Hunter could hear something small moving near him. He turned away from it in his sleep, but then felt it leap onto the couch and settle itself in a ball next to him. Hunter opened his eyes and blinked a few times before turning around to see Gracie laying next to him. She looked up and then leaned to lick his face. Hunter picked up the small dog and sat up finally, looking around the room as he woke up. "Good morning, Gracie..." He said quietly, setting the dog down then heading into the kitchen to start on breakfast.
Arabella groaned when the sun shone through her window and she shoved her face in her pillow. For a moment, she had forgotten where she was. She was sure that she was in her bed at camp and maybe it had all been a dream. What finally woke her was the sound of cars going past from her open window. Arabella sat up, looking around her bedroom and a smile spread across her lips. Hunter was downstairs and she was sure that she could hear him cooking. She rolled out of bed, tugging on the hem of her shorts and pulling on a sweater before she walked out of her bedroom and down the stairs. "Hunter?" She said, poking her head into the kitchen.
Hunter turned around, yawning a little bit. "Good morning, sleepyhead." He said with a wave. He turned back to the stove and stirred some eggs before turning away and checking in the microwave. "A couple more minutes." He said to himself before turning back to Arabella. "I set Gracie on that chair because she stole the first pancake." He said, pointing to the small dog who was sitting on a very high chair in the middle of the kitchen, unable to get down. "I banished her."
Arabella turned her eyes away from Hunter and looked over at her tiny little dog, sitting up on the chair. Gracie started to bark when she saw Arabella. "Oh...what a cutie" Arabella laughed and she walked over, scratching Gracie's ear but not getting her off of the chair. "Did you have a good sleep?" Arabella asked him, looking back at him with a sleepy smile. It was great to see him again and when she saw him, her heart skipped a beat.
Hunter nodded, turning back to the food. He had slept fine and it felt strangely natural to see her first thing in the morning. He liked it. Hunter finally turned off the stove and filled three plates with two pancakes, sausage links, eggs, bacon, and some fresh fruit. He put the dishes in the sink and then turned, handing Arabella a plate. "I assumed Tyler was eating with us, so I made a plate for him." He said, gesturing to the third plate.
"Oh...this looks amazing, Hunter" Arabella said happily and walked over to the table. "Tyler will probably eat his for lunch. He tends to sleep in until noon" She said with a little laugh. She put her plate down on the table and walked back into the kitchen, over to the coffee machine. "Do you want some coffee?" She asked him, starting to get it ready.
"Uh...No thanks. I don't really drink coffee." He said with a shrug. He picked at his food a little bit, taking a couple bites. "Any ideas on how we're going to get back? I mean, we could walk." He said with a nod. "I could call my uncle and he can drive us there. That works too." He said, runnig his fingers through his hair.
"I am far too lazy to walk all the way back to camp" Arabella laughed and she glanced over to Hunter. "If your uncle doesn't mind picking us up, that would be amazing. Tell him that I can pay for gas money" She said with a nod and she took her finished cup of coffee, walking over to the table and sitting down. She yawned and took a bite of her food. "Oh my gods, Hunter, this is amazing" She sighed, eating more of her food.
Hunter smiled, taking a few more bites before wiping off his hands. He cleared his throat and walked over to the phone, quickly dialing his house.
"Hello?" Chrissy answered.
"Hey, Chrissy. Is Uncle Wayne there?" He asked. She yawned.
"No. My mom and he went to the garage for the car." She said. Hunter sighed. "What do you need?"
"Uhh...Well, I'm over at Arabella's and we need a ride back to camp." She scoffed and audibly rolled her eyes.
"Can't she get her driver to do it for her in her limo?" She said, clearly upset.
"Just tell Uncle Wayne that I called." He said before going to hang up.
"No! No, no. I'll do it. Where does she live?" She said, moving around. Hunter glanced over at Arabella and then took a deep breath, finally saying her address. He hung up and went back to his plate.
"My cousin is coming to pick us up in a little while."
"Oh! That is perfect! I can't wait to meet her" Arabella said with a big smile. She took a big drink of her coffee before she went back to her food. They ate in silence for a little while and that made Arabella very happy. It made her happy because the silence was comfortable. They could sit together and not say anything but still feel comfortable around each other. At least, it felt comfortable for Arabella. Finally, she cleared her throat and looked down at her empty plate before looking up at Hunter. "Hunter, I uh, I know that we decided not to talk about the past but I just wanted to thank you. I know that I freaked out when you told me about Ethan but if it wasn't for you, he would have hurt me even more. So...thank you."
Hunter looked up at her for a moment then shrugged. "I...I'm just sorry that I didn't do it sooner." He said quietly, taking the last few bites of breakfast then putting the dishes in the sink. "It's probably 30 minutes from my house to here, so we still have a little while." He said, starting to wash the dishes. He was trying to play off the past. They had a pretty checkered past, but there was a reason he wanted to let it go. It didn't take long for Hunter to finish the dishes and when he checked his watch they still had 15 minutes left, so Hunter grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and went to the living room, sitting down on the couch.
Arabella had run upstairs to get dressed while Hunter was doing the dishes and when she heard the water stop and him move into the living room, Arabella walked downstairs. She had changed into a pair of denim shorts and a pink hoodie. She tugged on the sleeves of her sweater as she walked into the living room and sat down next to Hunter. "Thanks for breakfast. It was so much better than the left over Chinese food" She said with a laugh.
Hunter smiled. "Hey, it was the least I could do as thanks for last night." He said with a nod. He tapped his fingers on his knees for a moment then turned to look at her. "Can I ask you a question?" He said, taking a deep breath. "It's nothing to worry about. If you were a pirate, would you put a parrot on this shoulder?" He said, putting his hand on the shoulder close to him. "Or on this shoulder?" He said, putting his arm around her, his hand on her other shoulder.
Arabella giggled, rolling her eyes but her heart started to race and she leaned into his side a little bit. "This one, for sure" She said, reaching up and touching the tips of her fingers to where his were on her shoulder. Arabella smiled up at him, not moving a muscle. It felt so good to be in his arm like that, her fingers touching his. "What about you? What shoulder would you put your parrot on?"
"I don't like birds." He said with a nod. "So...neither. I think I might have a gerbil or something. A small dog." He said and with perfect timing Gracie ran over, jumping onto his lap. Hunter carefully picked her up, placing her on his shoulder. "There we go. Much better." He said with a nod just as there was a loud knock on the door. Hunter placed Gracie in Arabella's lap. "That must be Chrissy." He said, heading for the door.
Arabella jumped up from the couch, holding Gracie close to her chest. She placed a big kiss on the dog's head before putting her down on the couch. She yawned, grabbing her bag and throwing it over she shoulder. Arabella stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a couple granola bars before joining Hunter at the door. Together they walked out and Arabella locked the door behind her. When she turned around, she smiled and waved at Hunter's cousin.
Hunter walked closely behind Chrissy who surprisingly hadn't said anything. He was expecting the insults to start right out the door, but nothing happened. He glanced back at Arabella and then got into the car. They drove for about a minute when Chrissy looked back at Arabella.
"So, is your driver off today or did you feel like slumming it?" She asked, no hint of joking in her voice.
"Chrissy..." Hunter said quietly.
Arabella's cheeks turned bright red and she cleared her throat. She really didn't know how to respond to any of that. Hunter's cousin sounded kind of bitter and Arabella was worried that any response she gave her would result in teasing or jokes. "He, uh, he actually has most of the summer off" Arabella finally told her and she pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, suddenly wishing that she would have taken cab.
Hunter closed his eyes, hanging his head for a moment. Chrissy nodded and sighed. "Well, that's gotta be tough. I'll be sure to drop you off a few blocks away, so you don't have to be--"
"Chrissy, stop talking." Hunter said, taking a deep breath.
"Well, I just understand why she let you sleep at her place last night." She said, clearing her throat.
"Stop it, Chrissy." Hunter said, a little louder.
"The princess didn't want to get her feet dirty. She needed a ride back to camp. Isn't that right, Arabella?" Chrissy said as she pulled up to a stoplight. Hunter looked at his cousin and clenched his teeth for a second before getting out of the car. He opened Arabella's door and helped her out then held her hand as he started walking back toward camp.
Arabella didn't really know how to respond but she was really glad that Hunter had done what he had done. She didn't know what she had done to make his cousin so angry and she wasn't really sure what she was supposed to do to make things better. Arabella held on to Hunter's hand with both of hers and she glanced back at the car before turning around and letting out a sigh. "I don't...why was she..." Arabella said, stumbling over her words, not sure what to say.
Hunter turned and looked angrily back at Chrissy who looked more surprised than anything. She pulled forward and opened the window, driving next to them.
"Hunter... You're just going to walk?" She said, taking a small breath.
"Chrissy. Go home." Hunter said before putting an arm protectively around Arabella's shoulders.
"Hunter, please. I'm sorry. I won't talk anymore. Just...get in." She said quietly. Hunter looked at Arabella.
"Chrissy. Go. Home." He said, pulling away from Arabella to move closer. "I cannot express how mad I am at you right now, so just go home. I'll see you when I'm home next." He said, pulling away and moving back to Arabella.
Arabella glanced over at Chrissy then back to Hunter. She really didn't know what to do and she felt really torn. She leaned into Hunter a little bit and let out a deep breath. "Hunter, it's okay. If you want to drive with her, that's totally okay with me" She said, wanting Hunter to spend a little bit more time with his cousin before they went back to camp, even if she felt so uncomfortable around her.
Hunter shook his head and when he didn't hear tires pulling away, he turned around and opened his mouth to speak, but Chrissy put her hands up in surrender and then drove away, leaving Arabella and Hunter to walk back to camp. He waited a moment and then slipped his arms around her middle, hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry, Ellie..." He said quietly, taking a deep breath to try and calm down.
Arabella closed her eyes, resting her head on his chest and she let out a low sigh. "It's okay, Hunter" She said softly hugging him close. It felt good to hold him that way, it felt right. "I just don't understand what I did wrong to make her so angry.." Her voice trailed off and she lowered her head a little so she was now facing the ground.
Hunter took a small breath and felt his face heat up. "You didn't do anything, Arabella." He said quietly. "You didn't deserve any of that." He pushed some hair behind her ear and then pulled away from her, clearing his throat. "When I uh...That Fall. The one after... Brett and Ethan happened and you left and spent all that time with Ethan, I was...I was upset. It was kind of heartbreaking to be so close to telling you that I was the one who saved you and then seeing you writing your number and Ethan's hand the night before you leave for 9 months." He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck a little nervously. "I was upset. Chrissy was there for me and...and now she thinks that this is a mistake." He said, staring at the ground. "I'm...I'm really sorry..." He said, turning away from her.
Arabella took a small breath, not really sure how to react. It made sense that he would have talked to people but she didn't really expect it. Finally, she shrugged. "It's fine, Hunter, really" She said and she brushed her hand against his. "Let's just get back to camp and forget about all of this, okay?" She asked him, giving him a little smile.
Hunter pulled away a little bit again. "Arabella, we...we can start over and say we started over as much as we want, but for some reason, we can't get away from all of that garbage that happened..." He said, staring at his feet. "If we can't escape it, then...then how is this going to work? We're right back where we were and we tried to get away, but...I know this was going to happen and so I'm sorry." He said, running his fingers through his hair.
Arabella sighed, running her fingers through her hair before letting her hand fall to her side. "Hunter, what do you want me to say? Do you want me to agree with you and then we can get into a big fight and then everything will be ruined or do you want me to tell you the truth?" She raised an eyebrow at him, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. "And the truth is that you're over reacting to all of this"
Hunter took a deep breath and looked up then just started walking again. He got a foot away from Arabella and then turned around to look at her. "I..." He stopped and cleared his throat. "Of course I don't want to fight and of course I don't want to ruin this, but...I mean, it's obvious that some higher power is making things difficult for us and by my recollection those higher powers are what you and I call mom and dad."
Arabella sighed "Yeah, well, maybe they're wrong" She said, looking over at him with wide eyes. Why couldn't things just be normal with them? Something always had to happen. "Look, maybe they've got some plan for us and maybe we won't find out what that is for a long time but why can't we just enjoy what we have right now? I mean, if they are planning something than clearly we went on a date last night for a reason"
Hunter chuckled quietly too himself. "And that was like the best date ever, so..." He said quietly. He turned to look at her and then took a deep breath. "I don't like pissing off the gods, but I do really like you, so I guess it makes sense for us to piss off the gods together, right?" He said before extending his hand to her. He still felt uneasy with this relationship. It was difficult not to be nervous considering how much success they've had in the past 24 hours, but he didn't want to lose her. They had gotten through too much for him to lose her now. "Not that we have much of an option. The gods are gonna be upset either way."
Arabella laughed a little bit, nodding in agreement. She gave his hand a little squeeze and walked towards camp with him, really looking forward to crashing in her bed. "They always seem to be upset about something" She said with a little shrug. They walked together in silence but Arabella's stomach was tied up in knots. Finally, she took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. "Hunter, do you think we should talk? Like...about what's happened between us?"
"What do you mean?" He said quietly, walking toward camp. "I mean...there is a lot of stuff that happened between us. And talking about it kind of...ruins the idea of starting over. On top of that, we got to a point that couldn't really be salvaged and the only reason I got to this point was by ignoring that." He said with a shrug. "Is something still bothering you about it?"
Arabella looked up at him and she shrugged. "I don't know. You just seemed a little upset about all of it earlier and, I dunno, I figured that if there was something you wanted to say it was probably the best idea to just...let it off your chest." She said in a soft voice and she looked up at him with big eyes. "I really like you, Hunter." She told him simply.
Hunter nodded and took a deep breath. "Yeah...I really like me, too." He said with a smile. "I just really want this to work and I'm...I don't know. I'm worried about getting hurt and I'm worried that if I hold out too long then I'm going to get hurt." He said, running his fingers through his hair. "I really, really want this to work, Ellie."
"I really want it to work, too" Arabella said softly and she looked down at the ground before looking up at him with a little smile. She was willing to work as hard and she needed to to make it work between them. They had gone through too much and in Arabella's opinion, it was too late to go back now. "Do you think we're getting closer to camp?"
Hunter nodded. "We're only about 15 minutes away, I think." He said, looking over at her. "I've walked here plenty of times. Sorry we had to walk." He said, taking her hand again. "It's a good thing we like spending time with each other." He said with a grin. He kept walking for a while and finally they were standing in front of Half-Blood Hill. He stopped and took her hands, looking toward her. "Let's...just...go back to camp, not let any drama effect us, and see where that takes us, huh?" He said, running his thumb over the back of her hand.
Arabella looked up at him, locking eyes with him and a smile spread across her lips. "Deal" She nodded. "We'll go back to camp and we'll just...enjoy out summer, have a good time. Drama free" She agreed with him and she leaned closer to him, placing a kiss on his cheek then letting go of his hands and running up the hill.
Chapter 74 - Arabella and Hunter
"She's still getting ready" Daniel said when he opened the door for Hunter. Arabella rolled her eyes, running around her bed, trying to get her purse and all of her jewellery and makeup together for the date. She tossed her wallet into her little purse and sat down on her bed.
"I'll be right there!" Arabella called towards the door, pulling on her high heels.
"So, where are you taking my sister tonight?" Daniel asked Hunter, leaning against the door frame and folding her arms across his chest.
Hunter leaned on the cabin, catching his breath. He looked up at Daniel and then took a deep breath.
"I'm actually taking her to a restaurant called Daniel." He said with a chuckle. "It should be...really good." He said, standing up straight. "Phew. I'm sorry. I ran here."
"You're driving there, though, right?" Daniel asked, narrowing his eyes at Hunter. Hunter nodded.
"Yeah. I've got a car parked on the other side of the hill." He said with a smile.
Daniel let out a bit of a sigh but he didn't say anything, however, when Arabella heard silence from the door she moved a bit faster. Daniel might not be saying anything but that didn't mean he approved of Hunter now. Arabella wanted to avoid as much awkwardness as possible. She grabbed her purse and stood up, tugging on the hem of her dress a little as she walked. "Hi, Hunter" Arabella said in a soft voice, smiling at him as she walked up to the door. He looked handsome and nervous and Arabella couldn't be more excited for this date.
Hunter looked at Arabella and his mind went blank. Now that she was there and dressed for their date it all seemed so real and it was actually happening. "Oh, wow..." He said quietly. "You look beautiful, Arabella." He looked at her dress then up to meet her eyes. He blushed, but he didn't look away. He just smiled and then licked his lips a little bit nervously before offering his arm to her. "Shall we?"
Arabella nodded then turned to Daniel, giving him a little wave. "See you later, Danny" She said and she stepped out of the cabin, closing the door behind her. She looked up at Hunter with a big smile. "Did I hear that right? We're going to Daniel?" She asked him, wiggling her eyebrows a little bit.
"Yeah." Hunter said with a nod. "I hear it's supposed to be really nice there." He said as they walked toward the hill. "You do look really pretty, Ellie." He said, looking over at her. "And now I feel a little underdressed..." He looked down at himself and smoothed out his shirt. "I'm...sorry." he said nervously.
"You look amazing" Arabella reassured him, touching his sleeve lightly. "I've heard that it's a really good restaurant, but I haven't had a chance to go there, yet" She told him, walking with him towards the hill. "How was your day today? I was kind of busy and I didn't really see you" She said, making a bit of small talk while they walked.
"It was good. I was...incredibly nervous, to be honest." He said with a sigh. "And I didn't really think asking you out through, so it was a bit of a rush and I don't know why I'm telling you this." He said, rubbing his eyes as they reached the top of the hill. "The jeep is mine. Well, it's not mine, but I'm borrowing it for this." He said, looking over at Arabella and sighing.
Arabella smiled up at him and she took a step closer to him, slipping her arm through his. She held onto him lightly as they started to walk down the hill. "It's okay, Hunter. Everything is going to be perfect tonight" She told him, trying to make him feel a bit better. "So, tell me about your family. You said that you have a cousin? What's she like?"
Hunter smiled at her, blushing softly. He tried to think of what to say about Chrissy without mentioning that she hated Arabella. Hunter nodded his head back and forth for a second. "Her name is Chrissy. She's a couple years older than we are. She's...She's kind of my best friend. At least she was. Not sure if she is anymore. I love her for obvious reasons and I always will." He said with a shrug. "I don't know what else to say." He said, rubbing the back of his neck a little nervously. "The rest of my family is my uncle and aunt then two other cousins." He said with a nod. "A set of twins. Julie and Steven. They're both in college. How about you? How's Tyler?"
"Tyler's doing really good!" Arabella told him, smiling when she mentioned her little brother's name. "He seems to really be enjoying school, which is good" She added with a little nod. It had been a little while since she had last seen Tyler and she worried about him a lot when they were apart. She always felt like she needed to protect him. Arabella cleared her throat and pushed a piece of loose hair out of her eyes. "I'm liking this Jeep" She said with a little laugh as they got closer to the car.
"Well, wait until we start driving." He said with a small laugh as he opened her door for her. He closed it and then hurried over to his side, getting in and starting the car. It died again almost immediately. Hunter gave it another try and sent a desperate prayer to any god that was listening. It finally started and he started heading down the road toward the city. "So, why don't you have your drivers license? No desire or no need?" He asked, glancing over for a second, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as to not embarrass himself.
"Uh, no need, I guess" Arabella shrugged, leaning back in her seat and glancing out of the window. She looked back at him and smiled a little bit, just happy to be in the car with him and driving towards the city. "My dad has always had drivers for us and he doesn't really want me to learn how to drive. I asked him but he totally just brushed me off" She confessed and played with the hem of her dress. "I'd really like to learn, though"
Hunter nodded. "Well, maybe I could teach you sometime..." He said quietly. "I mean, I'm not a teacher or an expert or anything." He said quietly. "If you wanted to learn, I guess." He looked down at the steering wheel and took a deep breath. "What does your dad do. I'm not sure if we ever really talked about that." He said, simply trying to find something to talk about.
Arabella laughed a little bit and shrugged. "Who knows? He's some...CEO for this big company." Arabella told him and she looked out of the window, watching the trees pass as they drove down the road. "We don't really talk about his job. It usually gives me a headache so I don't bother asking him about it anymore" She said with a bit of a laugh. "Did you get to see your family much this past year? You seem to be getting a bit closer to them"
"Yeah. My aunt and I have talked a lot more and we're just growing closer. It's nice. I feel like I have a place to go home to now." He said with a nod. "I mean, Camp is always going to feel like home, but sometimes it's just nice to get away from it, you know? Like...I go home to take a vacation. I don't know. I'm weird." He said with a shrug. "It's just...a really long and sad story that shouldn't darken our date." He said with a smile as he parked outside of the restaurant and got out to open her door.
Arabella blushed a little bit when he opened the door for her and she stepped out, holding onto the side of the car for a second while she balanced herself on her high heels. She looked up at the fancy restaurant with a look of awe on her face. "This is...wow. Hunter, this is really incredible" She breathed and smiled up at him and she stepped away from the Jeep, moving towards the doors. "I can't believe that we're coming here, I mean, really...wow"
"My uh...My uncle suggested it." He said, looking up at the restaurant. "Now you see why I feel underdressed." He said with a sigh. "You fit in perfectly." Hunter opened the door for her and then followed her inside. He headed toward the hostess and she looked up with a smile.
"Hello, sir. Welcome to Daniel. Do you have a reservation?" She asked, looking down at her podium.
"Uhh...No. I...We just walked in." He said, glancing over at Arabella, feeling embarrassed. The hostess' face fell slightly.
"Well, It's gonna be about an hour wait, unfortunately. Is that okay?" Hunter rubbed his eyes and then gave the hostess his name before walking back to Arabella.
"It's...It's going to be an hour..." He said quietly, looking at his feet. "Sorry..."
Arabella let out a little puff of air. An hour wait sucked but it wasn't the end of the world. Hunter looked so upset, Arabella just wanted to make him feel a bit better. "Well, that's no problem. We can...I don't know, we can go for a bit of a walk while we wait? Or we could go somewhere else. The possibilities are endless" She said with a bit of an added giggle.
"Yeah!" He said quickly. "Sorry. We can go somewhere else." He looked around for a moment. "I mean, I don't know any other places." He said. "I mean, we can just...go for a walk. I'm sorry. I should have called ahead..." He walked toward the exit and opened the door for Arabella, then following her out of the restaurant onto the street. "Maybe we should drive around."
"A drive sounds really good" Arabella said, honestly rather excited. It would be great going for supper but she really just wanted to spend some time with Hunter, talking about some things and getting to know him. ''So, where do you want to go?" She asked him, wiggling her eyebrows as they walked towards the Jeep.
