athena! You fell and I knocked them out and helped you up. Then I told you to charmspeak them if they woke up." She hugged her arms to her chest and continued to walk back toward camp. "The second time!" He said, hurrying and catching up to her. "You were running and I pulled you up into a tree. I told you about Brett and how he's lying to you. Arabella, I promise you. It's been me this whole time! I'm the one who saved you." He said, moving in front of her and looking her in the eye.
"I think that you're full of it" Arabella snapped and she walked around him, heading out of the woods. She paused for a moment then turned around to look at him. "Even if you were telling the truth, why would you wait so long to tell me? Decided to wait until two guys broke my heart?" She said in a low voice. Arabella couldn't believe this. She had her heart broken and now she was losing a friend. A friend that she had feelings for. A friend who made her stomach do flip flops and her heart race. "Just...forget it, Hunter. Leave me alone" she muttered, her voice defeated, then she turned and kept walking.
"Because, I figured this would happen!" He shouted after her. He followed for a few steps and stopped. "Because I was a complete stranger and then after that I was a scrawny little child of Hermes!" He ran and caught up to her one more time before she would be in her cabin. "I thought that now that I wasn't a nerdy little stick person Hermes kid that you'd believe me. That maybe I would be worthy of someone like you." She stomped up to the door of her cabin. "I guess, in the end, all I have to say is that I'm sorry. For a lot of things, honestly, but most of all, for putting you through so much pain. I'm sorry." He stared at the back of her head, hoping and praying that she would turn around and believe him. She didn't. "I'll leave you alone. Good night, Arabella."
"You were never a nerdy little stick person to me, Hunter" Arabella finally said after a moment, her voice full of hurt and disappointment. She looked over her shoulder at him for a brief second before turning back into her cabin and closing the door behind her. As soon as she was inside, she glanced around and when she saw that she was alone in her cabin, Arabella walked over and collapsed on her bed. She let the tears fall and her fingers searched for her teddy bear. This was just..too much.