"I don't know. I mean,you probably know this part of the city better than I do." He said with a nod as he opened her door for her. He got in then started the car, checking the time. "I'll just drive and if you see another restaurant or if we want to get out and walk, then you can just say so. Sorry about...not being more prepared..."
"Hunter. Stop apologizing. I'm really having a good time. Everything is going to be fine" She told him with a little smile and she slid into seat, buckling up her seat belt as she waited for Hunter to get into the driver's seat. When he sat down and started the car, she pointed down the road. "Head out this way. It's a good part of the city" She told him and leaned back in her chair.
Hunter nodded and opened his mouth to apologize again then stopped. He drove as Arabella directed and looked around, admiring all of the buildings and things. "See any other restaurants?" He asked, looking over at Arabella and finding himself looking at her as she bit her lip. He stared at her lips for a moment, only turning away when she looked and caught him. "So, where is your school and stuff?" He asked, clearing his throat a little bit.
"Uh, pretty close to here, actually" Arabella said, sitting up a little straighter and playing with her fingers in her lap. She glanced out of the window for a second before glancing back at Hunter. "Just down this street a little bit, we'll be going past Central Park and my school and my house is all within about a 10 minute walk of there" She said then let out a little breath. "It's nice, it's a good place to live" She shrugged. "Didn't you say that your family is close to camp?"
"Yeah. It's not too far from camp, but it's in a different direction from the city." He said with a shrug. "I haven't really done a lot of exploring in the city. I drove a fair amount in it, but I was kind of distracted by the whole...focusing on the road thing." He said, taking a turn toward Arabella's house without her telling him.
Arabella furrowed her brow a little bit when Hunter turned the car towards the street she lived on. "We, uh, we should go down to Times Square. Have you seen it, yet?" She asked him. Arabella wasn't sure if he knew where she lived or if she wanted to know the answer to that question. She just wanted the date to go well and she figured that if she got far from her house, things might be better.
Hunter shrugged. "Only in the daytime which didn't seem as impressive. It's probably tons better when it's dark, right?" He said, turning away from her street and toward Time Square. "Have you lived here your whole life?" He asked, looking at some of the buildings and stopping at a stoplight.
"Born and raised" Arabella nodded with a little smile and she glanced over at Hunter. She really didn't know that much about him or his past. He seemed to really keep it close to his chest for the most part. "What about you? Where is the magnificent Hunter from?" She asked him with a little playful tone in her voice.
"Connecticut." He said with a nod. As much as he had come to terms with his past and as he's gotten over a lot of it since talking to his Aunt, it was still a little sensitive. It felt odd sharing it with Arabella, but at the same time it felt natural. "My mom and I traveled around a little bit when I was very young, but then we settled in New York with my aunt and uncle and cousins." He said quietly, not wanting to mention the car wreck or his grandparents. "I owe my aunt and uncle a lot." He said, taking a deep breath.
Arabella nodded a little bit and she looked down at her lap. She knew that it was best not to push him anymore. If he wanted to tell her, he would tell her in his own time and when he was ready. "Well, your family seems pretty great" She said, looking up at him. Arabella bit her lip and looked out of the window for a long moment before turning back to Hunter. "How old were you when you came to camp?"
"Well, I started going part time when I was 5. That was summers and some other times of the year. I started going full time when I was 12 or 13, I think." He said with a nod. He kept driving when he felt the car shake a little bit and he kept moving when the engine revved several times and the engine died. Hunter took a deep breath in surprise and steered it into a parking spot before throwing it in park and looking over at Arabella. "Gods, no this can't be happening..." He said under his breath as he took the key out then put it back in, turning it. The engine turned and turned and finally started only to die immediately after. Hunter sighed and hit his head on the steering wheel. "I cannot believe this car just broke down..." He said quietly.
Arabella looked out the window, away from Hunter. She wanted to get her composure and stay calm and happy. He seemed so upset and she didn't really want to make it worse. Arabella looked back at Hunter with a small smile, resting her hand on his back. "Hey, it's okay. We, uh, we can walk. It should be that far from here" She told him. "Is there a manual or anything in here? A number to call or something?"
Hunter buried his face in his hands, thinking. "I can call my uncle. Let me find a payphone." He said, getting out and hurrying toward a payphone across the street. He put in some change and dialed the number. It rang twice and then his uncle picked up. "Hey, uncle Wayne."
"Hey, kiddo. How's the date going?" He asked excitedly. Hunter glanced over as Arabella made her way across the street.
"Terrible. The car just broke down. Arabella and I are going to get going to see if we can get still get a table at the restaurant." Hunter said. He told his uncle where the car was and then hung up, locking the car and then looking at Arabella. She looked beautiful and she got dressed up for the worst date in history. "I'm so sorry, Arabella."
"Hunter, it's really okay." Arabella told him, walking closer to him. She took a little breath before slipping her hand into his. "At least it's a beautiful night. It's warm, it's not raining and we're in the best city in the world" She said and smiled up at him. "What did your uncle say?" She asked him, not letting go of his hand just yet.
Hunter blushed and looked at their hands together. "He and my cousin are going to come and see if they can take care of it. Then they might call a tow if they can't." Hunter ran his finger over the back of her hand. "Well, we better hurry if we want to get a table." He said, pulled his hand out of hers, heading back the way they came to try and find the restaurant again.
Arabella looked down at the ground for a moment, part of her really wishing that Hunter hadn't dropped her hand like that. It felt good to hold his hand. She let out a little sigh before looking back up and following him as he walked down the street. "It shouldn't be too hard to find and with any luck, it won't take to long" She said and smiled up at Hunter. "So...Jake said that he broke up with that girl he had been seeing?"
Hunter looked over at her and took a deep breath. "Yeah. From what he told me, they were hanging out one night and he asked her why they weren't more serious or something." Hunter said with a shrug. "She laughed and he said he was being serious. That's pretty much all he told me. He seems to be perfectly happy without her anymore, so I don't feel too bad for him." He shrugged as he walked, slipping his hands in his pockets. Hunter felt a little bad for acting a little cold toward Arabella, but he was feeling a little stressed about this date.
"That's good! I'm happy for him" Arabella said, focusing on keeping pace with Hunter in her high heels. "From what he told me, it didn't really seem like that great of a relationship" She said and looked around at where they were, trying to figure out how far it was going to be until they got back to Daniel. "I have a sister in Aphrodite who was in a relationship like that. It was terrible. She would cry for a day straight over this guy when they would break up and the next day when she saw him again, they were totally fine. It was confusing!" She said, finishing with a bit of a laugh. Finally, she let out a puff of air. "I'm sorry. That was a stupid story, I'm just talking because I'm nervous and I want this to go well"
Hunter looked over at her and took a small breath. He couldn't help, but laugh a little bit, mostly because it was a little relieving to see that he wasn't the only one nervous about this. "That's okay. I'm just glad one of us is talking." He said with a sigh. They walked a little bit further and finally found the restaurant again. Hunter walked in and found the hostess. "Hi, we're back and it's been about an hour." He said, clearing his throat.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. We had a big group come in and we had to give them your table. If you'd like we can have another table ready for you in about 45 minutes." She said with a smile. Hunter's jaw dropped and he stepped away, rubbing his eyes. He finally gave her his name and Hunter looked up at Arabella for a second, feeling so embarrassed.
"They gave our table away. They can have another one ready in 45 minutes." He said quietly, studying his feet. "Gods, this is such a disaster." He said, walking out of the restaurant and back into the cool night air.
"Oh...uhm, it's okay" Arabella said and she looked over at Hunter, who looked crushed. "No, really, it's okay. Can we just find a bench or something somewhere? My feet are really killing me" She said, offering him a little smile and balancing on one foot lightly, to get pressure off of the other foot. Arabella was pretty good in high heels but she had walked pretty far in a pair of very high heels.
Hunter nodded and cleared his throat, walking down the street a little bit to find a bench near a bus stop. He helped her sit down and then took his seat next to her, looking down at his lap. "I'm sorry about your feet." He said quietly, watching her as she took off one of her shoes. "I like your nail polish." He said quietly, looking down at her foot.
Arabella grinned and glanced down at her feet, remembering that time they sat on the beach together and he mentioned her nail polish. "Oh, thanks. I worked hard on it" She said, moving towards him a little bit on the seat. She put her shoes down on the ground and rested her feet on top of them. "I see you still have the same green shoes you've always had" She said with a little smile.
"Why fix what ain't broke, right?" He said quietly. "I've been wearing green shoes since I was nine." He tapped his feet together and leaned back on the bench before checking his watch. "Wow. It's already 10 o clock." He said quietly. "And we haven't even had food yet." He added under his breath. "We're going to miss curfew at this point."
"It's probably too late to get supper" Arabella said softly and she glanced over at him. "And I highly doubt that we're going to make it back in time for curfew" She added with a little bit of a giggle. Arabella thought about it for a moment then let out a little sigh. "I live pretty close to here. Why don't we just go to my place? We should have enough stuff in the fridge to make a couple sandwiches."
Hunter sighed a little bit. He hated how this date was going and he felt completely embarrassed. He did blush a little at the prospect of going to her place, but he pushed it down when his stomach grumbled. "Yeah. That sounds okay." He said, taking a deep breath. "You need me to carry you? Or are your feet feeling better?" He asked, standing up and extending his hands to help her stand.
"I should be fine" Arabella said and she slid into her shoes. When she stood up, she winced a little bit but still held onto Hunter's hand. "Totally fine" She tried to assure him and she started to take a couple of steps but it was really starting to hurt. "When we get back to my place, you can call your uncle on the house phone. Maybe he'll be able to tell you something about the car"
Hunter nodded and kept walking, but stopped when he felt Arabella's hand squeeze his as she winced again. "Okay. Take off your shoes." He said, holding out his arm to let her balance while she slipped out of her heels. He picked up her shoes then put his back to her, crouching down. "Piggy back ride time." He said, glancing back at her.
Arabella laughed a little bit and she glanced around before she slipped her arms around his neck and she hopped on to his back, hooking her legs on his sides. "You good?" She asked, laughing as he stood up and started walking with her. "Oh...my hero" She teased and she leaned against him a little bit, closing her eyes for a moment. "Thank you, Hunter" She said softly.
"No thanks necessary, ma'am." He said with a smile as he hooked his arms under her legs. Hunter's face was bright red as he felt her warm breath on the back of his neck. He didn't mind giving her a piggyback ride and it was the very least he could do after the date he just put her through. "I'm really sorry about tonight." He finally said quietly. Arabella didn't say anything and that made him realize how quietly he did say it. She probably didn't even hear him.
"If you just go down this street about a block and then hang a right, we'll be at my place in like...5 minutes" Arabella told him. She had heard what he ahd said but she didn't want to dwell on it. Yeah, the date had gone a little off but it didn't ruin how she felt about Hunter or how she saw him. Arabella let out a relaxed sigh and she rested her head on his shoulder, happy that she was that close to him in that moment. She saw him turn down her street and she lifted her head "We're the one with all of the ivy on it and none of the lights on" She told him, stifling a yawn.
Hunter nodded, already knowing which house it was. He turned his head and saw Arabella's face, her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed. He felt so much like kissing her right then, but he resisted the urge, looking forward again. He doubted that she would want to kiss him after a first date. Especially a first date this bad. It was being salvaged for parts at this point. He stopped in front of her brownstone and climbed the stoop before letting her down, turning around to face her.
"Thank you so much, Hunter" She sighed, happy to be back home and not having to worry about her feet anymore. She took her shoes back from him and dug around in her purse until she found the key and unlocked the door. "My dad is off on business. I think he's in Europe for the next week or so" She said and she turned to Hunter. "Really, thanks for carrying me" She kissed his cheek then pushed the door open and walked into the house. "Gracie!"
Hunter stood there frozen as he took a deep breath. They had kissed plenty of times, but it felt so different now. In a way he truly did start over with her. He didn't count all of the other kisses they had shared. Hunter finally followed her into the house, closing the door behind him. "Oh, I finally get to meet Gracie." He said, looking around for the tiny dog. He had seen the dog from a far and he had read about her, but he had never met the puppy.
Arabella smiled wide when the little puppy came running down the stairs. She picked her up, scratching behind her ears. "My baby girl. I miss her so much in the summers when I'm away. I practically just come back during the school year for her" She said with a bit of a laugh. Arabella kissed the dog's nose then passed her over to Hunter. "I'll make us some food. The phone is in here if you wanted to call your uncle" she called back to him, walking into the kitchen and opening up the fridge.
Gracie squirmed in Hunter's arms a little bit until Hunter looked down only to be met with a tongue to the chin. Hunter scrunched his nose a little bit just as he heard some heavier footfalls on the steps. He looked up to see a young kid, tall and thin with a pair of glasses pushed onto his face. "Uhh...hey." Hunter said with a small wave as headed into the kitchen, looking for Arabella. He finally set Gracie down, met with a couple yips before Hunter grabbed the phone and quickly dialed his aunt and uncle's house.
"I can make us a super fancy meal and by super fancy, I mean a ham and cheese sandwich with a side of Pepsi and chips because I can't cook to save my life" Arabella told Hunter with a little laugh and she turned to face him, only to find him on the phone with her little brother walking into the kitchen behind him. "Tyler!" Arabella squeaked and she ran over, hugging him tightly. "You're home! I forgot that you were coming home from school"
"Yeah, I just got in yesterday" Tyler said, hugging Arabella back tightly.
Hunter looked up at the two of them as his uncle spouted off some details about the car. Hunter stepped into another room just as his uncle let out a sigh.
"So, we'll get a new car at some point." He said.
"I'm really sorry, Uncle Wayne." Hunter said quietly.
"It's alright, kiddo. That car was on its last legs, anyway. No need to apologize." He said with a chuckle. "Chrissy was begging for a new car anyway. With her birthday coming up, I might make it a nice one." He paused for a moment. "So, how did the date end up going?"
"Well, we got to the restaurant. It was an hour wait. So we left. The car broke down. We got back to the restaurant to find that they had given our table away. It was another 45 minutes wait, so we left and I'm calling you from her house now."
"Whoa, whoa. You're at her house?" He said. Hunter shook his head.
"Yes, but it's just to get some food. I'll walk back to camp after that." He said with a sigh. He knew that it would be a terrible walk, but he didn't have much of a choice.
"Alright. Well, be smart. Be safe. Feel free to come home for tonight. I don't want--" There was a voice in the background and Wayne's voice disappeared for a few moments.
"Give-Give me the phone." Hunter recognized the voice as his aunt Lucy. "Hunter?"
"Yes, ma'am?" He said, straightening up a little bit.
"Don't listen to your uncle. Have a good time tonight. From what he's told me, you could use a fun night, so don't worry about walking back to camp. If she lives in the city that's gotta be an hour's walk."
"Well, I don't want to impose. And I don't mind." Hunter said quietly.
"Okay, sweetie. Well, I'll leave it up to you. Call us if you need anything. Love you." She said. Hunter replied in kind then hung up, walking back into the kitchen and putting the phone back, letting out a small yawn.
Arabella was just finishing up with the sandwiches. Tyler was leaning against the counter, waiting for his and Gracie was at her feet, praying that Arabella would drop some food on the ground. "What did he say?" Arabella asked him, putting the cheese back in the fridge and putting the last piece of bread on top of the sandwiches. She passed one to Tyler then sat up on the counter, taking a bite out of hers.
Hunter moved, grabbing his plate and leaning on the counter next to Arabella. "Well, the battery is dead. And it has a cracked cylinder cap. My uncle is taking it to the shop tomorrow and he'll see if there's anything else, but it looks like we'll be buying a new car." He said, eating a couple of chips. He looked at Arabella then saw Tyler and quickly shook himself, brushing off his hand. "I'm sorry. Hi, I'm Hunter." He said, extending his hand to Tyler. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Tyler" He said, quickly shaking his hand. "Hey" He said, nodding at him then taking a big bite of his sandwich.
"So, do you have a plan for tonight?" Arabella asked Hunter, her eyebrows knitting together in worry. She really didn't want him to be stuck anywhere or end up having to take a cab or something like that, it would be a ridiculous amount of money.
Hunter opened his mouth to speak, but his stomach growled loudly. "Well, eat this sandwich." He said with a nod. He took a bite out of the sandwich and smiled, nodding toward Arabella. "My compliments to the chef." He said, swallowing. "After this, I'll probably walk home or walk back to camp." He said with a nod. "It's not that far." He said, eating a few more chips.
"It's far enough!" Arabella gasped, looking at Hunter with wide eyes. He might be able to brush it off like it was no big deal but Arabella knew that it would be a long walk, in the middle of the night, through New York City. "Look, you can sleep on our couch. We've already missed curfew and it's going to be a long walk. So you might as well crash on our couch for the night and we can both go back to camp tomorrow"
"No, no, no." He said with a shrug. "The sandwich is already enough. I don't want to impose." He said with a nod. "It's not that far of a walk. Seriously." He said, taking a bite of his sandwich. He chewed and swallowed before speaking again. "I don't want to be a trouble." He said. "Especially after that heinous thing I called a date." He said under his breath, eating a few more chips.
"You are not imposing and you are not any trouble" Arabella said, folding her arms across her chest and glancing down at him. "Really, it's okay. I would worry about you too much if I let you walk out of this house. That's a long walk and it's almost 11 at night, now." Arabella sighed and she leaned towards him a little bit. "Please, Hunter, stay here tonight" She asked him, her eyebrows knitting together lightly in worry.
Hunter sighed and put his hands up in surrender, not committing to anything, but simply dropping the topic while he finished eating. Hunter looked over at Tyler for a moment. He seemed like a nice guy. Shy, obviously, and as much as Hunter would like to get to know him, Hunter was hoping to have a little bit of time with Arabella. "Any ideas on how we're getting back to camp tomorrow morning? Unless, we walk." He said with a shrug.
"No clue" Arabella said simply with a little shrug. She looked over at Hunter and laughed a little bit. "It'll be fine. We'll figure something out. I'm sure that we can get a ride to camp somehow" She added and slid off of the counter. Arabella started cleaning up the kitchen and Tyler sighed, pushing away from the counter.
"Well, she's started cleaning and that is my cue to leave before she starts spraying me with Lysol" Tyler said, finishing off his sandwich.
"It was one time!!" She called up to Tyler as he walked upstairs. Arabella huffed and put the cloth down in the sink. "It was one time" She said to Hunter with a nod.
"Hey, I believe you." He said with a nod. "Just don't spray me with Lysol, too." He said, finishing off his food and then moving toward the sink, rolling up his sleeves. "Go...sit down or something. I'll do these." He said, nudging her out of the way slightly. "It's the very least I can do." He smiled at her and then turned to the dishes.
"Well aren't you just the sweetest" Arabella grinned and after thinking about it for a moment, she moved away from the sink and she leaned against the counter, glancing around her kitchen. "Have you ever thought about going back to a mortal school?" She asked him, just genuinely curious. Curious about him and his life and his plans for the future.
Hunter paused for a second then shrugged. "I guess I haven't really thought about it." He said, continuing to wash dishes. "I'd have to make up a lot of school, so I'm not sure how possible it is. I've got elementary schooll under my belt, but other than that no schooling. Other than what I learned at camp. And what I read." It didn't take him long to finish the rest of the dishes then he drained the sink and dried his hands. "Do...Do you think I should go back?" He asked after a moment.
Arabella shrugged and she played with the hem of her dress before looking up at him again. "It's up to you. I was just curious. It would be a heck of a lot to do to catch up" She agreed with a little nod. "I mean, if you ask me, it's really not worth it. Yeah, some of the social stuff is fun but the classes suck and a lot of the people really suck too" She said in a light tone, rolling her eyes a little bit.
Hunter shrugged and leaned on the counter opposite her. "Yeah. It's probably not worth my time." He nodded and then took a deep breath. "I'm having a hard time seeing myself successful in anything outside of camp. Inside camp, even." He said quietly. "Kind of a problem with us Hermes kids. Other than pranks it takes nearly destroying Olympus to get much attention." He said, picking at his pants for a moment.
"Oh, don't say that" Arabella said, looking over at him with a warm smile. "Hermes kids are funny and warm and just plain awesome. And I happen to like them very much" She added with a final hmmph and a nod. Arabella pushed away from her counter and she went over to stand beside Hunter. "I think you're pretty great" She told him in a lower, more serious voice.
"Well, you did offer to humor me with this date, so that's telling." He said with a shrug. He took a deep breath and looked over at her, blushing a little bit. "I really am sorry about tonight. I don't know what I was thinking with half of this..." He said, crossing his arms. "I was almost late. Well, I was late and then to take you in the jeep. You deserve a nicer car and then the restaurant. I hadn't really thought about any of this. I probably could have taken you somewhere less busy. We could have gone somewhere else. And I...I just feel so bad." He said, stepping away from her a little bit. "If you don't want another date, I totally understand. No hard feelings. We gave it our best shot and it missed."
Arabella sighed, hating the fact that he felt so bad. Was the date perfect? No, it wasn't but she didn't care. She just like being with Hunter for the night. She wanted to make him feel better and she wanted to prove to him that she really did have a good time, but she didn't really know how. She knew that if she were to just tell him, he wouldn't believe her. He would probably think she was lying just to make him feel better. So she moved closer to him and she did something that she had been dying to do all night. Arabella brushed her fingers along the side of his hand and she kissed his lips, leaning into him ever so slightly.
Hunter's cheeks turned pink as he felt the kiss wave over his body. After a moment, he let his hand move up her arm to gently cradle her cheek, leaning closer and deepening the kiss. It felt like he wasn't even touching the ground. Like he was floating right there in the middle of her kitchen. Hunter ran his thumb over her cheek for a second before slowly pulling away.
Arabella smiled up at him, her stomach filled with butterflies. This kiss was special and Arabella was so happy. After everything they had been though, she was ready just be with him and not have any drama to worry about. Arabella bit her lip, her cheeks bright red, and she glanced down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at Hunter. She leaned into him, just wanting to feel his warmth. "I had a really great time tonight Hunter, I really did."
Hunter took a deep breath, not sure what to say. "Wow..." He whispered, locking eyes with her. He moved his hand back down her arm to take her hand in his. It felt like everything disappeared except for Arabella. It took Gracie barking to break him out of this trance. He turned and looked down then checked his watch, clearing his throat a little bit. "I should go..." He said, looking toward the door then back at Arabella.
"Really?" Arabella huffed and she walked past him, standing in front of the door so that he couldn't open it and she looked over at him. "Would you please, please stay here tonight?" She asked him, looking up at him with big eyes. "I really don't want to know that you're walking around New York City in the dark, on a Saturday night. We can get back to camp in the morning. Please?"
Hunter took a deep breath, trying to not meet her eyes, but then finally sighed. "Okay. Fine. I'll stay here..." He said, looking up at her. "I don't want you to make too much of a fuss, though. I'll sleep in the living room. On the couch." He said quietly. "I'll make breakfast in the morning to make up for it, okay?"
"I guess I'd be okay with that" Arabella said with a little laugh. She moved away from the door and she took his hand as she walked past him. "Come on, I'll get you set up on the couch" Arabella walked with him to the living room, not letting go of his hand. "I hope that you're comfortable. It's actually a pretty great couch. I've slept here a few times myself, just because it's so comfortable" She told him, letting go of his hand so that she could open the ottoman and take out the blankets and the pillows.
Hunter quickly moved next to her, nudging her out of the way to take out a blanket and a pillow. "Thanks, Arabella." He said, setting the pillow down and putting the blanket on the back of the couch. He slipped off his shoes and then unbuttoned his plaid shirt, setting it on the coffee table, leaving him in his jeans and a plain white undershirt.. "I really appreciate this." He said, moving over to her. He licked his lips a little nervously and then put his arms around her, hugging her.
Arabella smiled to herself and she moved closer to him, resting her head on his chest. "Don't mention it" She said softly and she took a deep breath, wanting to remember everything about that moment. In the end, it had been the perfect date. Finally, Arabella pulled away from him and she cleared her throat. "Uhm, if you need to go to the bathroom, it's just down the hall and, uh, if you get hungry there's some left over Chinese food in the fridge" She said and she bent down a little, picking up his shirt, which was still warm from being on him. "I'll stick this in the washer for you" She said in a soft voice.
Hunter was sitting on the couch and he didn't realize what she was talking about until she had already disappeared. "Oh, you don't have to--" He said, but she couldn't hear him. He shrugged and then rubbed his eyes a little bit, wondering a lot of things. If she would want another date. How he would make sure it didn't fail as badly as this last one? When was the next time he would kiss her? He finally laid down, putting his head on the pillow. He carefully spread the blanket out over his body then closed his eyes, nervous about what was going to happen next for the two of them.
Arabella practically ran up the stairs and up to her room. Her heart was racing and she was really resisting the urge to go back down stairs and lay down beside Hunter. She changed into her pajamas and she let her hair out of the bun. The night had been crazy and emotional but Arabella was happy. Things had gone well between her and Hunter, which she had been worried about. She was worried that they were not going to be able to move on from their past and their friendship would be ruined. Arabella picked up his shirt and she walked to the laundry room, putting it in the wash before she padded back to her room and flopping down on her bed. Her lips still tingled with his kiss and her skin felt warm where he had touched her. She couldn't wait for a second date.
"I'll be right there!" Arabella called towards the door, pulling on her high heels.
"So, where are you taking my sister tonight?" Daniel asked Hunter, leaning against the door frame and folding her arms across his chest.
Hunter leaned on the cabin, catching his breath. He looked up at Daniel and then took a deep breath.
"I'm actually taking her to a restaurant called Daniel." He said with a chuckle. "It should be...really good." He said, standing up straight. "Phew. I'm sorry. I ran here."
"You're driving there, though, right?" Daniel asked, narrowing his eyes at Hunter. Hunter nodded.
"Yeah. I've got a car parked on the other side of the hill." He said with a smile.
Daniel let out a bit of a sigh but he didn't say anything, however, when Arabella heard silence from the door she moved a bit faster. Daniel might not be saying anything but that didn't mean he approved of Hunter now. Arabella wanted to avoid as much awkwardness as possible. She grabbed her purse and stood up, tugging on the hem of her dress a little as she walked. "Hi, Hunter" Arabella said in a soft voice, smiling at him as she walked up to the door. He looked handsome and nervous and Arabella couldn't be more excited for this date.
Hunter looked at Arabella and his mind went blank. Now that she was there and dressed for their date it all seemed so real and it was actually happening. "Oh, wow..." He said quietly. "You look beautiful, Arabella." He looked at her dress then up to meet her eyes. He blushed, but he didn't look away. He just smiled and then licked his lips a little bit nervously before offering his arm to her. "Shall we?"
Arabella nodded then turned to Daniel, giving him a little wave. "See you later, Danny" She said and she stepped out of the cabin, closing the door behind her. She looked up at Hunter with a big smile. "Did I hear that right? We're going to Daniel?" She asked him, wiggling her eyebrows a little bit.
"Yeah." Hunter said with a nod. "I hear it's supposed to be really nice there." He said as they walked toward the hill. "You do look really pretty, Ellie." He said, looking over at her. "And now I feel a little underdressed..." He looked down at himself and smoothed out his shirt. "I'm...sorry." he said nervously.
"You look amazing" Arabella reassured him, touching his sleeve lightly. "I've heard that it's a really good restaurant, but I haven't had a chance to go there, yet" She told him, walking with him towards the hill. "How was your day today? I was kind of busy and I didn't really see you" She said, making a bit of small talk while they walked.
"It was good. I was...incredibly nervous, to be honest." He said with a sigh. "And I didn't really think asking you out through, so it was a bit of a rush and I don't know why I'm telling you this." He said, rubbing his eyes as they reached the top of the hill. "The jeep is mine. Well, it's not mine, but I'm borrowing it for this." He said, looking over at Arabella and sighing.
Arabella smiled up at him and she took a step closer to him, slipping her arm through his. She held onto him lightly as they started to walk down the hill. "It's okay, Hunter. Everything is going to be perfect tonight" She told him, trying to make him feel a bit better. "So, tell me about your family. You said that you have a cousin? What's she like?"
Hunter smiled at her, blushing softly. He tried to think of what to say about Chrissy without mentioning that she hated Arabella. Hunter nodded his head back and forth for a second. "Her name is Chrissy. She's a couple years older than we are. She's...She's kind of my best friend. At least she was. Not sure if she is anymore. I love her for obvious reasons and I always will." He said with a shrug. "I don't know what else to say." He said, rubbing the back of his neck a little nervously. "The rest of my family is my uncle and aunt then two other cousins." He said with a nod. "A set of twins. Julie and Steven. They're both in college. How about you? How's Tyler?"
"Tyler's doing really good!" Arabella told him, smiling when she mentioned her little brother's name. "He seems to really be enjoying school, which is good" She added with a little nod. It had been a little while since she had last seen Tyler and she worried about him a lot when they were apart. She always felt like she needed to protect him. Arabella cleared her throat and pushed a piece of loose hair out of her eyes. "I'm liking this Jeep" She said with a little laugh as they got closer to the car.
"Well, wait until we start driving." He said with a small laugh as he opened her door for her. He closed it and then hurried over to his side, getting in and starting the car. It died again almost immediately. Hunter gave it another try and sent a desperate prayer to any god that was listening. It finally started and he started heading down the road toward the city. "So, why don't you have your drivers license? No desire or no need?" He asked, glancing over for a second, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as to not embarrass himself.
"Uh, no need, I guess" Arabella shrugged, leaning back in her seat and glancing out of the window. She looked back at him and smiled a little bit, just happy to be in the car with him and driving towards the city. "My dad has always had drivers for us and he doesn't really want me to learn how to drive. I asked him but he totally just brushed me off" She confessed and played with the hem of her dress. "I'd really like to learn, though"
Hunter nodded. "Well, maybe I could teach you sometime..." He said quietly. "I mean, I'm not a teacher or an expert or anything." He said quietly. "If you wanted to learn, I guess." He looked down at the steering wheel and took a deep breath. "What does your dad do. I'm not sure if we ever really talked about that." He said, simply trying to find something to talk about.
Arabella laughed a little bit and shrugged. "Who knows? He's some...CEO for this big company." Arabella told him and she looked out of the window, watching the trees pass as they drove down the road. "We don't really talk about his job. It usually gives me a headache so I don't bother asking him about it anymore" She said with a bit of a laugh. "Did you get to see your family much this past year? You seem to be getting a bit closer to them"
"Yeah. My aunt and I have talked a lot more and we're just growing closer. It's nice. I feel like I have a place to go home to now." He said with a nod. "I mean, Camp is always going to feel like home, but sometimes it's just nice to get away from it, you know? Like...I go home to take a vacation. I don't know. I'm weird." He said with a shrug. "It's just...a really long and sad story that shouldn't darken our date." He said with a smile as he parked outside of the restaurant and got out to open her door.
Arabella blushed a little bit when he opened the door for her and she stepped out, holding onto the side of the car for a second while she balanced herself on her high heels. She looked up at the fancy restaurant with a look of awe on her face. "This is...wow. Hunter, this is really incredible" She breathed and smiled up at him and she stepped away from the Jeep, moving towards the doors. "I can't believe that we're coming here, I mean, really...wow"
"My uh...My uncle suggested it." He said, looking up at the restaurant. "Now you see why I feel underdressed." He said with a sigh. "You fit in perfectly." Hunter opened the door for her and then followed her inside. He headed toward the hostess and she looked up with a smile.
"Hello, sir. Welcome to Daniel. Do you have a reservation?" She asked, looking down at her podium.
"Uhh...No. I...We just walked in." He said, glancing over at Arabella, feeling embarrassed. The hostess' face fell slightly.
"Well, It's gonna be about an hour wait, unfortunately. Is that okay?" Hunter rubbed his eyes and then gave the hostess his name before walking back to Arabella.
"It's...It's going to be an hour..." He said quietly, looking at his feet. "Sorry..."
Arabella let out a little puff of air. An hour wait sucked but it wasn't the end of the world. Hunter looked so upset, Arabella just wanted to make him feel a bit better. "Well, that's no problem. We can...I don't know, we can go for a bit of a walk while we wait? Or we could go somewhere else. The possibilities are endless" She said with a bit of an added giggle.
"Yeah!" He said quickly. "Sorry. We can go somewhere else." He looked around for a moment. "I mean, I don't know any other places." He said. "I mean, we can just...go for a walk. I'm sorry. I should have called ahead..." He walked toward the exit and opened the door for Arabella, then following her out of the restaurant onto the street. "Maybe we should drive around."
"A drive sounds really good" Arabella said, honestly rather excited. It would be great going for supper but she really just wanted to spend some time with Hunter, talking about some things and getting to know him. ''So, where do you want to go?" She asked him, wiggling her eyebrows as they walked towards the Jeep.
"I don't know. I mean,you probably know this part of the city better than I do." He said with a nod as he opened her door for her. He got in then started the car, checking the time. "I'll just drive and if you see another restaurant or if we want to get out and walk, then you can just say so. Sorry about...not being more prepared..."
"Hunter. Stop apologizing. I'm really having a good time. Everything is going to be fine" She told him with a little smile and she slid into seat, buckling up her seat belt as she waited for Hunter to get into the driver's seat. When he sat down and started the car, she pointed down the road. "Head out this way. It's a good part of the city" She told him and leaned back in her chair.
Hunter nodded and opened his mouth to apologize again then stopped. He drove as Arabella directed and looked around, admiring all of the buildings and things. "See any other restaurants?" He asked, looking over at Arabella and finding himself looking at her as she bit her lip. He stared at her lips for a moment, only turning away when she looked and caught him. "So, where is your school and stuff?" He asked, clearing his throat a little bit.
"Uh, pretty close to here, actually" Arabella said, sitting up a little straighter and playing with her fingers in her lap. She glanced out of the window for a second before glancing back at Hunter. "Just down this street a little bit, we'll be going past Central Park and my school and my house is all within about a 10 minute walk of there" She said then let out a little breath. "It's nice, it's a good place to live" She shrugged. "Didn't you say that your family is close to camp?"
"Yeah. It's not too far from camp, but it's in a different direction from the city." He said with a shrug. "I haven't really done a lot of exploring in the city. I drove a fair amount in it, but I was kind of distracted by the whole...focusing on the road thing." He said, taking a turn toward Arabella's house without her telling him.
Arabella furrowed her brow a little bit when Hunter turned the car towards the street she lived on. "We, uh, we should go down to Times Square. Have you seen it, yet?" She asked him. Arabella wasn't sure if he knew where she lived or if she wanted to know the answer to that question. She just wanted the date to go well and she figured that if she got far from her house, things might be better.
Hunter shrugged. "Only in the daytime which didn't seem as impressive. It's probably tons better when it's dark, right?" He said, turning away from her street and toward Time Square. "Have you lived here your whole life?" He asked, looking at some of the buildings and stopping at a stoplight.
"Born and raised" Arabella nodded with a little smile and she glanced over at Hunter. She really didn't know that much about him or his past. He seemed to really keep it close to his chest for the most part. "What about you? Where is the magnificent Hunter from?" She asked him with a little playful tone in her voice.
"Connecticut." He said with a nod. As much as he had come to terms with his past and as he's gotten over a lot of it since talking to his Aunt, it was still a little sensitive. It felt odd sharing it with Arabella, but at the same time it felt natural. "My mom and I traveled around a little bit when I was very young, but then we settled in New York with my aunt and uncle and cousins." He said quietly, not wanting to mention the car wreck or his grandparents. "I owe my aunt and uncle a lot." He said, taking a deep breath.
Arabella nodded a little bit and she looked down at her lap. She knew that it was best not to push him anymore. If he wanted to tell her, he would tell her in his own time and when he was ready. "Well, your family seems pretty great" She said, looking up at him. Arabella bit her lip and looked out of the window for a long moment before turning back to Hunter. "How old were you when you came to camp?"
"Well, I started going part time when I was 5. That was summers and some other times of the year. I started going full time when I was 12 or 13, I think." He said with a nod. He kept driving when he felt the car shake a little bit and he kept moving when the engine revved several times and the engine died. Hunter took a deep breath in surprise and steered it into a parking spot before throwing it in park and looking over at Arabella. "Gods, no this can't be happening..." He said under his breath as he took the key out then put it back in, turning it. The engine turned and turned and finally started only to die immediately after. Hunter sighed and hit his head on the steering wheel. "I cannot believe this car just broke down..." He said quietly.
Arabella looked out the window, away from Hunter. She wanted to get her composure and stay calm and happy. He seemed so upset and she didn't really want to make it worse. Arabella looked back at Hunter with a small smile, resting her hand on his back. "Hey, it's okay. We, uh, we can walk. It should be that far from here" She told him. "Is there a manual or anything in here? A number to call or something?"
Hunter buried his face in his hands, thinking. "I can call my uncle. Let me find a payphone." He said, getting out and hurrying toward a payphone across the street. He put in some change and dialed the number. It rang twice and then his uncle picked up. "Hey, uncle Wayne."
"Hey, kiddo. How's the date going?" He asked excitedly. Hunter glanced over as Arabella made her way across the street.
"Terrible. The car just broke down. Arabella and I are going to get going to see if we can get still get a table at the restaurant." Hunter said. He told his uncle where the car was and then hung up, locking the car and then looking at Arabella. She looked beautiful and she got dressed up for the worst date in history. "I'm so sorry, Arabella."
"Hunter, it's really okay." Arabella told him, walking closer to him. She took a little breath before slipping her hand into his. "At least it's a beautiful night. It's warm, it's not raining and we're in the best city in the world" She said and smiled up at him. "What did your uncle say?" She asked him, not letting go of his hand just yet.
Hunter blushed and looked at their hands together. "He and my cousin are going to come and see if they can take care of it. Then they might call a tow if they can't." Hunter ran his finger over the back of her hand. "Well, we better hurry if we want to get a table." He said, pulled his hand out of hers, heading back the way they came to try and find the restaurant again.
Arabella looked down at the ground for a moment, part of her really wishing that Hunter hadn't dropped her hand like that. It felt good to hold his hand. She let out a little sigh before looking back up and following him as he walked down the street. "It shouldn't be too hard to find and with any luck, it won't take to long" She said and smiled up at Hunter. "So...Jake said that he broke up with that girl he had been seeing?"
Hunter looked over at her and took a deep breath. "Yeah. From what he told me, they were hanging out one night and he asked her why they weren't more serious or something." Hunter said with a shrug. "She laughed and he said he was being serious. That's pretty much all he told me. He seems to be perfectly happy without her anymore, so I don't feel too bad for him." He shrugged as he walked, slipping his hands in his pockets. Hunter felt a little bad for acting a little cold toward Arabella, but he was feeling a little stressed about this date.
"That's good! I'm happy for him" Arabella said, focusing on keeping pace with Hunter in her high heels. "From what he told me, it didn't really seem like that great of a relationship" She said and looked around at where they were, trying to figure out how far it was going to be until they got back to Daniel. "I have a sister in Aphrodite who was in a relationship like that. It was terrible. She would cry for a day straight over this guy when they would break up and the next day when she saw him again, they were totally fine. It was confusing!" She said, finishing with a bit of a laugh. Finally, she let out a puff of air. "I'm sorry. That was a stupid story, I'm just talking because I'm nervous and I want this to go well"
Hunter looked over at her and took a small breath. He couldn't help, but laugh a little bit, mostly because it was a little relieving to see that he wasn't the only one nervous about this. "That's okay. I'm just glad one of us is talking." He said with a sigh. They walked a little bit further and finally found the restaurant again. Hunter walked in and found the hostess. "Hi, we're back and it's been about an hour." He said, clearing his throat.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. We had a big group come in and we had to give them your table. If you'd like we can have another table ready for you in about 45 minutes." She said with a smile. Hunter's jaw dropped and he stepped away, rubbing his eyes. He finally gave her his name and Hunter looked up at Arabella for a second, feeling so embarrassed.
"They gave our table away. They can have another one ready in 45 minutes." He said quietly, studying his feet. "Gods, this is such a disaster." He said, walking out of the restaurant and back into the cool night air.
"Oh...uhm, it's okay" Arabella said and she looked over at Hunter, who looked crushed. "No, really, it's okay. Can we just find a bench or something somewhere? My feet are really killing me" She said, offering him a little smile and balancing on one foot lightly, to get pressure off of the other foot. Arabella was pretty good in high heels but she had walked pretty far in a pair of very high heels.
Hunter nodded and cleared his throat, walking down the street a little bit to find a bench near a bus stop. He helped her sit down and then took his seat next to her, looking down at his lap. "I'm sorry about your feet." He said quietly, watching her as she took off one of her shoes. "I like your nail polish." He said quietly, looking down at her foot.
Arabella grinned and glanced down at her feet, remembering that time they sat on the beach together and he mentioned her nail polish. "Oh, thanks. I worked hard on it" She said, moving towards him a little bit on the seat. She put her shoes down on the ground and rested her feet on top of them. "I see you still have the same green shoes you've always had" She said with a little smile.
"Why fix what ain't broke, right?" He said quietly. "I've been wearing green shoes since I was nine." He tapped his feet together and leaned back on the bench before checking his watch. "Wow. It's already 10 o clock." He said quietly. "And we haven't even had food yet." He added under his breath. "We're going to miss curfew at this point."
"It's probably too late to get supper" Arabella said softly and she glanced over at him. "And I highly doubt that we're going to make it back in time for curfew" She added with a little bit of a giggle. Arabella thought about it for a moment then let out a little sigh. "I live pretty close to here. Why don't we just go to my place? We should have enough stuff in the fridge to make a couple sandwiches."
Hunter sighed a little bit. He hated how this date was going and he felt completely embarrassed. He did blush a little at the prospect of going to her place, but he pushed it down when his stomach grumbled. "Yeah. That sounds okay." He said, taking a deep breath. "You need me to carry you? Or are your feet feeling better?" He asked, standing up and extending his hands to help her stand.
"I should be fine" Arabella said and she slid into her shoes. When she stood up, she winced a little bit but still held onto Hunter's hand. "Totally fine" She tried to assure him and she started to take a couple of steps but it was really starting to hurt. "When we get back to my place, you can call your uncle on the house phone. Maybe he'll be able to tell you something about the car"
Hunter nodded and kept walking, but stopped when he felt Arabella's hand squeeze his as she winced again. "Okay. Take off your shoes." He said, holding out his arm to let her balance while she slipped out of her heels. He picked up her shoes then put his back to her, crouching down. "Piggy back ride time." He said, glancing back at her.
Arabella laughed a little bit and she glanced around before she slipped her arms around his neck and she hopped on to his back, hooking her legs on his sides. "You good?" She asked, laughing as he stood up and started walking with her. "Oh...my hero" She teased and she leaned against him a little bit, closing her eyes for a moment. "Thank you, Hunter" She said softly.
"No thanks necessary, ma'am." He said with a smile as he hooked his arms under her legs. Hunter's face was bright red as he felt her warm breath on the back of his neck. He didn't mind giving her a piggyback ride and it was the very least he could do after the date he just put her through. "I'm really sorry about tonight." He finally said quietly. Arabella didn't say anything and that made him realize how quietly he did say it. She probably didn't even hear him.
"If you just go down this street about a block and then hang a right, we'll be at my place in like...5 minutes" Arabella told him. She had heard what he ahd said but she didn't want to dwell on it. Yeah, the date had gone a little off but it didn't ruin how she felt about Hunter or how she saw him. Arabella let out a relaxed sigh and she rested her head on his shoulder, happy that she was that close to him in that moment. She saw him turn down her street and she lifted her head "We're the one with all of the ivy on it and none of the lights on" She told him, stifling a yawn.
Hunter nodded, already knowing which house it was. He turned his head and saw Arabella's face, her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed. He felt so much like kissing her right then, but he resisted the urge, looking forward again. He doubted that she would want to kiss him after a first date. Especially a first date this bad. It was being salvaged for parts at this point. He stopped in front of her brownstone and climbed the stoop before letting her down, turning around to face her.
"Thank you so much, Hunter" She sighed, happy to be back home and not having to worry about her feet anymore. She took her shoes back from him and dug around in her purse until she found the key and unlocked the door. "My dad is off on business. I think he's in Europe for the next week or so" She said and she turned to Hunter. "Really, thanks for carrying me" She kissed his cheek then pushed the door open and walked into the house. "Gracie!"
Hunter stood there frozen as he took a deep breath. They had kissed plenty of times, but it felt so different now. In a way he truly did start over with her. He didn't count all of the other kisses they had shared. Hunter finally followed her into the house, closing the door behind him. "Oh, I finally get to meet Gracie." He said, looking around for the tiny dog. He had seen the dog from a far and he had read about her, but he had never met the puppy.
Arabella smiled wide when the little puppy came running down the stairs. She picked her up, scratching behind her ears. "My baby girl. I miss her so much in the summers when I'm away. I practically just come back during the school year for her" She said with a bit of a laugh. Arabella kissed the dog's nose then passed her over to Hunter. "I'll make us some food. The phone is in here if you wanted to call your uncle" she called back to him, walking into the kitchen and opening up the fridge.
Gracie squirmed in Hunter's arms a little bit until Hunter looked down only to be met with a tongue to the chin. Hunter scrunched his nose a little bit just as he heard some heavier footfalls on the steps. He looked up to see a young kid, tall and thin with a pair of glasses pushed onto his face. "Uhh...hey." Hunter said with a small wave as headed into the kitchen, looking for Arabella. He finally set Gracie down, met with a couple yips before Hunter grabbed the phone and quickly dialed his aunt and uncle's house.
"I can make us a super fancy meal and by super fancy, I mean a ham and cheese sandwich with a side of Pepsi and chips because I can't cook to save my life" Arabella told Hunter with a little laugh and she turned to face him, only to find him on the phone with her little brother walking into the kitchen behind him. "Tyler!" Arabella squeaked and she ran over, hugging him tightly. "You're home! I forgot that you were coming home from school"
"Yeah, I just got in yesterday" Tyler said, hugging Arabella back tightly.
Hunter looked up at the two of them as his uncle spouted off some details about the car. Hunter stepped into another room just as his uncle let out a sigh.
"So, we'll get a new car at some point." He said.
"I'm really sorry, Uncle Wayne." Hunter said quietly.
"It's alright, kiddo. That car was on its last legs, anyway. No need to apologize." He said with a chuckle. "Chrissy was begging for a new car anyway. With her birthday coming up, I might make it a nice one." He paused for a moment. "So, how did the date end up going?"
"Well, we got to the restaurant. It was an hour wait. So we left. The car broke down. We got back to the restaurant to find that they had given our table away. It was another 45 minutes wait, so we left and I'm calling you from her house now."
"Whoa, whoa. You're at her house?" He said. Hunter shook his head.
"Yes, but it's just to get some food. I'll walk back to camp after that." He said with a sigh. He knew that it would be a terrible walk, but he didn't have much of a choice.
"Alright. Well, be smart. Be safe. Feel free to come home for tonight. I don't want--" There was a voice in the background and Wayne's voice disappeared for a few moments.
"Give-Give me the phone." Hunter recognized the voice as his aunt Lucy. "Hunter?"
"Yes, ma'am?" He said, straightening up a little bit.
"Don't listen to your uncle. Have a good time tonight. From what he's told me, you could use a fun night, so don't worry about walking back to camp. If she lives in the city that's gotta be an hour's walk."
"Well, I don't want to impose. And I don't mind." Hunter said quietly.
"Okay, sweetie. Well, I'll leave it up to you. Call us if you need anything. Love you." She said. Hunter replied in kind then hung up, walking back into the kitchen and putting the phone back, letting out a small yawn.
Arabella was just finishing up with the sandwiches. Tyler was leaning against the counter, waiting for his and Gracie was at her feet, praying that Arabella would drop some food on the ground. "What did he say?" Arabella asked him, putting the cheese back in the fridge and putting the last piece of bread on top of the sandwiches. She passed one to Tyler then sat up on the counter, taking a bite out of hers.
Hunter moved, grabbing his plate and leaning on the counter next to Arabella. "Well, the battery is dead. And it has a cracked cylinder cap. My uncle is taking it to the shop tomorrow and he'll see if there's anything else, but it looks like we'll be buying a new car." He said, eating a couple of chips. He looked at Arabella then saw Tyler and quickly shook himself, brushing off his hand. "I'm sorry. Hi, I'm Hunter." He said, extending his hand to Tyler. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Tyler" He said, quickly shaking his hand. "Hey" He said, nodding at him then taking a big bite of his sandwich.
"So, do you have a plan for tonight?" Arabella asked Hunter, her eyebrows knitting together in worry. She really didn't want him to be stuck anywhere or end up having to take a cab or something like that, it would be a ridiculous amount of money.
Hunter opened his mouth to speak, but his stomach growled loudly. "Well, eat this sandwich." He said with a nod. He took a bite out of the sandwich and smiled, nodding toward Arabella. "My compliments to the chef." He said, swallowing. "After this, I'll probably walk home or walk back to camp." He said with a nod. "It's not that far." He said, eating a few more chips.
"It's far enough!" Arabella gasped, looking at Hunter with wide eyes. He might be able to brush it off like it was no big deal but Arabella knew that it would be a long walk, in the middle of the night, through New York City. "Look, you can sleep on our couch. We've already missed curfew and it's going to be a long walk. So you might as well crash on our couch for the night and we can both go back to camp tomorrow"
"No, no, no." He said with a shrug. "The sandwich is already enough. I don't want to impose." He said with a nod. "It's not that far of a walk. Seriously." He said, taking a bite of his sandwich. He chewed and swallowed before speaking again. "I don't want to be a trouble." He said. "Especially after that heinous thing I called a date." He said under his breath, eating a few more chips.
"You are not imposing and you are not any trouble" Arabella said, folding her arms across her chest and glancing down at him. "Really, it's okay. I would worry about you too much if I let you walk out of this house. That's a long walk and it's almost 11 at night, now." Arabella sighed and she leaned towards him a little bit. "Please, Hunter, stay here tonight" She asked him, her eyebrows knitting together lightly in worry.
Hunter sighed and put his hands up in surrender, not committing to anything, but simply dropping the topic while he finished eating. Hunter looked over at Tyler for a moment. He seemed like a nice guy. Shy, obviously, and as much as Hunter would like to get to know him, Hunter was hoping to have a little bit of time with Arabella. "Any ideas on how we're getting back to camp tomorrow morning? Unless, we walk." He said with a shrug.
"No clue" Arabella said simply with a little shrug. She looked over at Hunter and laughed a little bit. "It'll be fine. We'll figure something out. I'm sure that we can get a ride to camp somehow" She added and slid off of the counter. Arabella started cleaning up the kitchen and Tyler sighed, pushing away from the counter.
"Well, she's started cleaning and that is my cue to leave before she starts spraying me with Lysol" Tyler said, finishing off his sandwich.
"It was one time!!" She called up to Tyler as he walked upstairs. Arabella huffed and put the cloth down in the sink. "It was one time" She said to Hunter with a nod.
"Hey, I believe you." He said with a nod. "Just don't spray me with Lysol, too." He said, finishing off his food and then moving toward the sink, rolling up his sleeves. "Go...sit down or something. I'll do these." He said, nudging her out of the way slightly. "It's the very least I can do." He smiled at her and then turned to the dishes.
"Well aren't you just the sweetest" Arabella grinned and after thinking about it for a moment, she moved away from the sink and she leaned against the counter, glancing around her kitchen. "Have you ever thought about going back to a mortal school?" She asked him, just genuinely curious. Curious about him and his life and his plans for the future.
Hunter paused for a second then shrugged. "I guess I haven't really thought about it." He said, continuing to wash dishes. "I'd have to make up a lot of school, so I'm not sure how possible it is. I've got elementary schooll under my belt, but other than that no schooling. Other than what I learned at camp. And what I read." It didn't take him long to finish the rest of the dishes then he drained the sink and dried his hands. "Do...Do you think I should go back?" He asked after a moment.
Arabella shrugged and she played with the hem of her dress before looking up at him again. "It's up to you. I was just curious. It would be a heck of a lot to do to catch up" She agreed with a little nod. "I mean, if you ask me, it's really not worth it. Yeah, some of the social stuff is fun but the classes suck and a lot of the people really suck too" She said in a light tone, rolling her eyes a little bit.
Hunter shrugged and leaned on the counter opposite her. "Yeah. It's probably not worth my time." He nodded and then took a deep breath. "I'm having a hard time seeing myself successful in anything outside of camp. Inside camp, even." He said quietly. "Kind of a problem with us Hermes kids. Other than pranks it takes nearly destroying Olympus to get much attention." He said, picking at his pants for a moment.
"Oh, don't say that" Arabella said, looking over at him with a warm smile. "Hermes kids are funny and warm and just plain awesome. And I happen to like them very much" She added with a final hmmph and a nod. Arabella pushed away from her counter and she went over to stand beside Hunter. "I think you're pretty great" She told him in a lower, more serious voice.
"Well, you did offer to humor me with this date, so that's telling." He said with a shrug. He took a deep breath and looked over at her, blushing a little bit. "I really am sorry about tonight. I don't know what I was thinking with half of this..." He said, crossing his arms. "I was almost late. Well, I was late and then to take you in the jeep. You deserve a nicer car and then the restaurant. I hadn't really thought about any of this. I probably could have taken you somewhere less busy. We could have gone somewhere else. And I...I just feel so bad." He said, stepping away from her a little bit. "If you don't want another date, I totally understand. No hard feelings. We gave it our best shot and it missed."
Arabella sighed, hating the fact that he felt so bad. Was the date perfect? No, it wasn't but she didn't care. She just like being with Hunter for the night. She wanted to make him feel better and she wanted to prove to him that she really did have a good time, but she didn't really know how. She knew that if she were to just tell him, he wouldn't believe her. He would probably think she was lying just to make him feel better. So she moved closer to him and she did something that she had been dying to do all night. Arabella brushed her fingers along the side of his hand and she kissed his lips, leaning into him ever so slightly.
Hunter's cheeks turned pink as he felt the kiss wave over his body. After a moment, he let his hand move up her arm to gently cradle her cheek, leaning closer and deepening the kiss. It felt like he wasn't even touching the ground. Like he was floating right there in the middle of her kitchen. Hunter ran his thumb over her cheek for a second before slowly pulling away.
Arabella smiled up at him, her stomach filled with butterflies. This kiss was special and Arabella was so happy. After everything they had been though, she was ready just be with him and not have any drama to worry about. Arabella bit her lip, her cheeks bright red, and she glanced down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at Hunter. She leaned into him, just wanting to feel his warmth. "I had a really great time tonight Hunter, I really did."
Hunter took a deep breath, not sure what to say. "Wow..." He whispered, locking eyes with her. He moved his hand back down her arm to take her hand in his. It felt like everything disappeared except for Arabella. It took Gracie barking to break him out of this trance. He turned and looked down then checked his watch, clearing his throat a little bit. "I should go..." He said, looking toward the door then back at Arabella.
"Really?" Arabella huffed and she walked past him, standing in front of the door so that he couldn't open it and she looked over at him. "Would you please, please stay here tonight?" She asked him, looking up at him with big eyes. "I really don't want to know that you're walking around New York City in the dark, on a Saturday night. We can get back to camp in the morning. Please?"
Hunter took a deep breath, trying to not meet her eyes, but then finally sighed. "Okay. Fine. I'll stay here..." He said, looking up at her. "I don't want you to make too much of a fuss, though. I'll sleep in the living room. On the couch." He said quietly. "I'll make breakfast in the morning to make up for it, okay?"
"I guess I'd be okay with that" Arabella said with a little laugh. She moved away from the door and she took his hand as she walked past him. "Come on, I'll get you set up on the couch" Arabella walked with him to the living room, not letting go of his hand. "I hope that you're comfortable. It's actually a pretty great couch. I've slept here a few times myself, just because it's so comfortable" She told him, letting go of his hand so that she could open the ottoman and take out the blankets and the pillows.
Hunter quickly moved next to her, nudging her out of the way to take out a blanket and a pillow. "Thanks, Arabella." He said, setting the pillow down and putting the blanket on the back of the couch. He slipped off his shoes and then unbuttoned his plaid shirt, setting it on the coffee table, leaving him in his jeans and a plain white undershirt.. "I really appreciate this." He said, moving over to her. He licked his lips a little nervously and then put his arms around her, hugging her.
Arabella smiled to herself and she moved closer to him, resting her head on his chest. "Don't mention it" She said softly and she took a deep breath, wanting to remember everything about that moment. In the end, it had been the perfect date. Finally, Arabella pulled away from him and she cleared her throat. "Uhm, if you need to go to the bathroom, it's just down the hall and, uh, if you get hungry there's some left over Chinese food in the fridge" She said and she bent down a little, picking up his shirt, which was still warm from being on him. "I'll stick this in the washer for you" She said in a soft voice.
Hunter was sitting on the couch and he didn't realize what she was talking about until she had already disappeared. "Oh, you don't have to--" He said, but she couldn't hear him. He shrugged and then rubbed his eyes a little bit, wondering a lot of things. If she would want another date. How he would make sure it didn't fail as badly as this last one? When was the next time he would kiss her? He finally laid down, putting his head on the pillow. He carefully spread the blanket out over his body then closed his eyes, nervous about what was going to happen next for the two of them.
Arabella practically ran up the stairs and up to her room. Her heart was racing and she was really resisting the urge to go back down stairs and lay down beside Hunter. She changed into her pajamas and she let her hair out of the bun. The night had been crazy and emotional but Arabella was happy. Things had gone well between her and Hunter, which she had been worried about. She was worried that they were not going to be able to move on from their past and their friendship would be ruined. Arabella picked up his shirt and she walked to the laundry room, putting it in the wash before she padded back to her room and flopping down on her bed. Her lips still tingled with his kiss and her skin felt warm where he had touched her. She couldn't wait for a second date.
Chapter 73 - Hunter
"Hera, Queen of Olympus, what was I thinking?" Hunter said, pacing his cabin. Jake was sitting on his bed with his hand over his eyes.
"Okay, so you asked her out on a date without having a place in mind, a mode of transportation, or nice clothes to wear." Jake said with a shrug. "When are you picking her up again?" Hunter checked his watch.
"About one hour."
"Well, you have time to cancel then." Jake said with a nod. Hunter shook his head.
"No, man. She's probably been getting ready for like 3 hours already." He said, still pacing. "I guess, I could--Well, no..."
"Okay, so if I loaned you a shirt, then--"
"Then, I would have a shirt too small and still have no place to go or anyway to get there." Hunter said, rolling his eyes. "Okay. If I...ran home then I could get the car and borrow some clothes or something and then come back and be a minute late or something."
"That's an option, but isn't your house like a 45 minute walk away?"
"Yeah. If I'm lucky. That's why I'm going to run it in twenty." Hunter said with a nod, slipping on his shoes. "Wish me luck. I'll talk to you after the date." He said before taking off out of his cabin. He broke into a full sprint toward Half-Blood Hill. He ran as fast as he could and he immediately regretted sitting around for most of the summer. He got up the hill and then headed straight down the road. He didn't make it in 20 minutes. He made it in thirty minutes and he realized that he left his house key at camp. He stood at the door searching for his key and eventually bashed his head against the door a couple times to knock. Chrissy answered.
"Hunter!" She said, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, catching his breath. "What are you doing here?" Hunter moved past her heading into his room.
"I uh...I have a date tonight and I need clothes." He said, poking through his closet. "And the car. And a place to go."
"A date?!" She said excitedly. "With who?"
"Arabella." He said under his breath, knowing her opinion of her.
"What?"
"Did I hear Hunter?" Wayne said, poking his head in. "Hey, kiddo! How you doing?"
"He has a date." Chrissy said as Hunter pulled out a nice pair of slacks that he had worn maybe twice. "But he needs a place, clothes, and the jeep."
"With who?" He asked. Hunter cleared his throat and then sighed.
"Arabella." He said, cringing a little bit. Chrissy scoffed and stood up.
"Looks like you're going to need a different car then!" She said, leaving the room. Hunter started to follow her, but Wayne put a hand on his chest. He glanced out the door and then turned to him, handing him a key to the jeep. "The way she drives, having a spare key isn't a bad idea." He said with a smile. "I think Steven has some clothes in his room you could borrow. You're about the same size now."
"Thanks." Hunter said, looking at the key then tossing it on the bed with his wallet and everything else in his pockets. He pulled on the khakis just as Wayne walked back in with some shirts over his shoulder.
"Okay. Now what kind of girl is she? Would she be...white dress shirt and sport coat? Plain white dress shirt? Plaid shirt?" Hunter stared at his options and froze. He had no idea. Or if he did his mind was blanking.
"Well, I don't know, but I'm a plaid shirt kind of guy, so I'll go with that." He said, grabbing the shirt and slipping it on.
"Okay. Well, as far as places go, there's a restaurant that your Aunt and I went to a couple of years ago for our anniversary." He said, pulling out his wallet. "It's called Daniel. I wrote out some directions for you and because I know the prices, here's my credit card. For tonight only, okay?" He said, tilting his head slightly. Hunter held the plastic card like it was made of thin glass and then put it into his wallet. He tucked his shirt in and then put his green converse back on before turning to his uncle.
"How do I look?" He asked, his hands shaking slightly.
"Really, really nervous." He said with a laugh. "It's normal though. Just...be calm. She already agreed to go with you, so the hardest part is done." Hunter nodded and sat on his bed. He closed his eyes and felt himself relax a little. Wayne was right. They got along. There was no reason that a date would go poorly. Hunter took another deep breath. "What time are you picking her up?" Hunter stood up quickly, checking his watch.
"I gotta go! Thank you!" He said, speeding out the door again. Hunter got in his car and backed out, driving a little too quickly for the speed limit, but pulling to the side of the road outside camp with 2 minutes left to spare. He parked and locked the door then sprinted toward his cabin, grabbing his house key and some gum then ran toward Aphrodite cabin. He knocked and then leaned on the doorway catching his breath. He was right on time, but the date was starting now, so what could go wrong?
"Okay, so you asked her out on a date without having a place in mind, a mode of transportation, or nice clothes to wear." Jake said with a shrug. "When are you picking her up again?" Hunter checked his watch.
"About one hour."
"Well, you have time to cancel then." Jake said with a nod. Hunter shook his head.
"No, man. She's probably been getting ready for like 3 hours already." He said, still pacing. "I guess, I could--Well, no..."
"Okay, so if I loaned you a shirt, then--"
"Then, I would have a shirt too small and still have no place to go or anyway to get there." Hunter said, rolling his eyes. "Okay. If I...ran home then I could get the car and borrow some clothes or something and then come back and be a minute late or something."
"That's an option, but isn't your house like a 45 minute walk away?"
"Yeah. If I'm lucky. That's why I'm going to run it in twenty." Hunter said with a nod, slipping on his shoes. "Wish me luck. I'll talk to you after the date." He said before taking off out of his cabin. He broke into a full sprint toward Half-Blood Hill. He ran as fast as he could and he immediately regretted sitting around for most of the summer. He got up the hill and then headed straight down the road. He didn't make it in 20 minutes. He made it in thirty minutes and he realized that he left his house key at camp. He stood at the door searching for his key and eventually bashed his head against the door a couple times to knock. Chrissy answered.
"Hunter!" She said, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, catching his breath. "What are you doing here?" Hunter moved past her heading into his room.
"I uh...I have a date tonight and I need clothes." He said, poking through his closet. "And the car. And a place to go."
"A date?!" She said excitedly. "With who?"
"Arabella." He said under his breath, knowing her opinion of her.
"What?"
"Did I hear Hunter?" Wayne said, poking his head in. "Hey, kiddo! How you doing?"
"He has a date." Chrissy said as Hunter pulled out a nice pair of slacks that he had worn maybe twice. "But he needs a place, clothes, and the jeep."
"With who?" He asked. Hunter cleared his throat and then sighed.
"Arabella." He said, cringing a little bit. Chrissy scoffed and stood up.
"Looks like you're going to need a different car then!" She said, leaving the room. Hunter started to follow her, but Wayne put a hand on his chest. He glanced out the door and then turned to him, handing him a key to the jeep. "The way she drives, having a spare key isn't a bad idea." He said with a smile. "I think Steven has some clothes in his room you could borrow. You're about the same size now."
"Thanks." Hunter said, looking at the key then tossing it on the bed with his wallet and everything else in his pockets. He pulled on the khakis just as Wayne walked back in with some shirts over his shoulder.
"Okay. Now what kind of girl is she? Would she be...white dress shirt and sport coat? Plain white dress shirt? Plaid shirt?" Hunter stared at his options and froze. He had no idea. Or if he did his mind was blanking.
"Well, I don't know, but I'm a plaid shirt kind of guy, so I'll go with that." He said, grabbing the shirt and slipping it on.
"Okay. Well, as far as places go, there's a restaurant that your Aunt and I went to a couple of years ago for our anniversary." He said, pulling out his wallet. "It's called Daniel. I wrote out some directions for you and because I know the prices, here's my credit card. For tonight only, okay?" He said, tilting his head slightly. Hunter held the plastic card like it was made of thin glass and then put it into his wallet. He tucked his shirt in and then put his green converse back on before turning to his uncle.
"How do I look?" He asked, his hands shaking slightly.
"Really, really nervous." He said with a laugh. "It's normal though. Just...be calm. She already agreed to go with you, so the hardest part is done." Hunter nodded and sat on his bed. He closed his eyes and felt himself relax a little. Wayne was right. They got along. There was no reason that a date would go poorly. Hunter took another deep breath. "What time are you picking her up?" Hunter stood up quickly, checking his watch.
"I gotta go! Thank you!" He said, speeding out the door again. Hunter got in his car and backed out, driving a little too quickly for the speed limit, but pulling to the side of the road outside camp with 2 minutes left to spare. He parked and locked the door then sprinted toward his cabin, grabbing his house key and some gum then ran toward Aphrodite cabin. He knocked and then leaned on the doorway catching his breath. He was right on time, but the date was starting now, so what could go wrong?
Chapter 72 - Arabella
Saturday, July 2nd.
Arabella woke up with a smile. The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze coming through the window. The Aphrodite cabin was pretty empty and Arabella could hear birds in the trees. That's not why Arabella was smiling, though. She was smiling because at 7 that night, Hunter was picking her up for a date. Was she nervous? Of course she was. Her and Hunter had been through a lot in such a short amount of time. They were only going on their first date and they already had so much baggage. But because of that history, Arabella almost felt more comfortable with him. She felt like she could trust him. They were starting over and she was so happy.
Arabella stretched her arms above her head and yawned. She rolled over, getting out of bed and she tugged on the hem of her shorts. It was early in the morning but she was so excited for the night that every second felt like it was an hour. She took a deep breath and tugged on a pair of yoga pants, threw her hair up into a bun and she padded out of the cabin. She was in desperate need of coffee.
The camp seemed pretty quiet for a Saturday morning. Most people were in the mess hall, but a handful of kids were at the arena and Arabella was sure she saw a few of her siblings on the beach. She yawned, walking over to a table and sitting down beside Daniel. "Mmm...coffee" She said with a happy sigh to her cup and smiled when it filled up.
"You seem chipper this morning" Daniel said with a small chuckle and he popped a grape into his mouth.
"Do I?" Arabella smiled, blowing on her coffee to cool it down a bit.
"Yeah, I mean, I know that winning the game last night was great but you seem very, very happy" Daniel said and nudged her "Did I miss something exciting last night?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Arabella rolled her eyes and nudged him with her elbow.
"No, Danny. Get your head out of the gutter" She teased and took a big sip of her coffee.
"Well, what happened?" Daniel asked and Arabella smiled a little bit at the table before looking up at him.
"Hunter asked me out on a date. And I said yes." Arabella told him and squeaked a little bit out of excitement. She wasn't really sure what kind of reaction she was expecting from her brother but she certainly didn't like how he did respond.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Daniel sighed, sounding horrible exasperated. Arabella furrowed her brow and looked over at him, a little confused. "After everything that happened last summer, that happened last summer, you're just gonna go on a date with him?"
"Daniel, that's really not fair-"
"No, it's completely fair! I spent HOURS this past school year, IMing with you when you were sobbing and wishing that things had been different. Hunter made you cry all year and you've been heart broken over him for too damn long" Daniel huffed, pushing his tray away. "He doesn't deserve you and you shouldn't be going on a date with him"
"I don't need your permission, Daniel, and I sure as hell don't need your approval. So shove it" Arabella slammed her cup down on the table and pushed away, storming back up to her cabin, not bothering to look back at her brother. Arabella couldn't believe him. Had her and Hunter been through a lot? Yes. Did she cry over him and how they left things last year? Yes. But why did that mean that they should never five it a try? Arabella was happy and she was excited and she didn't want to let someone ruin her mood.
She didn't stop walking until she got up to her cabin and into her bed. It was a beautiful day, as usual, and all of Arabella's siblings were down by the beach. Arabella couldn't blame them, really, she would be down there with them too but she had too much on her mind. So she cleared off her bed and started to lay out her clothes, trying to find the perfect outfit for her date. Arabella spent the rest of the day in her cabin. She was just so excited and she felt like she had so much to do before that night. So she cleaned her space in her cabin, she cleaned the whole cabin, she organized her trunk, she picked out her clothes for the date and she even had time for a nap.
Arabella checked the clock, chewing on her lip. It was 6:30 and Hunter was going to be picking her up at 7. For the first time that day, Arabella was starting to feel really nervous. She sighed, deciding that it was about time she started to get ready. Everyone from her cabin was down at the mess hall eating supper and Arabella wanted to get dressed before her sisters came in and wanted to voice their opinions on her dress.
Just as she tugged on the navy and white striped dress, Arabella heard the door open. She turned around to see who it was but when she saw that it was Daniel, she huffed and turned her back to him. "You look good" He said in a slightly awkward voice.
"Thank you" Arabella said, still not looking at him. They hadn't spoken since that morning and Arabella wasn't really sure if she forgave him. After a few seconds, Arabella could hear Daniel shuffle over to his bed and sit down. She could still feel his eyes on her but she ignored him and sat down by her makeup mirror, starting to put on her mascara on. There was a few minutes of silence before Arabella couldn't take it anymore.
"You know what, Daniel? I like him" She said and put down her mascara, turning to face him. "I like Hunter, I like him a lot. We might have a bit of a past and we might have a little baggage but it doesn't matter! Because he makes me laugh and he makes me smile and he makes me feel safe and he's warm and kind. I'm going on this date and if it goes well, I'm going on more dates with him and I don't really care if you approve or not." Arabella finished with a huff and she turned away from him, running her fingers through her hair. Daniel was quiet for a long time, watching her struggle as she tried to figure out what to do with your hair.
"Do you want me to do your hair?" He asked her in a low voice. "A sock bun would be nice"
"Yeah, yeah. I guess that would be nice" Arabella said and looked over at him, smiling a small smile. He smiled back and rushed over to bed, getting to work on her hair. They talked while he worked, putting a perfect bun in her hair. There was no need for them to talk about anything, they knew each other too well to fight for very long.
After what felt like forever, there was a knock at the door and Arabella's hear raced. Daniel ran to open it for Hunter while Arabella slipped into her high heels. She was finally going on a date with Hunter and she couldn't be more excited.
Arabella woke up with a smile. The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze coming through the window. The Aphrodite cabin was pretty empty and Arabella could hear birds in the trees. That's not why Arabella was smiling, though. She was smiling because at 7 that night, Hunter was picking her up for a date. Was she nervous? Of course she was. Her and Hunter had been through a lot in such a short amount of time. They were only going on their first date and they already had so much baggage. But because of that history, Arabella almost felt more comfortable with him. She felt like she could trust him. They were starting over and she was so happy.
Arabella stretched her arms above her head and yawned. She rolled over, getting out of bed and she tugged on the hem of her shorts. It was early in the morning but she was so excited for the night that every second felt like it was an hour. She took a deep breath and tugged on a pair of yoga pants, threw her hair up into a bun and she padded out of the cabin. She was in desperate need of coffee.
The camp seemed pretty quiet for a Saturday morning. Most people were in the mess hall, but a handful of kids were at the arena and Arabella was sure she saw a few of her siblings on the beach. She yawned, walking over to a table and sitting down beside Daniel. "Mmm...coffee" She said with a happy sigh to her cup and smiled when it filled up.
"You seem chipper this morning" Daniel said with a small chuckle and he popped a grape into his mouth.
"Do I?" Arabella smiled, blowing on her coffee to cool it down a bit.
"Yeah, I mean, I know that winning the game last night was great but you seem very, very happy" Daniel said and nudged her "Did I miss something exciting last night?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Arabella rolled her eyes and nudged him with her elbow.
"No, Danny. Get your head out of the gutter" She teased and took a big sip of her coffee.
"Well, what happened?" Daniel asked and Arabella smiled a little bit at the table before looking up at him.
"Hunter asked me out on a date. And I said yes." Arabella told him and squeaked a little bit out of excitement. She wasn't really sure what kind of reaction she was expecting from her brother but she certainly didn't like how he did respond.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Daniel sighed, sounding horrible exasperated. Arabella furrowed her brow and looked over at him, a little confused. "After everything that happened last summer, that happened last summer, you're just gonna go on a date with him?"
"Daniel, that's really not fair-"
"No, it's completely fair! I spent HOURS this past school year, IMing with you when you were sobbing and wishing that things had been different. Hunter made you cry all year and you've been heart broken over him for too damn long" Daniel huffed, pushing his tray away. "He doesn't deserve you and you shouldn't be going on a date with him"
"I don't need your permission, Daniel, and I sure as hell don't need your approval. So shove it" Arabella slammed her cup down on the table and pushed away, storming back up to her cabin, not bothering to look back at her brother. Arabella couldn't believe him. Had her and Hunter been through a lot? Yes. Did she cry over him and how they left things last year? Yes. But why did that mean that they should never five it a try? Arabella was happy and she was excited and she didn't want to let someone ruin her mood.
She didn't stop walking until she got up to her cabin and into her bed. It was a beautiful day, as usual, and all of Arabella's siblings were down by the beach. Arabella couldn't blame them, really, she would be down there with them too but she had too much on her mind. So she cleared off her bed and started to lay out her clothes, trying to find the perfect outfit for her date. Arabella spent the rest of the day in her cabin. She was just so excited and she felt like she had so much to do before that night. So she cleaned her space in her cabin, she cleaned the whole cabin, she organized her trunk, she picked out her clothes for the date and she even had time for a nap.
Arabella checked the clock, chewing on her lip. It was 6:30 and Hunter was going to be picking her up at 7. For the first time that day, Arabella was starting to feel really nervous. She sighed, deciding that it was about time she started to get ready. Everyone from her cabin was down at the mess hall eating supper and Arabella wanted to get dressed before her sisters came in and wanted to voice their opinions on her dress.
Just as she tugged on the navy and white striped dress, Arabella heard the door open. She turned around to see who it was but when she saw that it was Daniel, she huffed and turned her back to him. "You look good" He said in a slightly awkward voice.
"Thank you" Arabella said, still not looking at him. They hadn't spoken since that morning and Arabella wasn't really sure if she forgave him. After a few seconds, Arabella could hear Daniel shuffle over to his bed and sit down. She could still feel his eyes on her but she ignored him and sat down by her makeup mirror, starting to put on her mascara on. There was a few minutes of silence before Arabella couldn't take it anymore.
"You know what, Daniel? I like him" She said and put down her mascara, turning to face him. "I like Hunter, I like him a lot. We might have a bit of a past and we might have a little baggage but it doesn't matter! Because he makes me laugh and he makes me smile and he makes me feel safe and he's warm and kind. I'm going on this date and if it goes well, I'm going on more dates with him and I don't really care if you approve or not." Arabella finished with a huff and she turned away from him, running her fingers through her hair. Daniel was quiet for a long time, watching her struggle as she tried to figure out what to do with your hair.
"Do you want me to do your hair?" He asked her in a low voice. "A sock bun would be nice"
"Yeah, yeah. I guess that would be nice" Arabella said and looked over at him, smiling a small smile. He smiled back and rushed over to bed, getting to work on her hair. They talked while he worked, putting a perfect bun in her hair. There was no need for them to talk about anything, they knew each other too well to fight for very long.
After what felt like forever, there was a knock at the door and Arabella's hear raced. Daniel ran to open it for Hunter while Arabella slipped into her high heels. She was finally going on a date with Hunter and she couldn't be more excited.
Chapter 71 - Hunter and Arabella
Friday, July 1st
Hunter stepped out of the mess hall, stretching slightly. He was loosening up or at least trying to before Capture the Flag. He was a little glad that he hadn't seen Arabella in a little while. Last week's Capture the Flag game was not exactly successful for him due to a small distraction. Now the game was coming up again and he was distracted again and even worse. The more he hung out with Arabella as 'just friends' the harder it was becoming to try and deny the attraction he felt toward her. Now he really just wanted to ask her out and be done with all of this waiting. However, he was absolutely terrified of misreading his relationship with her and then also worried about asking her too early. His mind was racing and now he had another Capture the flag game with only an hour or two to try and clear his mind enough to be at all useful with his team.
"Hunter!" Arabella called, waving to him from outside of the Aphrodite cabin. She smiled and started walking to him, with a little bounce in her step. Arabella had been trying really hard to be Hunter's friend. Did she have feelings for him? Did she want to be more than friends with him? Of course she did. Arabella didn't want to ruin her friendship with Hunter, though, and she needed to push down those feelings so she could just have him in her life. So she tried really hard to be his friend and spend some time with him, getting to know him. Arabella walked over to him now, standing in front of him and putting her hands on her hips. "You ready to lose today?" She asked him with a grin.
When Hunter heard his name, he turned around and saw Arabella walking toward him. Hunter sighed a little bit. As much as he liked seeing her and talking to her, she had to know that there was no way he was going to be able to focus on the game now. "Oh, good. You're preparing yourself. That's smart." He said, patting her shoulder and then unintentionally running his hand down her arm, grazing her skin. Hunter turned toward the forest. "I think it should be good. Hopefully no tricks or anything. Just good old fashioned violence and strategy." He said with a smile.
"And me kicking your butt" Arabella teased with a grin. Her skin was tingling from his touch and she tried her hardest to ignore it. She took a deep breath and put her hands in her pockets, smiling up at Hunter. "Violence and strategy. Just what I needed" Arabella giggled and she glanced around them. "It would be really nice if they put us on the same team for once. We always seem to be on opposing sides. I mean, I'm looking forward to kicking your butt again but still, it would be nice to kick butts together for once"
"I remember pretty distinctly you falling out of a tree and then being chased through the woods more than once." He said with a chuckle. "We barely even saw each other last week. Who knows if we will this week?" He muttered, looking down at his feet. "You better watch out because I'm not going to take it easy on you."
Arabella smacked his arm in a playful way "Hey! Don't be mean" She huffed and started walking away from the cabins, down to the main area of camp. "You should also watch your back. Cause it is on!" She said in a tough voice. It was great being able to joke around with Hunter but when he touched her, when he smiled at her, when he laughed with her, Arabella's stomach did flips. "Do you want to go get some lunch or something before the game?"
Hunter looked at her and cleared his throat. He really, really did want to get lunch, but he was nearing a breaking point. "Uhh...I actually ate already. I was going to go get some practice or warm up or something." Hunter said, looking her in the eye. He quickly moved his face back down to look at his feet, licking his lips nervously. "I'll just see you after the game then." He said, waving and then turning back toward the arena
Arabella watched him walk away and she let out a sigh, her shoulders slumping slightly in a defeated sort of way. She didn't understand why he was running away from her like that. Yeah, he looked a little bit uncomfortable but they were supposed to be friends. Why couldn't he tell her what was wrong? Arabella twisted a piece of hair around her finger and headed towards the mess hall, still thinking about Hunter.
Hunter didn't look back at her. As much as he kind of wanted to just be with her all day, he did of other duties outside of trying to date her. Right now, it was getting ready for Capture the Flag. He went into the arena and drew his sword, grabbing a shield off the rack and squaring off with one of the dummies. He bashed it with his shield and hit a few quick strikes, but even though he was practicing, his mind really wasn't in it. "Maybe I'll just ask her." He said quietly, slashing along the torso of the dummy. "Maybe after the game tonight..." He mumbled.
Arabella stopped and looked around. To be totally honest, she wasn't really hungry anymore. She didn't know where to go or what to do. Part of her, a very large part, wanted to run over to the arena and join Hunter there. She didn't want to annoy him, though. He seemed like he wanted to spend some time alone, for whatever reason. So she took a breath and she walked back to the cabins, sitting down on the stairs of the Aphrodite cabin and nervously played with her fingers, wishing the game would come sooner.
Hunter felt like he had been practicing for hours, anxious for the game to start. When the horn sounded, he bolted out of the arena, not wanting to accidentally bump into Arabella beforehand. He met up with his team, lining up between a couple Ares kids. He looked up and realized that Ethan was one of them. He looked fired up more than anything. He looked at Hunter and gave a short nod before turning forward again. Hunter sighed a little, wondering if Ethan had noticed what's been going on between Hunter and Arabella the past couple days. He didn't get much of a chance to think about this, before the horn sounded again, starting the game.
When the horn sounded, Arabella took off into the woods. She loved being out there with the wind in her hair. It felt so good to be running through trees, hiding from Ares kids, charmspeaking boys into walking away from her. It just felt good to have her mind off of Hunter for five seconds. It seemed like every time she turned around, something was there to remind her of Hunter and how badly she wanted to be more than friends with him. When she was running through the trees, however, she could focus on the game. It felt great. Arabella tore through the woods, skipping over logs and rocks. She was hoping to find a clearing soon, somewhere to hide and watch for campers.
Hunter took off through the woods, the two Ares campers, plowing a hold through the foliage and making a trail easy enough to follow. Hunter simply followed them and when they split, so did he, going straight when they turned off. As Hunter crossed the boundary, he slowed way down, keeping his sword drawn as he moved through some of the woods, taking his time and keeping his eyes wide open. He bashed an Apollo camper's helmet then kicked another one in the stomach, improvising some kind of wrestling move he had seen while watching it with his cousin a few months ago. The kid fell and Hunter took off, clotheslining a child of Demeter and turning around a tree, running right into Arabella, knocking her on her back and then stumbling as he backed up, falling awkwardly on his ass. "Dammit..." He grumbled, looking for his sword which had fallen out of his hand.
Arabella fell backwards with a little squeak. She didn't want to lose the game anymore and she didn't want to be saved anymore. As quickly as she could, Arabella flipped over and jumped up on her feet, turning to see who she bumped into, praying to the gods that it wasn't Ethan. When she turned around and saw Hunter, however, her heart started to slow down to a normal heart rate. "Hunter" She gasped, a little out of breath from the running. "Give me your sword" She told him with a grin, putting all over her energy into the words.
Hunter stood up and gave her his sword, like it was the easiest decision he'd ever made. As soon as it left his hand, he sighed and looked at her for a moment, rubbing his eyes. "That's so unfair. Complete unfair advantage." He said angrily. "No matter how many locks I can pick or how many pockets I pick or how good I am at sleight-of-hand, I will never be able to match that." He said with a shrug. "Okay, if you're going to knock me out just make it quick." He said, dropping to his knees and turning around.
Arabella giggled "My goodness, you give up fast. I just have your sword and I'm half your size" She teased, holding his sword at her side. Arabella paused for a moment, smiling at him for no other reason than the fact that being around Hunter made her smile. "Come on. You are going to jail, mister" She finally said and she walked up to him, grabbing his wrist and giving him a little tug to try and get him up.
Hunter rolled his eyes a little, standing up, trying to not think about how close they were to holding hands. "I would almost prefer that you just knock me out. Jail is such a...it's embarrassing. Come on." He said, looking over at Arabella. "What if I just over-powered you?" He said, facing her, stepping closer to tower over her.
Arabella turned so that she was facing him, still holding his wrist in her hand. She didn't realize how close he was to her and ended up being just a few inches away from him. Her heart started to race and the butterflies in her stomach went wild. But she cleared her throat, trying to remain calm and cool. "I would charmspeak you into sleeping so fast, you wouldn't have a chance to over-power me" She teased, giving him a wink.
Hunter narrowed his eyes slightly before sighing, running his fingers through his hair. "Well, then take me to jail. I will submit." He said, putting his hands up in surrender. He looked down at her for another moment, licking his lips nervously before moving away and following her. After a few moments, she seemed to be a little turned around. Hunter cleared his throat. "Did you...Do you know where the jail is?"
"Yes! I know where it is!" Arabella huffed but she furrowed her brow in confusion, looking around to try and find out where she was. She ahd run too far and now she was pretty lost. But she wasn't about to admit that to Hunter. "It's not far from here. We'll get there eventually. I'm just...taking the scenic route" She said with a wave of her hand. She walked with him for a little bit but she soon realized that they were going in circles. She was lost and she was starting to really not like it. Arabella groaned and turned to look at Hunter "Okay. Fine. I might be a little bit lost. Want to help me find the jail?" She asked him, smiling up at him and batting her eyelashes.
Hunter took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. "I don't really have a choice, do I?" He asked quietly. Hunter nodded his head in a direction and started walking slowly. He looked around a little bit as he walked and found it to be quiet. They were in a small clearing and it didn't seem like there was anyone around and as soon as Hunter noticed that he slowed down, glancing back at Arabella. "Hey, uhh...Since we're alone, I was thinking...Well, I was wondering if uh..." Hunter sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I think you and...I think...Did you want to...uh.." He stammered, staring down at his feet.
Arabella looked up at him with wide eyes. Was he going to say what she thought he was going to say, what she hoped he was going to say? She bit her bottom lip, waiting for him to say what he needed to say. She had to stay calm and let him say it when he was able to say it. Arabella let out a little breath, waiting for him and listening to him stumble over his words. Finally, she lost her patience and she huffed. "Oh, would you just spit it out!" She said, not realizing that she had used her charmspeak until it was too late.
"Would you go to dinner with me tomorrow?" He blurted out, finding himself a little out of breath like the sentence took his breath with it. His eyes widened and he slowly looked up, locking eyes with her not sure what he had just done. Hunter opened his mouth and looked down again. "Sorry. I mean, it's probably too early. I don't know what I was thinking..." He said, covering his eyes with his hand. "I'm sorry. Just forget I said anything."
Arabella didn't realize that she was holding her breath at first. Hunter had did it. He asked her out on a date. He wanted to go to dinner with her. Arabella froze for a moment, thinking it over while he talked. She wanted to go with him, she did. A small part of her worried about it because of their past but she shook herself out of it. She wanted to be with Hunter. What would one date hurt, anyway? "Hunter" Arabella said, trying to get him to stop talking and look at her. "Yes. I would love to go to dinner with you" She told him, smiling up at him.
Hunter felt his breath catch up to him and he cleared his throat, his cheeks turning bright red. "Oh, well...Okay..." He said, not sure what to do for a moment. "That's...That's great!" He said with a smile. He stood there wringing his hands, taking a step closer toward her, thinking about hugging her, then changing into a handshake then just pulling back altogether. "I'll uh...I'll pick you up at...7?" He said, not sure what to do.
Arabella smiled, her cheeks felt hot but she didn't care. Hunter had finally asked her out and she had said yes. They were finally going to try at being more than friends without secrets and lies and misunderstandings. Arabella smiled up at him, loving the way that he stumbled over his words and tried to decide between a handshake or a hug. It was adorable and it was endearing and Arabella was thrilled that she was going on a date with him. She didn't even care about the game anymore. "7 sounds great to me" She said with a little nod then practically jumped at him, hugging him tightly.
Hunter hugged her back, lifting her up a little bit. He set her back down and let his hands move to her sides as he locked eyes with her. He felt his heart skip a beat as he smiled widely. "This is really great." He said, moving a little bit closer. "You know why?" She giggled a little bit. "Because now I can do this." He said before grabbing his sword from her and then quickly taking off away from her.
"Dammit!" Arabella shouted, laughing, and she ran off after him. She really didn't care about winning or losing the game at this point. She just wanted to spend some time with Hunter and she was really looking forward to sitting at the fire with him. "Hunter!" She called to him, jumping over a log and running through the woods.
"What?" He shouted back, turning around. He continued to run backwards, smiling at her, but he wasn't paying attention when his foot caught on a tree root and he fell right back, groaning quietly as he looked up at the sky through the trees. "That was such a stupid idea..." He said as Arabella appeared over him, laughing her head off.
Arabella leaned her hand against a nearby tree, trying to catch her breath through her giggles. "You make this too easy sometimes, Hunter Reed" Arabella teased "I could easily charmspeak you into giving me your sword and dancing like a money, but I'm too nice-" She said but she was cut off when the horn sounded. Arabella raised an eyebrow and smiled down at Hunter "I wonder who won. Probably my team. We're pretty awesome" She said, offering her hand to help him up.
Hunter sighed and closed his eyes a moment. He sighed then looked up at her, grabbing her hand and then pretending to pull her down, but he stood, moving a little close to her as he regained his balance. He really liked being close to her and feeling the warmth she gave off. He put his hands gently on her shoulders then reached back, lifting his foot. "It feels like I have a tree in my shoe." He said, picking out a few twigs. "Thanks." He said with a smile, sheathing his sword and starting to walk out of the forest.
"You are so mean" Arabella huffed, brushing her hands off on her jeans. She skipped up so that she was walking beside him and smiled a little bit to herself. Arabella gave him a little nudge and folded her arms across her chest as they walked towards the edge of the woods. "So, do you know where we're going tomorrow? I need to know how I'm supposed to dress for this dinner" She asked him in a light tone.
Hunter looked at her and he started to worry a little bit. "I have no idea." He said quietly. "I honestly wasn't sure if you would say yes and I don't think I thought this far ahead." He said, standing still and covering his face in his hands. "I feel like such an idiot. I'm so sorry." He said, pulling away from her a little bit.
Arabella took a step closer to him and she pulled his hands away from his face. "It's okay, really. It's totally fine. We'll find out where to go when we leave" She told him and smiled at him for a moment before leaning forward and placing a kiss on his cheek. "Now, what do you say we go and celebrate what I'm sure is my team's victory?"
Hunter stood there frozen for a long moment. Arabella and he had kissed before and she had kissed him and she had kissed him on the cheek, but everything seemed so different now. They were actually dating. Well, were going to be dating. Well, we're going on a date. It took Arabella nudging him slightly for him to start moving again and he didn't even hear her question. He just continued back toward camp and cleared his throat a little bit, licking his lips nervously.
Arabella smiled up at him, feeling really rather giddy. They were finally going out on a date, a real date and there was nothing that they had to hide or lie about or worry about. Just the two of them going out for dinner. As the two of them walked out of the woods, Arabella looked around to try and see what was going on. She opened her mouth to day something but was quickly interrupted.
"Arabella! We won!" Daniel's voice called to her and she felt him running into her, hugging her.
"Ha! We won!" Arabella turned and grinned up at Hunter then stuck her tongue out at him. "Told you"
Hunter narrowed his eyes toward her smiling. "Go ahead. Keep bragging. We'll see what happens next week." He said, nudging her side. Hunter looked over and saw Marina, Jake, and Kyle out of the woods, looking tired. Hunter looked over at Arabella and cleared his throat. "Uhh...I'm go...Is it okay if I..." He stammered, pointing toward Jake and the other two. He shook his head and then hurried over toward Jake.
Hunter stepped out of the mess hall, stretching slightly. He was loosening up or at least trying to before Capture the Flag. He was a little glad that he hadn't seen Arabella in a little while. Last week's Capture the Flag game was not exactly successful for him due to a small distraction. Now the game was coming up again and he was distracted again and even worse. The more he hung out with Arabella as 'just friends' the harder it was becoming to try and deny the attraction he felt toward her. Now he really just wanted to ask her out and be done with all of this waiting. However, he was absolutely terrified of misreading his relationship with her and then also worried about asking her too early. His mind was racing and now he had another Capture the flag game with only an hour or two to try and clear his mind enough to be at all useful with his team.
"Hunter!" Arabella called, waving to him from outside of the Aphrodite cabin. She smiled and started walking to him, with a little bounce in her step. Arabella had been trying really hard to be Hunter's friend. Did she have feelings for him? Did she want to be more than friends with him? Of course she did. Arabella didn't want to ruin her friendship with Hunter, though, and she needed to push down those feelings so she could just have him in her life. So she tried really hard to be his friend and spend some time with him, getting to know him. Arabella walked over to him now, standing in front of him and putting her hands on her hips. "You ready to lose today?" She asked him with a grin.
When Hunter heard his name, he turned around and saw Arabella walking toward him. Hunter sighed a little bit. As much as he liked seeing her and talking to her, she had to know that there was no way he was going to be able to focus on the game now. "Oh, good. You're preparing yourself. That's smart." He said, patting her shoulder and then unintentionally running his hand down her arm, grazing her skin. Hunter turned toward the forest. "I think it should be good. Hopefully no tricks or anything. Just good old fashioned violence and strategy." He said with a smile.
"And me kicking your butt" Arabella teased with a grin. Her skin was tingling from his touch and she tried her hardest to ignore it. She took a deep breath and put her hands in her pockets, smiling up at Hunter. "Violence and strategy. Just what I needed" Arabella giggled and she glanced around them. "It would be really nice if they put us on the same team for once. We always seem to be on opposing sides. I mean, I'm looking forward to kicking your butt again but still, it would be nice to kick butts together for once"
"I remember pretty distinctly you falling out of a tree and then being chased through the woods more than once." He said with a chuckle. "We barely even saw each other last week. Who knows if we will this week?" He muttered, looking down at his feet. "You better watch out because I'm not going to take it easy on you."
Arabella smacked his arm in a playful way "Hey! Don't be mean" She huffed and started walking away from the cabins, down to the main area of camp. "You should also watch your back. Cause it is on!" She said in a tough voice. It was great being able to joke around with Hunter but when he touched her, when he smiled at her, when he laughed with her, Arabella's stomach did flips. "Do you want to go get some lunch or something before the game?"
Hunter looked at her and cleared his throat. He really, really did want to get lunch, but he was nearing a breaking point. "Uhh...I actually ate already. I was going to go get some practice or warm up or something." Hunter said, looking her in the eye. He quickly moved his face back down to look at his feet, licking his lips nervously. "I'll just see you after the game then." He said, waving and then turning back toward the arena
Arabella watched him walk away and she let out a sigh, her shoulders slumping slightly in a defeated sort of way. She didn't understand why he was running away from her like that. Yeah, he looked a little bit uncomfortable but they were supposed to be friends. Why couldn't he tell her what was wrong? Arabella twisted a piece of hair around her finger and headed towards the mess hall, still thinking about Hunter.
Hunter didn't look back at her. As much as he kind of wanted to just be with her all day, he did of other duties outside of trying to date her. Right now, it was getting ready for Capture the Flag. He went into the arena and drew his sword, grabbing a shield off the rack and squaring off with one of the dummies. He bashed it with his shield and hit a few quick strikes, but even though he was practicing, his mind really wasn't in it. "Maybe I'll just ask her." He said quietly, slashing along the torso of the dummy. "Maybe after the game tonight..." He mumbled.
Arabella stopped and looked around. To be totally honest, she wasn't really hungry anymore. She didn't know where to go or what to do. Part of her, a very large part, wanted to run over to the arena and join Hunter there. She didn't want to annoy him, though. He seemed like he wanted to spend some time alone, for whatever reason. So she took a breath and she walked back to the cabins, sitting down on the stairs of the Aphrodite cabin and nervously played with her fingers, wishing the game would come sooner.
Hunter felt like he had been practicing for hours, anxious for the game to start. When the horn sounded, he bolted out of the arena, not wanting to accidentally bump into Arabella beforehand. He met up with his team, lining up between a couple Ares kids. He looked up and realized that Ethan was one of them. He looked fired up more than anything. He looked at Hunter and gave a short nod before turning forward again. Hunter sighed a little, wondering if Ethan had noticed what's been going on between Hunter and Arabella the past couple days. He didn't get much of a chance to think about this, before the horn sounded again, starting the game.
When the horn sounded, Arabella took off into the woods. She loved being out there with the wind in her hair. It felt so good to be running through trees, hiding from Ares kids, charmspeaking boys into walking away from her. It just felt good to have her mind off of Hunter for five seconds. It seemed like every time she turned around, something was there to remind her of Hunter and how badly she wanted to be more than friends with him. When she was running through the trees, however, she could focus on the game. It felt great. Arabella tore through the woods, skipping over logs and rocks. She was hoping to find a clearing soon, somewhere to hide and watch for campers.
Hunter took off through the woods, the two Ares campers, plowing a hold through the foliage and making a trail easy enough to follow. Hunter simply followed them and when they split, so did he, going straight when they turned off. As Hunter crossed the boundary, he slowed way down, keeping his sword drawn as he moved through some of the woods, taking his time and keeping his eyes wide open. He bashed an Apollo camper's helmet then kicked another one in the stomach, improvising some kind of wrestling move he had seen while watching it with his cousin a few months ago. The kid fell and Hunter took off, clotheslining a child of Demeter and turning around a tree, running right into Arabella, knocking her on her back and then stumbling as he backed up, falling awkwardly on his ass. "Dammit..." He grumbled, looking for his sword which had fallen out of his hand.
Arabella fell backwards with a little squeak. She didn't want to lose the game anymore and she didn't want to be saved anymore. As quickly as she could, Arabella flipped over and jumped up on her feet, turning to see who she bumped into, praying to the gods that it wasn't Ethan. When she turned around and saw Hunter, however, her heart started to slow down to a normal heart rate. "Hunter" She gasped, a little out of breath from the running. "Give me your sword" She told him with a grin, putting all over her energy into the words.
Hunter stood up and gave her his sword, like it was the easiest decision he'd ever made. As soon as it left his hand, he sighed and looked at her for a moment, rubbing his eyes. "That's so unfair. Complete unfair advantage." He said angrily. "No matter how many locks I can pick or how many pockets I pick or how good I am at sleight-of-hand, I will never be able to match that." He said with a shrug. "Okay, if you're going to knock me out just make it quick." He said, dropping to his knees and turning around.
Arabella giggled "My goodness, you give up fast. I just have your sword and I'm half your size" She teased, holding his sword at her side. Arabella paused for a moment, smiling at him for no other reason than the fact that being around Hunter made her smile. "Come on. You are going to jail, mister" She finally said and she walked up to him, grabbing his wrist and giving him a little tug to try and get him up.
Hunter rolled his eyes a little, standing up, trying to not think about how close they were to holding hands. "I would almost prefer that you just knock me out. Jail is such a...it's embarrassing. Come on." He said, looking over at Arabella. "What if I just over-powered you?" He said, facing her, stepping closer to tower over her.
Arabella turned so that she was facing him, still holding his wrist in her hand. She didn't realize how close he was to her and ended up being just a few inches away from him. Her heart started to race and the butterflies in her stomach went wild. But she cleared her throat, trying to remain calm and cool. "I would charmspeak you into sleeping so fast, you wouldn't have a chance to over-power me" She teased, giving him a wink.
Hunter narrowed his eyes slightly before sighing, running his fingers through his hair. "Well, then take me to jail. I will submit." He said, putting his hands up in surrender. He looked down at her for another moment, licking his lips nervously before moving away and following her. After a few moments, she seemed to be a little turned around. Hunter cleared his throat. "Did you...Do you know where the jail is?"
"Yes! I know where it is!" Arabella huffed but she furrowed her brow in confusion, looking around to try and find out where she was. She ahd run too far and now she was pretty lost. But she wasn't about to admit that to Hunter. "It's not far from here. We'll get there eventually. I'm just...taking the scenic route" She said with a wave of her hand. She walked with him for a little bit but she soon realized that they were going in circles. She was lost and she was starting to really not like it. Arabella groaned and turned to look at Hunter "Okay. Fine. I might be a little bit lost. Want to help me find the jail?" She asked him, smiling up at him and batting her eyelashes.
Hunter took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. "I don't really have a choice, do I?" He asked quietly. Hunter nodded his head in a direction and started walking slowly. He looked around a little bit as he walked and found it to be quiet. They were in a small clearing and it didn't seem like there was anyone around and as soon as Hunter noticed that he slowed down, glancing back at Arabella. "Hey, uhh...Since we're alone, I was thinking...Well, I was wondering if uh..." Hunter sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I think you and...I think...Did you want to...uh.." He stammered, staring down at his feet.
Arabella looked up at him with wide eyes. Was he going to say what she thought he was going to say, what she hoped he was going to say? She bit her bottom lip, waiting for him to say what he needed to say. She had to stay calm and let him say it when he was able to say it. Arabella let out a little breath, waiting for him and listening to him stumble over his words. Finally, she lost her patience and she huffed. "Oh, would you just spit it out!" She said, not realizing that she had used her charmspeak until it was too late.
"Would you go to dinner with me tomorrow?" He blurted out, finding himself a little out of breath like the sentence took his breath with it. His eyes widened and he slowly looked up, locking eyes with her not sure what he had just done. Hunter opened his mouth and looked down again. "Sorry. I mean, it's probably too early. I don't know what I was thinking..." He said, covering his eyes with his hand. "I'm sorry. Just forget I said anything."
Arabella didn't realize that she was holding her breath at first. Hunter had did it. He asked her out on a date. He wanted to go to dinner with her. Arabella froze for a moment, thinking it over while he talked. She wanted to go with him, she did. A small part of her worried about it because of their past but she shook herself out of it. She wanted to be with Hunter. What would one date hurt, anyway? "Hunter" Arabella said, trying to get him to stop talking and look at her. "Yes. I would love to go to dinner with you" She told him, smiling up at him.
Hunter felt his breath catch up to him and he cleared his throat, his cheeks turning bright red. "Oh, well...Okay..." He said, not sure what to do for a moment. "That's...That's great!" He said with a smile. He stood there wringing his hands, taking a step closer toward her, thinking about hugging her, then changing into a handshake then just pulling back altogether. "I'll uh...I'll pick you up at...7?" He said, not sure what to do.
Arabella smiled, her cheeks felt hot but she didn't care. Hunter had finally asked her out and she had said yes. They were finally going to try at being more than friends without secrets and lies and misunderstandings. Arabella smiled up at him, loving the way that he stumbled over his words and tried to decide between a handshake or a hug. It was adorable and it was endearing and Arabella was thrilled that she was going on a date with him. She didn't even care about the game anymore. "7 sounds great to me" She said with a little nod then practically jumped at him, hugging him tightly.
Hunter hugged her back, lifting her up a little bit. He set her back down and let his hands move to her sides as he locked eyes with her. He felt his heart skip a beat as he smiled widely. "This is really great." He said, moving a little bit closer. "You know why?" She giggled a little bit. "Because now I can do this." He said before grabbing his sword from her and then quickly taking off away from her.
"Dammit!" Arabella shouted, laughing, and she ran off after him. She really didn't care about winning or losing the game at this point. She just wanted to spend some time with Hunter and she was really looking forward to sitting at the fire with him. "Hunter!" She called to him, jumping over a log and running through the woods.
"What?" He shouted back, turning around. He continued to run backwards, smiling at her, but he wasn't paying attention when his foot caught on a tree root and he fell right back, groaning quietly as he looked up at the sky through the trees. "That was such a stupid idea..." He said as Arabella appeared over him, laughing her head off.
Arabella leaned her hand against a nearby tree, trying to catch her breath through her giggles. "You make this too easy sometimes, Hunter Reed" Arabella teased "I could easily charmspeak you into giving me your sword and dancing like a money, but I'm too nice-" She said but she was cut off when the horn sounded. Arabella raised an eyebrow and smiled down at Hunter "I wonder who won. Probably my team. We're pretty awesome" She said, offering her hand to help him up.
Hunter sighed and closed his eyes a moment. He sighed then looked up at her, grabbing her hand and then pretending to pull her down, but he stood, moving a little close to her as he regained his balance. He really liked being close to her and feeling the warmth she gave off. He put his hands gently on her shoulders then reached back, lifting his foot. "It feels like I have a tree in my shoe." He said, picking out a few twigs. "Thanks." He said with a smile, sheathing his sword and starting to walk out of the forest.
"You are so mean" Arabella huffed, brushing her hands off on her jeans. She skipped up so that she was walking beside him and smiled a little bit to herself. Arabella gave him a little nudge and folded her arms across her chest as they walked towards the edge of the woods. "So, do you know where we're going tomorrow? I need to know how I'm supposed to dress for this dinner" She asked him in a light tone.
Hunter looked at her and he started to worry a little bit. "I have no idea." He said quietly. "I honestly wasn't sure if you would say yes and I don't think I thought this far ahead." He said, standing still and covering his face in his hands. "I feel like such an idiot. I'm so sorry." He said, pulling away from her a little bit.
Arabella took a step closer to him and she pulled his hands away from his face. "It's okay, really. It's totally fine. We'll find out where to go when we leave" She told him and smiled at him for a moment before leaning forward and placing a kiss on his cheek. "Now, what do you say we go and celebrate what I'm sure is my team's victory?"
Hunter stood there frozen for a long moment. Arabella and he had kissed before and she had kissed him and she had kissed him on the cheek, but everything seemed so different now. They were actually dating. Well, were going to be dating. Well, we're going on a date. It took Arabella nudging him slightly for him to start moving again and he didn't even hear her question. He just continued back toward camp and cleared his throat a little bit, licking his lips nervously.
Arabella smiled up at him, feeling really rather giddy. They were finally going out on a date, a real date and there was nothing that they had to hide or lie about or worry about. Just the two of them going out for dinner. As the two of them walked out of the woods, Arabella looked around to try and see what was going on. She opened her mouth to day something but was quickly interrupted.
"Arabella! We won!" Daniel's voice called to her and she felt him running into her, hugging her.
"Ha! We won!" Arabella turned and grinned up at Hunter then stuck her tongue out at him. "Told you"
Hunter narrowed his eyes toward her smiling. "Go ahead. Keep bragging. We'll see what happens next week." He said, nudging her side. Hunter looked over and saw Marina, Jake, and Kyle out of the woods, looking tired. Hunter looked over at Arabella and cleared his throat. "Uhh...I'm go...Is it okay if I..." He stammered, pointing toward Jake and the other two. He shook his head and then hurried over toward Jake.
Chapter 70: Hunter and Arabella
??????day, June something or other date I don't remember blah blah
Hunter woke up early. He truly only had one thing on his mind and that was the fact that everyone that left comes back to camp for the summer. Jake. Marina. Kyle. Arabella. His eyes opened and he turned his head quickly, checking that the letter with her name written in big letters was on his nightstand, ready to be delivered. He sat up, swinging his legs off his bed and rubbed his face, trying to wake up. His dreams mostly consisted of what he was going to say to everyone when he saw them. Arabella was one of the more prominent people in his imagination lately. She had been placed on the backburner for a little while, but as summer moved closer and closer, she moved forward more and more. He slipped on a t-shirt and pulled on a pair of jeans then grabbed his shoes and the letter, tucking it into his back pocket as he exited the cabin, pulling on his shoes clumsily and finally exiting into the circle of cabins, his eyes quickly fixing onto Aphrodite cabin.
Arabella anxiously drummed her fingers on her knee, staring out of the window in the back of the car. She was nervous about getting back to camp, especially after what had happened last summer. Things back home had been pretty difficult, though, and she was looking forward to getting away from it all. The car ride towards Camp Half Blood felt like it had doubled in length since the last time she had gone that way. When the car parked, Arabella practically jumped out and grabbed her bags. No matter how nervous she might be, camp was her home and she was happy to be making her way up Half-Blood Hill.
Hunter's stomach grumbled and he lightly tapped the letter on his palm as he kept an eye out for her golden blonde hair to come over the hill. He had been passed by a few Aphrodite campers who gave him odd looks as he leaned up against the porch railing, waiting to give her this letter.
"Hunter?" He turned and saw Brooke coming out of her cabin. She was dressed in a yellow tanktop, her red hair grown out since the two of them had dated and was now in a tight pony tail behind her head.
"Oh...Hey, Brooke." He said quietly. "Sorry. I'm just...I'm waiting for someone." He said, turning back toward the hill. Brooke stepped off the porch and then faced him, slipping her hands into the back pockets of her short jean shorts.
"Hunter, I've...I've actually been meaning to talk to you. For a while now." She said, looking down at her feet. "Really, about a month after we broke up." She says, shifting from foot to foot. Hunter looked over at her, arching an eyebrow.
"Is something wrong?"
"I just...I wanted to apologize. I did a bit of soul searching after I...kicked you out of my cabin and I'm really sorry. For everything." Hunter opened his mouth to speak then looked back just as he saw a head of golden blonde hair moving down the hill toward him. Hunter stood up straight and turned toward Arabella, putting his back toward Brooke. "Hunter?"
"Huh? No. Yeah. That's fine." He said then shook himself and turned toward her. "It's okay. I'm not sure we were really kind of on the same page with that relationship." He said with a quiet chuckle. They smiled at each other and Hunter took a deep breath. "Friends?" He said, extending his hand. She let out a quiet sigh and then moved forward hugging him around the neck. Hunter hugged her back and pulled away and turned around to come face-to-face with Arabella. "Uhh..." Was all that he could manage.
Arabella saw that Brooke was hugging someone but she couldn't really tell who it was. He looked familiar and she was sure that she knew him but she couldn't really place it. The whole thing really kind of made her a little bit uneasy. She didn't like feeling like she knew someone but wasn't sure if she was right or not. Arabella took a deep breath, fixing her bag on her shoulder and walked towards the cabin. She was looking forward to crashing in her bed. She was just about to walk past Brooke and the guy when he turned around and faced her. It was Hunter. He looked different. His hair was still short but he wasn't as buff as he used to be and Arabella liked it. Last summer, it was a little over the top. Now, however, he looked healthy and he looked good. Arabella gasped a little bit, frozen, unsure of what to say. She opened her mouth to say something but all that came out was a little squeak.
Hunter looked at her then down at the letter, as all of his rehearsal disappeared from his mind and he was now trying to figure out what to do with this letter that he was holding. "I..." He mumbled as he noticed Brooke move next to him. Hunter looked over at her then Arabella then finally shook himself. "Here." he said, fairly succinctly. "Just uh...read it. Welcome back to camp." He said, offering a quick smile before moving in for a hug then stopping and extending his hand then lifting it and waving at her and then nodding toward Brooke before hurrying toward the mess hall.
Arabella watched Hunter walk away, looked over at Brooke and then glanced down at the letter in her hand. She was confused and she didn't know how she was supposed to feel. Her and Hunter were finally seeing each other again and that was all that they said? She didn't even speak to him! The last time she had seen him, things had ended in a terrible way and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to talk to him now.Part of her wanted to run after her and hug him and ask him if they could start over. She wasn't really sure how that would go over, though. So, she turned to Brooke and gave her a little smile. "It's good to see you, Brooke. You look great" Arabella said, more as a formality than anything else.
"Thanks! So do you! We have so much to talk about and catch up on. It's been so long since we talked" Brooke said with a big grin and it took everything Arabella had not to look at her with a face that screamed 'Huh?!'
Hunter put his hands on his cheeks to try and make them cool down. That had not gone down exactly as he had hoped and now he was officially running away from her. He was thinking about what he had written in the letter and now he was panicking that maybe she didn't say anything because she was mad at him. She had every right to be, really. Hunter moved into the mess hall and got in line, getting some food. He found a spot at his table and quietly sat eating, hoping that the blood started flowing away from his cheeks and back down to his hands which were shivering and cold.
"Uhm..yeah, that sounds really good, Brooke" Arabella said to her, trying to return her smile. Brooke looked like she wanted to talk to Arabella right in that moment but all Arabella could think about was the letter that was in her hand. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she could swear she felt the heat from Hunter's hand still on the paper. "I gotta go unpack and maybe have a bit of a nap. See you at the fire tonight" Arabella said and she ducked into the cabin before Brooke could stop her. Already this summer was starting to look a little strange. Arabella walked back to her bed, happy that the cabin was empty. Clearly, all of her siblings were out by the water, getting their tans. she let out a sigh, putting down her bags and she sunk down onto her bed. The letter in her hands seemed to be screaming at her. What did he have to say to her? She thought back to all of the letters that she gave to him and her hands started shaking. She was afraid to open the letter. Finally, she tore open the paper and pulled out the paper. Nervously, Arabella read the letter, not sure how she was supposed to feel. She wasn't sure how she did feel. Having some part of Hunter, even if it was just his words, made her heart swell. He wanted to start fresh. He wanted to be her friend. He forgave her. Arabella forgave him a long time ago and she was glad to see that he felt the same way.
She stood up and glanced down at her outfit. Arabella had been dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a tee shirt. It wasn't enough. Arabella dug through her bag, pulling out a pair of jean shorts and a camp shirt that she had altered and turned into a loose tank top. She slipped into a pair of white Keds and pulled her hair out of the bun, letting the blonde waves fall over her shoulders and she headed out of her cabin, looking for Hunter.
Hunter was in the middle of eating. He was keeping his head down for the most part and he only lifted it finally when he noticed someone sit down across from him.
"I knew I recognized that ashamed food hunch." Jake said, laughing at the surprise on Hunter's face. Hunter shook himself and nervously licked his lips.
"Jake. When did you get here?"
"Oh, just now." He said, starting to eat. He swallowed and then cleared his throat. "Still a big kicked puppy assface?"
"Uhh...No. I figured that each group of people only needs one of those." Hunter said, taking a deep breath. "I couldn't outdo you anyway."
"Oh, I've missed this. I really have."
Arabella was nervous about finding Hunter but she didn't know why. She read his letter, she knew how he felt. For some reason, she was still nervous about seeing him. Arabella looked around the cabins, trying to see if she could see him at his cabin. She saw a few people that she knew but she never saw him, so she let out a huff and walked away, towards the rest of the camp. Arabella looked into the arena but it was full of Ares kids, so she turned and walked towards the mess hall. As soon as she walked in, she saw Jake sitting down across from Hunter. Her stomach started doing flips but the last thing she wanted to do was turn around. She needed to see him. Arabella took a deep breath and walked towards the table, trying to look confident but she was nervously twisting her fingers together.
Hunter finished off his food and then grabbed his cup, finishing off the last few drops of soda. He stood and carefully moved away from the table, turning around slightly and bumping right into someone. He put his arms gently around them to make sure they didn't fall, but when he looked up he saw a mess of blonde hair, now covering a familiarly beautiful face. He pulled away from Arabella and licked his lips nervously, trying to resist the urge to brush the hair out of her face for her.
"Hey, Arabella! How was your school year?" Jake said with a wave.
Arabella looked up at Hunter, trying to stop herself from blushing but it wasn't working. She looked at him probably a second too long then turned towards Jake, moving her hair out of her eyes. "Hey, Jake. It's really good to see you" She said and she glanced back at Hunter, her heart racing. Arabella gave him a small smile before looking over at Jake again. She took a piece of cheese off of his plate and smiled at him. "School was good" She said, trying to act like she wasn't fazed or anything but she was really kind of embarrassed bout bumping into Hunter.
Hunter stood for a second then sat back down next to Arabella, trying to give her some space. He looked over at her when she mentioned school. He wondered if she knew how many times he would go and watch her eat lunch debating whether or not to talk to her. He took a deep breath and looked down at his tray nervously. He wasn't sure how possible this 'starting over' idea was going to last at this rate.
"Oh, Arabella. I took your advice." Jake said, taking a big bite of jello. "Tracy. That girl that I was dating on and off etc. Yeah. I talked to her about why our relationships never last and if this is actually going somewhere." He swallowed his jello. "It turns out Tracy and I won't be dating anymore."
Arabella gave Jake a sad smile and she let out a little sigh. "I'm sorry, Jake. A break up is never easy" She said. She was happy that he ended things with that girl but she knew that he was probably a little upset about it, even if he wasn't owning up to it yet. Arabella bit her lip and glanced over at Hunter. As glad as she was to see Jake, she really wanted to talk to Hunter alone for a little bit. "How-how was your year, Hunter?" She asked him in a softer voice than she intended.
Hunter didn't notice that she had said his name until he felt Jake kick him from under the table. Hunter looked up from his try and then at Jake. "Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry. My year was uneventful." He said plainly. "I mean, I...I finally got my drivers license. I uh...Did a lot of reading." He said quietly, glancing over at Arabella, blushing softly. "Lost a lot of weight, too."
"Welcome back to the land of the lanky and overlooked, my friend." Jake said with a laugh, offering a toast. Hunter laughed and then clinked his glass with Jake's.
Arabella giggled a little bit, covering her mouth with her hand. She glanced over at Hunter, looking at him with apologetic eyes. It felt really good to laugh with them again. Sure, it felt like something was off and Arabella knew that she just needed to talk to Hunter and get things figured out but for now, laughing with him and Jake. She leaned towards Hunter a tiny bit "Could we talk? Alone?" she asked him softly.
Hunter looked over at Arabella and immediately his stomach clenched, his heart sped up, and his cheeks reddened once again. "Uh...yeah...sure..." He said quietly before nodding toward Jake and standing up. "I'm going to go for a walk." Hunter said before waving at Jake. "I'll see you back at the cabin, probably." He said before turning to leave, looking back at Arabella for a moment as she got up.
Arabella stood up, her stomach doing nervous flips. She waved at Jake, smiling a little before turning back to Hunter. She didn't really know where they were going to walk and she really didn't care, she just knew that she had to talk to him and get things figured out. This waiting and wondering was killing her. She took a small breath and shoved her hands into her back pockets. "So....you got your driver's license? That must be awesome"
Hunter furrowed his eyebrows at her. She wanted to talk about his driver's license? Really? "Uhh...Yeah. Not much good it'll do me out here, but whenever I go home, it lets me get out of the house on my own, you know?" He said with a nod, looking over at her as they walked slowly toward the beach.
"Hunter!" Hunter looked over and saw Brooke running toward him. She was dressed in a pair of short jean shorts and a white t-shirt, tied in a know to show off a little bit of her stomach. "Oh. And Arabella. Listen, some of us were going to go for a swim. Do you two want to join us?" She asked, smiling at the two of them.
"Uhh..." Hunter mumbled quietly, looking over at Arabella.
Arabella bit her lip a little bit and she let out a little sigh, wishing that she knew what to say. She didn't really want to go swimming but she really didn't want to upset Brooke. Arabella looked over at Hunter and shrugged "Well...I guess we were walking there anyway.."She said, her voice trailing off a little bit at the end.
Hunter looked over at Arabella and then Brooke and then cleared his throat. "I think we might take a walk for a little bit, but we'll catch up with you later, okay, Brooke?" Hunter said, running his hand through his hair. Brooke looked between Hunter and Arabella and then nodded softly. "Oh, uhh...Okay. Well, hurry. The water is perfect!" She said before smiling and taking off toward the water. Hunter looked over at Arabella dn then down at his feet. "What were we talking about?" He said nervously.
Arabella laughed nervously and she shrugged, starting to walk with him again. "Well, I uh, I was avoiding the elephant in the room by asking you about your driver's license." Arabella said with a bit of a smile up at him. She was avoiding the fact that they needed to talk because she was so nervous but she didn't want to stop talking to him. "Are you and..are you and Brooke...?" She asked, her voice trailing off. She had seen them hugging and she seemed to be in a really good mood. Maybe they were together again and Arabella hated that idea.
"Are Brooke and I..." Hunter mumbled quietly before realizing what Arabella was asking. "Oh! No! No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no." He said, shaking his head. "No, no. We're just friends." He said with a nod. "How many times did I say no? What is wrong with me?" He said, rubbing his forehead. "She apologized this morning for that whole...debacle last last summer and now we're friends. She seems to have changed or something." He said, taking a deep breath. "Is that what you wanted to talk about?"
Arabella looked down at her feet and after a moment of silence, she shook her head. "No, no..I guess not" She said softly and she looked up at him, trying not to be too emotional or incoherent. She opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it and looked down again, kicking a little stone. "I guess you got my letters, huh?" She asked him softly, not really sure how else to bring up what they needed to talk about.
Hunter looked down and kicked the stone back at her. "I guess you read my letter then." He said, taking a deep breath. "So...Starting over?" He murmured. "I don't want to talk about what could have been or this or that. Let's just...start over, okay?" He said, looking up at her with a small smile. "Unless, you don't want to, of course. I can't really control that..."
Arabella hugged him. She really couldn't stop herself and she didn't really want to. So her threw her arms around him and she hugged hi tightly. Starting over was exactly what she wanted and she was so glad. They didn't need to talk about it and they didn't need to think about everything that they had been through. "I want to start over" She said softly and she pulled away, smiling up at him. "I missed you, Hunter"
Hunter's cheeks didn't think they could get any redder and he only hoped that she couldn't tell. They were friends now. Just friends. Hunter smiled at her. "I missed you, too, Arabella." He said quietly, taking a deep breath and mentally reminding himself that he was not dating Arabella nor did he have any reason to be upset if she started dating someone. He nervously licked his lips then looked around to where they had walked to, recognizing this as the spot that they had almost kissed last summer. Hunter clenched his fist and then started walking toward the beach, his hand hovering over the small of Arabella's back before simply just draping his arm over her shoulder, trying to move her out of there before she noticed where they had gone.
Arabella glanced over her shoulder with a confused look on her face but his arm was in her view. In all honesty, she didn't really care where he was taking her or why he was moving her away but she was happy that he had his arm around her. Even if they were just friends, it felt good to have his arm around her like that. Arabella let out a huff and she hooked her arm around Hunter's waist. "So? What happened this year? You look different" She said, looking up at him.
"Uhh...A lot more reading. A lot less practice in the arena." He said with a shrug. "You did write a lot of letters, Ellie." he said, bumping her hip with his teasingly. They walked out of the forest and finally arrived at the beach. "Finally..." He said quietly, walking toward the water.
Arabella smiled and she bumped his hip with hers. "You look really good, Hunter." She told him with a little nod. She looked down the beach a little bit and could see Brooke laying down in the sand with a few Aphrodite kids, including Daniel. "Well...should we join them? I think I see Jake in the water"
Hunter looked out at the water. He could see Jake and Will looking over at a crowd of Demeter kids. Will touched the water and a flower made of water sprouted from the surface. It moved in front of a blonde haired girl and she looked back at him, smiling. Hunter turned to Arabella and shrugged. "Only if you want to. I'll need to grab my trunks if we do."
"I'll have to change, too." Arabella said with a little shrug. She looked up at Hunter again and smiled. "I mean, we could do down there and sit with them without changing but I have a feeling that Jake might pull you into the water and ruin your clothes" She added with a little giggle. Arabella opened her mouth to say something but then Daniel saw her and he had jumped up and ran towards her. Arabella was forced to pull away from Hunter when Daniel rushed over and hugged her tightly. "Hello to you do, Danny" She giggled, looking over at Hunter.
"Oh, I missed you, Arabella!" Daniel squeaked. He pulled away and smiled at her, kind of giving Hunter the cold shoulder.
Hunter tapped his hands on his legs for a moment then turned around away from the water. He came face to face with a pair of golden brown eyes and a bright smile.
"Hunter! I thought that was you!" She said, wrapping her arms around his middle. "You're looking thin." Hunter hugged her back and smiled as Kyle walked up behind her, waving to him then putting his finger to his lips. Hunter smiled and pulled away looking at Marina. Kyle quickly put his arms around her middle and lifted her up. She quickly threw herself forward, judo flipping Kyle onto his back in front of her.
"Well, damn, Marina. Good to see you, too." He said with a groan. Marina gasped and helped him up.
Arabella squeaked when she saw Marina flip Kyle. She pulled away from Daniel and she turned towards the others, trying to see if he was okay. It was nice to see some people from camp again, even if she didn't know all of them. Arabella was also glad to see that Hunter's friends were talking to him. Last she heard, he wasn't really speaking to many of them anymore. "That was very impressive, Marina" Arabella said with a bit of a giggle.
Kyle clutched his back, leaning on Marina a little bit. "Thanks, Arabella. It's good to see you. It feels like such a long time." She said, shoving Kyle's arm off her shoulder then hugging Arabella around the middle. Hunter looked at the two of them and took a deep breath before pulling out of the group and heading toward the Hermes Cabin
Arabella watched Hunter walk away and she bit her lip. Was there something wrong? Did something go wrong already? She sighed and pulled away from Marina, smiling at her. "I'll be right back" She promised and turned, following Hunter. She walked up behind him and poked him in the middle of his back "Hey, you. Are you too cool for us now?" She asked with a little laugh.
Hunter turned and started walking backwards. "No, not at all. I just thought that I'd get changed to swim, but now that I'm walking backwards I'm seeing people no longer swimming and now I feel pretty stupid..." He said, stopping and putting his hands on her shoulders to stop her from bumping into him.
Arabella grinned up at him and she put her hands on his arms. "Well, since we're not swimming, do you want to go somewhere to sit and talk or something?" She asked him. It felt really good to be his friend again and she didn't really want to lose that. She wanted to spend more time with him and get to know him better. Really be his friend.
Hunter blushed a little. He thought for a moment then a little hesitantly nodded. "Yeah. Lead the way." He said, pulling his hands back, offering Arabella his arm and then letting it fall as he changed his mind. "How was school this year? Did you deal with uh...Oh, what was her name?" He asked, starting to walk with her.
"Olivia?" Arabella asked with a little laugh and she slipped her hands into her pockets. "Well, I guess you could say that..." She said, shrugging a little bit and trying to hide the fact that she was blushing. She looked up at Hunter and shook her head, like she was waving it off "But what about you? Did you get to see your family more?" She asked him.
"Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I had to get plenty of practice to get my license." He said with a nod. "My aunt is actually starting to sell baked goods. My uncle was put on mandatory vacation to use up built up vacation days, so he was around a lot of the time. Things are going really well." He said, walking a little closer, his hand brushing hers.
Arabella's skin tingled when his hand brushed against hers and she really had to resist the urge to hold his hand. They were friends. They were starting over. They were nothing more than that. Arabella smiled a little bit and she cleared her throat. "That's really great, Hunter. I'm glad that things are working out with your family" She told him and she bit her lip. "How did camp go while I was gone? Anymore good pranks I should hear about?"
Hunter laughed and shook his head. "Nothing that I was involved in. I think some Athena campers got some fake spiders tossed in their cabin. That's about it though." He said with a sigh. "I didn't leave the cabin much when I was here. Probably why I'm all...lanky now." He said, looking over at her.
"Lanky isn't the right word" Arabella said, shaking her head. "You look better now, more like yourself" She said honestly and she smiled, nudging him lightly with her side. "I like it" She finished and she quickly walked towards the Hermes cabin and sitting down on the stairs, smiling up at him. "Do you have any plans for the summer? Anything you want to do?"
Hunter took a deep breath and sat down next to her. "Not really. Having a nice, boring summer sounds just fine with me." Hunter said with a laugh. "How about you? Any goals for the summer? Capture the flag is tomorrow. Maybe you'll actually stand a chance at winning this year."
"Excuse me, sir, I've always had a chance at winning." Arabella said, crossing her arms "I just...never feel like it" She added with a humph. Arabella looked over at him and saw him stifling a laugh. "What?! I can win a game of Capture the Flag and I am going to prove it to you tomorrow!"
"Okay, Ellie. Whatever you say." He said with a laugh, putting his hands up in surrender. "So, other than losing at Capture the Flag what are you going to do for the rest of the summer? Any plans?" He asked, nervously licking his lips.
"Well, after I win Capture the Flag, I plan on doing nothing special whatsoever all summer" Arabella told him with a nod. She smiled a little and shrugged. "I don't know, school was really kind of crazy this year and I just really don't want to have to deal with any drama or stress. I've promised myself that this summer is going to be stress free"
"That'll be a first." He said quietly before looking up at her and laughing. "Sorry. Just saying. It feels like it's been a long while since we had a summer without some crisis or emotional disaster." He sighed and then nudged her leg with his. "Here's to boring." He said, raising an imaginary glass "I don't go to fancy parties, so I make my own fancy glass toasts."
Arabella giggled "Well, we're going to have to get you to a fancy party. Then you can make a cheesy, non-fancy toast at a fancy party. It'll be great" She said and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "But, of course, we'll have to go to that party after this summer. Since it's supposed to be boring"
"Right. Good boring though." He said with a nod. "Not bad boring." He took a deep breath. "Well, maybe not boring. Just not bad exciting. Good exciting. Like...making new friends or going to parties or going out on d--" He looked over at Arabella and closed his mouth. "You know...Good exciting." He said.
Arabella looked down at her lap, blushing a little bit but still smiling. She couldn't deny the fact that when she thought he was going to say 'dates' her hear skipped a beat. But they were just friends. Arabella took a deep breath and smiled up at him. "I still have to take you to the city at some point, remember? I promised"
"That is true." He said quietly. "I did a good amount of city driving though, so it's not as unfamiliar as it was." He nodded and leaned on the railing. "It would only be fair that I give you something in return. Anything that I can do? Some place you haven't been?" He asked, looking over at her, blushing slightly, his eyes unable to resist looking at Arabella's lips for a moment.
"Hmmm...well, I've always wanted to learn how to drive. You could take me somewhere out in the country and teach me how to drive." Arabella said with a little smile then gasped slightly "Oh! Maybe we could go out to the Hamptons and you could teach me there! That would be so much fun!" She said excitedly then bit her lip "Sorry. I got a bit excited"
Hunter smiled and laughed a little bit. "Well, I would be down with that. Not sure how good of a teacher I would be, but I can give it a shot." He said, nudging her with his elbow. "I don't know what car you would practice in either. You probably have some nice one at your brownstone or something." He said with a shrug. "I practiced in this really beat-up jeep. I doubt you'd want to drive that."
Arabella furrowed her brow, thinking back a little bit. She couldn't remember ever telling Hunter about where she lived. She couldn't remember telling him that she lived in a brownstone or even what neighbourhood she lived in. She didn't even tell him that she lived in Manhattan. "Hmm? Oh, that's fine" She muttered, trying not to sound like she was thinking about something but failing miserably.
Hunter nodded and then looked at her, arching an eyebrow in her direction. "You okay?" He asked a little nervously. Hunter suddenly worried that he did something wrong and looked down at himself, trying to recognize and fix the problem as quickly as possible. "I'm sorry if I said something wrong." He said quietly, his face turned toward the ground and his voice tight from nerves.
Arabella took a little breath and she smiled, shaking her head. She looked over at him, trying to pretend like nothing happened. Maybe she was just imagining it. She must of told him at some point that she lived in a brownstone. "No, it's nothing, I just couldn't remember when I told you that I live in a brownstone" She told him and shrugged. "And then I was thinking about it and we all know that us Aphrodite kids can't think and talk at the same time" She joked in a sarcastic voice.
Hunter froze for a second and then laughed a little nervously. "I probably uh...I mean you...I probably read it in your letters or something" He finally said, nodding maybe a little too much. "That's it." He ran his fingers through his hair again before yawning and putting his forehead against her shoulder for a moment. "Wow. I might take a nap." He said, standing up.
"Did you turn into an old man over the school year?" Arabella teased him, giggling, just trying to lighten the mood. She stood up and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "Okay, well...have a good nap. I'll see you down at the fire tonight?" She said and she took a deep breath, unsure of how to say goodbye to him. Is she supposed to hug him or would that be weird? "I should go...." Arabella finished in a low voice and she quickly turned, rushing back towards her cabin.
Hunter watched her and shifted from foot to foot before heading back into Hermes Cabin. He sighed and rubbed his eyes slightly as he walked to his bed, laying down. "I'm not going to last long..." Hunter said quietly to himself, closing his eyes. He kept thinking about how good a just friend Hunter could be for Arabella. There was a big part of his mind that couldn't help, but want to be more than that and he hated how difficult he found just talking to her while resisting the urge to go in a romantic direction. He didn't even know if she liked him back. He kept thinking about this and after a couple more minutes, he fell asleep.
Arabella hurried back into her cabin, quickly closing the door behind her and rushing over to her bed. Her heart was racing and her breathing was heavy. Things had gotten awkward fast and Arabella didn't really know how to deal with it. Arabella was sure that she had never told him where she lives. So how would he know that she lives in a brownstone? She didn't want to think about it. Arabella needed to be friends with Hunter, she wanted to be more. She didn't want to think about something else getting in the middle of them. She groaned and flopped down on her bed without unpacking and she shoved her head in her pillow, closing her eyes.
Hunter woke up early. He truly only had one thing on his mind and that was the fact that everyone that left comes back to camp for the summer. Jake. Marina. Kyle. Arabella. His eyes opened and he turned his head quickly, checking that the letter with her name written in big letters was on his nightstand, ready to be delivered. He sat up, swinging his legs off his bed and rubbed his face, trying to wake up. His dreams mostly consisted of what he was going to say to everyone when he saw them. Arabella was one of the more prominent people in his imagination lately. She had been placed on the backburner for a little while, but as summer moved closer and closer, she moved forward more and more. He slipped on a t-shirt and pulled on a pair of jeans then grabbed his shoes and the letter, tucking it into his back pocket as he exited the cabin, pulling on his shoes clumsily and finally exiting into the circle of cabins, his eyes quickly fixing onto Aphrodite cabin.
Arabella anxiously drummed her fingers on her knee, staring out of the window in the back of the car. She was nervous about getting back to camp, especially after what had happened last summer. Things back home had been pretty difficult, though, and she was looking forward to getting away from it all. The car ride towards Camp Half Blood felt like it had doubled in length since the last time she had gone that way. When the car parked, Arabella practically jumped out and grabbed her bags. No matter how nervous she might be, camp was her home and she was happy to be making her way up Half-Blood Hill.
Hunter's stomach grumbled and he lightly tapped the letter on his palm as he kept an eye out for her golden blonde hair to come over the hill. He had been passed by a few Aphrodite campers who gave him odd looks as he leaned up against the porch railing, waiting to give her this letter.
"Hunter?" He turned and saw Brooke coming out of her cabin. She was dressed in a yellow tanktop, her red hair grown out since the two of them had dated and was now in a tight pony tail behind her head.
"Oh...Hey, Brooke." He said quietly. "Sorry. I'm just...I'm waiting for someone." He said, turning back toward the hill. Brooke stepped off the porch and then faced him, slipping her hands into the back pockets of her short jean shorts.
"Hunter, I've...I've actually been meaning to talk to you. For a while now." She said, looking down at her feet. "Really, about a month after we broke up." She says, shifting from foot to foot. Hunter looked over at her, arching an eyebrow.
"Is something wrong?"
"I just...I wanted to apologize. I did a bit of soul searching after I...kicked you out of my cabin and I'm really sorry. For everything." Hunter opened his mouth to speak then looked back just as he saw a head of golden blonde hair moving down the hill toward him. Hunter stood up straight and turned toward Arabella, putting his back toward Brooke. "Hunter?"
"Huh? No. Yeah. That's fine." He said then shook himself and turned toward her. "It's okay. I'm not sure we were really kind of on the same page with that relationship." He said with a quiet chuckle. They smiled at each other and Hunter took a deep breath. "Friends?" He said, extending his hand. She let out a quiet sigh and then moved forward hugging him around the neck. Hunter hugged her back and pulled away and turned around to come face-to-face with Arabella. "Uhh..." Was all that he could manage.
Arabella saw that Brooke was hugging someone but she couldn't really tell who it was. He looked familiar and she was sure that she knew him but she couldn't really place it. The whole thing really kind of made her a little bit uneasy. She didn't like feeling like she knew someone but wasn't sure if she was right or not. Arabella took a deep breath, fixing her bag on her shoulder and walked towards the cabin. She was looking forward to crashing in her bed. She was just about to walk past Brooke and the guy when he turned around and faced her. It was Hunter. He looked different. His hair was still short but he wasn't as buff as he used to be and Arabella liked it. Last summer, it was a little over the top. Now, however, he looked healthy and he looked good. Arabella gasped a little bit, frozen, unsure of what to say. She opened her mouth to say something but all that came out was a little squeak.
Hunter looked at her then down at the letter, as all of his rehearsal disappeared from his mind and he was now trying to figure out what to do with this letter that he was holding. "I..." He mumbled as he noticed Brooke move next to him. Hunter looked over at her then Arabella then finally shook himself. "Here." he said, fairly succinctly. "Just uh...read it. Welcome back to camp." He said, offering a quick smile before moving in for a hug then stopping and extending his hand then lifting it and waving at her and then nodding toward Brooke before hurrying toward the mess hall.
Arabella watched Hunter walk away, looked over at Brooke and then glanced down at the letter in her hand. She was confused and she didn't know how she was supposed to feel. Her and Hunter were finally seeing each other again and that was all that they said? She didn't even speak to him! The last time she had seen him, things had ended in a terrible way and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to talk to him now.Part of her wanted to run after her and hug him and ask him if they could start over. She wasn't really sure how that would go over, though. So, she turned to Brooke and gave her a little smile. "It's good to see you, Brooke. You look great" Arabella said, more as a formality than anything else.
"Thanks! So do you! We have so much to talk about and catch up on. It's been so long since we talked" Brooke said with a big grin and it took everything Arabella had not to look at her with a face that screamed 'Huh?!'
Hunter put his hands on his cheeks to try and make them cool down. That had not gone down exactly as he had hoped and now he was officially running away from her. He was thinking about what he had written in the letter and now he was panicking that maybe she didn't say anything because she was mad at him. She had every right to be, really. Hunter moved into the mess hall and got in line, getting some food. He found a spot at his table and quietly sat eating, hoping that the blood started flowing away from his cheeks and back down to his hands which were shivering and cold.
"Uhm..yeah, that sounds really good, Brooke" Arabella said to her, trying to return her smile. Brooke looked like she wanted to talk to Arabella right in that moment but all Arabella could think about was the letter that was in her hand. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she could swear she felt the heat from Hunter's hand still on the paper. "I gotta go unpack and maybe have a bit of a nap. See you at the fire tonight" Arabella said and she ducked into the cabin before Brooke could stop her. Already this summer was starting to look a little strange. Arabella walked back to her bed, happy that the cabin was empty. Clearly, all of her siblings were out by the water, getting their tans. she let out a sigh, putting down her bags and she sunk down onto her bed. The letter in her hands seemed to be screaming at her. What did he have to say to her? She thought back to all of the letters that she gave to him and her hands started shaking. She was afraid to open the letter. Finally, she tore open the paper and pulled out the paper. Nervously, Arabella read the letter, not sure how she was supposed to feel. She wasn't sure how she did feel. Having some part of Hunter, even if it was just his words, made her heart swell. He wanted to start fresh. He wanted to be her friend. He forgave her. Arabella forgave him a long time ago and she was glad to see that he felt the same way.
She stood up and glanced down at her outfit. Arabella had been dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a tee shirt. It wasn't enough. Arabella dug through her bag, pulling out a pair of jean shorts and a camp shirt that she had altered and turned into a loose tank top. She slipped into a pair of white Keds and pulled her hair out of the bun, letting the blonde waves fall over her shoulders and she headed out of her cabin, looking for Hunter.
Hunter was in the middle of eating. He was keeping his head down for the most part and he only lifted it finally when he noticed someone sit down across from him.
"I knew I recognized that ashamed food hunch." Jake said, laughing at the surprise on Hunter's face. Hunter shook himself and nervously licked his lips.
"Jake. When did you get here?"
"Oh, just now." He said, starting to eat. He swallowed and then cleared his throat. "Still a big kicked puppy assface?"
"Uhh...No. I figured that each group of people only needs one of those." Hunter said, taking a deep breath. "I couldn't outdo you anyway."
"Oh, I've missed this. I really have."
Arabella was nervous about finding Hunter but she didn't know why. She read his letter, she knew how he felt. For some reason, she was still nervous about seeing him. Arabella looked around the cabins, trying to see if she could see him at his cabin. She saw a few people that she knew but she never saw him, so she let out a huff and walked away, towards the rest of the camp. Arabella looked into the arena but it was full of Ares kids, so she turned and walked towards the mess hall. As soon as she walked in, she saw Jake sitting down across from Hunter. Her stomach started doing flips but the last thing she wanted to do was turn around. She needed to see him. Arabella took a deep breath and walked towards the table, trying to look confident but she was nervously twisting her fingers together.
Hunter finished off his food and then grabbed his cup, finishing off the last few drops of soda. He stood and carefully moved away from the table, turning around slightly and bumping right into someone. He put his arms gently around them to make sure they didn't fall, but when he looked up he saw a mess of blonde hair, now covering a familiarly beautiful face. He pulled away from Arabella and licked his lips nervously, trying to resist the urge to brush the hair out of her face for her.
"Hey, Arabella! How was your school year?" Jake said with a wave.
Arabella looked up at Hunter, trying to stop herself from blushing but it wasn't working. She looked at him probably a second too long then turned towards Jake, moving her hair out of her eyes. "Hey, Jake. It's really good to see you" She said and she glanced back at Hunter, her heart racing. Arabella gave him a small smile before looking over at Jake again. She took a piece of cheese off of his plate and smiled at him. "School was good" She said, trying to act like she wasn't fazed or anything but she was really kind of embarrassed bout bumping into Hunter.
Hunter stood for a second then sat back down next to Arabella, trying to give her some space. He looked over at her when she mentioned school. He wondered if she knew how many times he would go and watch her eat lunch debating whether or not to talk to her. He took a deep breath and looked down at his tray nervously. He wasn't sure how possible this 'starting over' idea was going to last at this rate.
"Oh, Arabella. I took your advice." Jake said, taking a big bite of jello. "Tracy. That girl that I was dating on and off etc. Yeah. I talked to her about why our relationships never last and if this is actually going somewhere." He swallowed his jello. "It turns out Tracy and I won't be dating anymore."
Arabella gave Jake a sad smile and she let out a little sigh. "I'm sorry, Jake. A break up is never easy" She said. She was happy that he ended things with that girl but she knew that he was probably a little upset about it, even if he wasn't owning up to it yet. Arabella bit her lip and glanced over at Hunter. As glad as she was to see Jake, she really wanted to talk to Hunter alone for a little bit. "How-how was your year, Hunter?" She asked him in a softer voice than she intended.
Hunter didn't notice that she had said his name until he felt Jake kick him from under the table. Hunter looked up from his try and then at Jake. "Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry. My year was uneventful." He said plainly. "I mean, I...I finally got my drivers license. I uh...Did a lot of reading." He said quietly, glancing over at Arabella, blushing softly. "Lost a lot of weight, too."
"Welcome back to the land of the lanky and overlooked, my friend." Jake said with a laugh, offering a toast. Hunter laughed and then clinked his glass with Jake's.
Arabella giggled a little bit, covering her mouth with her hand. She glanced over at Hunter, looking at him with apologetic eyes. It felt really good to laugh with them again. Sure, it felt like something was off and Arabella knew that she just needed to talk to Hunter and get things figured out but for now, laughing with him and Jake. She leaned towards Hunter a tiny bit "Could we talk? Alone?" she asked him softly.
Hunter looked over at Arabella and immediately his stomach clenched, his heart sped up, and his cheeks reddened once again. "Uh...yeah...sure..." He said quietly before nodding toward Jake and standing up. "I'm going to go for a walk." Hunter said before waving at Jake. "I'll see you back at the cabin, probably." He said before turning to leave, looking back at Arabella for a moment as she got up.
Arabella stood up, her stomach doing nervous flips. She waved at Jake, smiling a little before turning back to Hunter. She didn't really know where they were going to walk and she really didn't care, she just knew that she had to talk to him and get things figured out. This waiting and wondering was killing her. She took a small breath and shoved her hands into her back pockets. "So....you got your driver's license? That must be awesome"
Hunter furrowed his eyebrows at her. She wanted to talk about his driver's license? Really? "Uhh...Yeah. Not much good it'll do me out here, but whenever I go home, it lets me get out of the house on my own, you know?" He said with a nod, looking over at her as they walked slowly toward the beach.
"Hunter!" Hunter looked over and saw Brooke running toward him. She was dressed in a pair of short jean shorts and a white t-shirt, tied in a know to show off a little bit of her stomach. "Oh. And Arabella. Listen, some of us were going to go for a swim. Do you two want to join us?" She asked, smiling at the two of them.
"Uhh..." Hunter mumbled quietly, looking over at Arabella.
Arabella bit her lip a little bit and she let out a little sigh, wishing that she knew what to say. She didn't really want to go swimming but she really didn't want to upset Brooke. Arabella looked over at Hunter and shrugged "Well...I guess we were walking there anyway.."She said, her voice trailing off a little bit at the end.
Hunter looked over at Arabella and then Brooke and then cleared his throat. "I think we might take a walk for a little bit, but we'll catch up with you later, okay, Brooke?" Hunter said, running his hand through his hair. Brooke looked between Hunter and Arabella and then nodded softly. "Oh, uhh...Okay. Well, hurry. The water is perfect!" She said before smiling and taking off toward the water. Hunter looked over at Arabella dn then down at his feet. "What were we talking about?" He said nervously.
Arabella laughed nervously and she shrugged, starting to walk with him again. "Well, I uh, I was avoiding the elephant in the room by asking you about your driver's license." Arabella said with a bit of a smile up at him. She was avoiding the fact that they needed to talk because she was so nervous but she didn't want to stop talking to him. "Are you and..are you and Brooke...?" She asked, her voice trailing off. She had seen them hugging and she seemed to be in a really good mood. Maybe they were together again and Arabella hated that idea.
"Are Brooke and I..." Hunter mumbled quietly before realizing what Arabella was asking. "Oh! No! No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no." He said, shaking his head. "No, no. We're just friends." He said with a nod. "How many times did I say no? What is wrong with me?" He said, rubbing his forehead. "She apologized this morning for that whole...debacle last last summer and now we're friends. She seems to have changed or something." He said, taking a deep breath. "Is that what you wanted to talk about?"
Arabella looked down at her feet and after a moment of silence, she shook her head. "No, no..I guess not" She said softly and she looked up at him, trying not to be too emotional or incoherent. She opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it and looked down again, kicking a little stone. "I guess you got my letters, huh?" She asked him softly, not really sure how else to bring up what they needed to talk about.
Hunter looked down and kicked the stone back at her. "I guess you read my letter then." He said, taking a deep breath. "So...Starting over?" He murmured. "I don't want to talk about what could have been or this or that. Let's just...start over, okay?" He said, looking up at her with a small smile. "Unless, you don't want to, of course. I can't really control that..."
Arabella hugged him. She really couldn't stop herself and she didn't really want to. So her threw her arms around him and she hugged hi tightly. Starting over was exactly what she wanted and she was so glad. They didn't need to talk about it and they didn't need to think about everything that they had been through. "I want to start over" She said softly and she pulled away, smiling up at him. "I missed you, Hunter"
Hunter's cheeks didn't think they could get any redder and he only hoped that she couldn't tell. They were friends now. Just friends. Hunter smiled at her. "I missed you, too, Arabella." He said quietly, taking a deep breath and mentally reminding himself that he was not dating Arabella nor did he have any reason to be upset if she started dating someone. He nervously licked his lips then looked around to where they had walked to, recognizing this as the spot that they had almost kissed last summer. Hunter clenched his fist and then started walking toward the beach, his hand hovering over the small of Arabella's back before simply just draping his arm over her shoulder, trying to move her out of there before she noticed where they had gone.
Arabella glanced over her shoulder with a confused look on her face but his arm was in her view. In all honesty, she didn't really care where he was taking her or why he was moving her away but she was happy that he had his arm around her. Even if they were just friends, it felt good to have his arm around her like that. Arabella let out a huff and she hooked her arm around Hunter's waist. "So? What happened this year? You look different" She said, looking up at him.
"Uhh...A lot more reading. A lot less practice in the arena." He said with a shrug. "You did write a lot of letters, Ellie." he said, bumping her hip with his teasingly. They walked out of the forest and finally arrived at the beach. "Finally..." He said quietly, walking toward the water.
Arabella smiled and she bumped his hip with hers. "You look really good, Hunter." She told him with a little nod. She looked down the beach a little bit and could see Brooke laying down in the sand with a few Aphrodite kids, including Daniel. "Well...should we join them? I think I see Jake in the water"
Hunter looked out at the water. He could see Jake and Will looking over at a crowd of Demeter kids. Will touched the water and a flower made of water sprouted from the surface. It moved in front of a blonde haired girl and she looked back at him, smiling. Hunter turned to Arabella and shrugged. "Only if you want to. I'll need to grab my trunks if we do."
"I'll have to change, too." Arabella said with a little shrug. She looked up at Hunter again and smiled. "I mean, we could do down there and sit with them without changing but I have a feeling that Jake might pull you into the water and ruin your clothes" She added with a little giggle. Arabella opened her mouth to say something but then Daniel saw her and he had jumped up and ran towards her. Arabella was forced to pull away from Hunter when Daniel rushed over and hugged her tightly. "Hello to you do, Danny" She giggled, looking over at Hunter.
"Oh, I missed you, Arabella!" Daniel squeaked. He pulled away and smiled at her, kind of giving Hunter the cold shoulder.
Hunter tapped his hands on his legs for a moment then turned around away from the water. He came face to face with a pair of golden brown eyes and a bright smile.
"Hunter! I thought that was you!" She said, wrapping her arms around his middle. "You're looking thin." Hunter hugged her back and smiled as Kyle walked up behind her, waving to him then putting his finger to his lips. Hunter smiled and pulled away looking at Marina. Kyle quickly put his arms around her middle and lifted her up. She quickly threw herself forward, judo flipping Kyle onto his back in front of her.
"Well, damn, Marina. Good to see you, too." He said with a groan. Marina gasped and helped him up.
Arabella squeaked when she saw Marina flip Kyle. She pulled away from Daniel and she turned towards the others, trying to see if he was okay. It was nice to see some people from camp again, even if she didn't know all of them. Arabella was also glad to see that Hunter's friends were talking to him. Last she heard, he wasn't really speaking to many of them anymore. "That was very impressive, Marina" Arabella said with a bit of a giggle.
Kyle clutched his back, leaning on Marina a little bit. "Thanks, Arabella. It's good to see you. It feels like such a long time." She said, shoving Kyle's arm off her shoulder then hugging Arabella around the middle. Hunter looked at the two of them and took a deep breath before pulling out of the group and heading toward the Hermes Cabin
Arabella watched Hunter walk away and she bit her lip. Was there something wrong? Did something go wrong already? She sighed and pulled away from Marina, smiling at her. "I'll be right back" She promised and turned, following Hunter. She walked up behind him and poked him in the middle of his back "Hey, you. Are you too cool for us now?" She asked with a little laugh.
Hunter turned and started walking backwards. "No, not at all. I just thought that I'd get changed to swim, but now that I'm walking backwards I'm seeing people no longer swimming and now I feel pretty stupid..." He said, stopping and putting his hands on her shoulders to stop her from bumping into him.
Arabella grinned up at him and she put her hands on his arms. "Well, since we're not swimming, do you want to go somewhere to sit and talk or something?" She asked him. It felt really good to be his friend again and she didn't really want to lose that. She wanted to spend more time with him and get to know him better. Really be his friend.
Hunter blushed a little. He thought for a moment then a little hesitantly nodded. "Yeah. Lead the way." He said, pulling his hands back, offering Arabella his arm and then letting it fall as he changed his mind. "How was school this year? Did you deal with uh...Oh, what was her name?" He asked, starting to walk with her.
"Olivia?" Arabella asked with a little laugh and she slipped her hands into her pockets. "Well, I guess you could say that..." She said, shrugging a little bit and trying to hide the fact that she was blushing. She looked up at Hunter and shook her head, like she was waving it off "But what about you? Did you get to see your family more?" She asked him.
"Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I had to get plenty of practice to get my license." He said with a nod. "My aunt is actually starting to sell baked goods. My uncle was put on mandatory vacation to use up built up vacation days, so he was around a lot of the time. Things are going really well." He said, walking a little closer, his hand brushing hers.
Arabella's skin tingled when his hand brushed against hers and she really had to resist the urge to hold his hand. They were friends. They were starting over. They were nothing more than that. Arabella smiled a little bit and she cleared her throat. "That's really great, Hunter. I'm glad that things are working out with your family" She told him and she bit her lip. "How did camp go while I was gone? Anymore good pranks I should hear about?"
Hunter laughed and shook his head. "Nothing that I was involved in. I think some Athena campers got some fake spiders tossed in their cabin. That's about it though." He said with a sigh. "I didn't leave the cabin much when I was here. Probably why I'm all...lanky now." He said, looking over at her.
"Lanky isn't the right word" Arabella said, shaking her head. "You look better now, more like yourself" She said honestly and she smiled, nudging him lightly with her side. "I like it" She finished and she quickly walked towards the Hermes cabin and sitting down on the stairs, smiling up at him. "Do you have any plans for the summer? Anything you want to do?"
Hunter took a deep breath and sat down next to her. "Not really. Having a nice, boring summer sounds just fine with me." Hunter said with a laugh. "How about you? Any goals for the summer? Capture the flag is tomorrow. Maybe you'll actually stand a chance at winning this year."
"Excuse me, sir, I've always had a chance at winning." Arabella said, crossing her arms "I just...never feel like it" She added with a humph. Arabella looked over at him and saw him stifling a laugh. "What?! I can win a game of Capture the Flag and I am going to prove it to you tomorrow!"
"Okay, Ellie. Whatever you say." He said with a laugh, putting his hands up in surrender. "So, other than losing at Capture the Flag what are you going to do for the rest of the summer? Any plans?" He asked, nervously licking his lips.
"Well, after I win Capture the Flag, I plan on doing nothing special whatsoever all summer" Arabella told him with a nod. She smiled a little and shrugged. "I don't know, school was really kind of crazy this year and I just really don't want to have to deal with any drama or stress. I've promised myself that this summer is going to be stress free"
"That'll be a first." He said quietly before looking up at her and laughing. "Sorry. Just saying. It feels like it's been a long while since we had a summer without some crisis or emotional disaster." He sighed and then nudged her leg with his. "Here's to boring." He said, raising an imaginary glass "I don't go to fancy parties, so I make my own fancy glass toasts."
Arabella giggled "Well, we're going to have to get you to a fancy party. Then you can make a cheesy, non-fancy toast at a fancy party. It'll be great" She said and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "But, of course, we'll have to go to that party after this summer. Since it's supposed to be boring"
"Right. Good boring though." He said with a nod. "Not bad boring." He took a deep breath. "Well, maybe not boring. Just not bad exciting. Good exciting. Like...making new friends or going to parties or going out on d--" He looked over at Arabella and closed his mouth. "You know...Good exciting." He said.
Arabella looked down at her lap, blushing a little bit but still smiling. She couldn't deny the fact that when she thought he was going to say 'dates' her hear skipped a beat. But they were just friends. Arabella took a deep breath and smiled up at him. "I still have to take you to the city at some point, remember? I promised"
"That is true." He said quietly. "I did a good amount of city driving though, so it's not as unfamiliar as it was." He nodded and leaned on the railing. "It would only be fair that I give you something in return. Anything that I can do? Some place you haven't been?" He asked, looking over at her, blushing slightly, his eyes unable to resist looking at Arabella's lips for a moment.
"Hmmm...well, I've always wanted to learn how to drive. You could take me somewhere out in the country and teach me how to drive." Arabella said with a little smile then gasped slightly "Oh! Maybe we could go out to the Hamptons and you could teach me there! That would be so much fun!" She said excitedly then bit her lip "Sorry. I got a bit excited"
Hunter smiled and laughed a little bit. "Well, I would be down with that. Not sure how good of a teacher I would be, but I can give it a shot." He said, nudging her with his elbow. "I don't know what car you would practice in either. You probably have some nice one at your brownstone or something." He said with a shrug. "I practiced in this really beat-up jeep. I doubt you'd want to drive that."
Arabella furrowed her brow, thinking back a little bit. She couldn't remember ever telling Hunter about where she lived. She couldn't remember telling him that she lived in a brownstone or even what neighbourhood she lived in. She didn't even tell him that she lived in Manhattan. "Hmm? Oh, that's fine" She muttered, trying not to sound like she was thinking about something but failing miserably.
Hunter nodded and then looked at her, arching an eyebrow in her direction. "You okay?" He asked a little nervously. Hunter suddenly worried that he did something wrong and looked down at himself, trying to recognize and fix the problem as quickly as possible. "I'm sorry if I said something wrong." He said quietly, his face turned toward the ground and his voice tight from nerves.
Arabella took a little breath and she smiled, shaking her head. She looked over at him, trying to pretend like nothing happened. Maybe she was just imagining it. She must of told him at some point that she lived in a brownstone. "No, it's nothing, I just couldn't remember when I told you that I live in a brownstone" She told him and shrugged. "And then I was thinking about it and we all know that us Aphrodite kids can't think and talk at the same time" She joked in a sarcastic voice.
Hunter froze for a second and then laughed a little nervously. "I probably uh...I mean you...I probably read it in your letters or something" He finally said, nodding maybe a little too much. "That's it." He ran his fingers through his hair again before yawning and putting his forehead against her shoulder for a moment. "Wow. I might take a nap." He said, standing up.
"Did you turn into an old man over the school year?" Arabella teased him, giggling, just trying to lighten the mood. She stood up and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "Okay, well...have a good nap. I'll see you down at the fire tonight?" She said and she took a deep breath, unsure of how to say goodbye to him. Is she supposed to hug him or would that be weird? "I should go...." Arabella finished in a low voice and she quickly turned, rushing back towards her cabin.
Hunter watched her and shifted from foot to foot before heading back into Hermes Cabin. He sighed and rubbed his eyes slightly as he walked to his bed, laying down. "I'm not going to last long..." Hunter said quietly to himself, closing his eyes. He kept thinking about how good a just friend Hunter could be for Arabella. There was a big part of his mind that couldn't help, but want to be more than that and he hated how difficult he found just talking to her while resisting the urge to go in a romantic direction. He didn't even know if she liked him back. He kept thinking about this and after a couple more minutes, he fell asleep.
Arabella hurried back into her cabin, quickly closing the door behind her and rushing over to her bed. Her heart was racing and her breathing was heavy. Things had gotten awkward fast and Arabella didn't really know how to deal with it. Arabella was sure that she had never told him where she lives. So how would he know that she lives in a brownstone? She didn't want to think about it. Arabella needed to be friends with Hunter, she wanted to be more. She didn't want to think about something else getting in the middle of them. She groaned and flopped down on her bed without unpacking and she shoved her head in her pillow, closing her eyes.
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