Arabella groaned. The sun was too bright, every sound was too loud. She wasn't really sure where she was for a moment, all she knew was that her head hurt and her stomach was tight. Arabella yawned and she finally opened her eyes, looking out a window. All of last night's events came rushing back to her and she groaned again. Everything with Chrissy had ended up being horrible and now she was in the same house. Arabella rolled over, coming face to face with Hunter's sleeping face and she smiled a little bit.
Hunter could feel a little bit of movement in the bed. He didn't really recognize where he was sleeping, but he quickly figured that it wasn't his bed at camp. His eyes opened a little bit and all he saw were blurry shapes, but he blinked a few times as he woke up to see that it was Arabella, awake and looking at him. He couldn't help, but smile back at her. "Hi." He said very quietly, his voice raspy from sleep.
"Hi" Arabella whispered and she closed her eyes, wishing that she could forget everything that had happened the previous night. She was still feeling pretty embarrassed. Arabella yawned and she stretched out her legs a little. "Chrissy really hates me now, doesn't she?" She said in a soft voice, keeping her eyes closed. As wonderful as it was to wake up next to Hunter, Arabella had a horrible knot in her stomach, thinking about Chrissy.
"I don't care." Hunter said, looking at her, brushing some hair behind her ear. "She can get over it. I think I'm going to keep you around for a while." He said with a smile, placing a hand on her side. He was mad at Chrissy. After last night, he was positive about what he felt for Arabella and he wasn't going to let Chrissy stop them. He ran his fingers along her side for a moment then took a breath. "Come on. I'm going to make you breakfast." He said, sitting up.
"Mmm...breakfast sounds fantastic" Arabella said and she sat up, stretching her arms out. "Thanks for the clothes, by the way. My dress is really gross now" She said with a bit of a laugh, nodding over to her dress where it was laid out on a chair. Arabella slid off of the bed and she picked a hair tie out of her clutch and she pulled her hair back into a messy bun. "Thanks for everything last night" She finished, placing a little kiss on his nose.
Hunter blushed a little bit and then took her hand, pulling her out of his room. He lead her down the hallway, rubbing his eyes and blinking as he adjusted to the light. Hunter looked down and saw the hallway covered in trash and empty cans and cups. Trudging his way through, he finally passed the sitting room where he found Chrissy and Jake sitting on the couch across from each other, talking quietly. When Hunter walked in Jake looked up, waving at the two of them. Chrissy looked back at them.
"Good morning, you two." He said with a smile. Hunter locked eyes with Chrissy who glared at Arabella then turned back to Jake.
"Hey, I'm going to make some breakfast. You guys..." He stopped and Jake simply nodded. Hunter led Arabella into the kitchen and lifted her onto the counter, smiling softly at her.
Arabella cleared her throat, and she smiled back at Hunter. Walking past Chrissy had felt so awkward and uncomfortable and she was just trying to forget about it. She wanted to let go of that bitterness. "Jake and Chrissy look adorable together" She said with a little nod, placing her hands on Hunter's arms. It would be great for Jake to have that connection with someone and maybe getting a boyfriend would loosen Chrissy up a little bit.
"It's definitely not as weird as I thought it was going to be." He said with a smile, placing his hands on her legs. He finally squeezed them and then turned to the fridge, leaning in and grabbing some eggs and a package of bacon. He started cook a little bit then yawned as he looked at the pans. "Do you mind if we stick around and help clean up a little?" He asked, nudging her leg a little bit.
"Uh, no..I don't mind" Arabella replied with a little shrug. It was going to be awkward and uncomfortable but Arabella felt like it was the least she could do. Maybe she would be able to spend all of her time with Hunter and she wouldn't have to talk to Chrissy. She glanced over at the pan where he was cooking the eggs and she yawned. "That looks really good, Hunter. Where did you learn how to cook?"
"I taught him." Chrissy said, walking into the kitchen, looking at Arabella and the clothes she was wearing. "We started with eggs and now I teach him new stuff every once in a while. It's kind of a tradition." She said, leaning on the doorway. Jake stepped next to her, nudging her familiarly. They exchanged looks for a long moment and then Chrissy sighed, stepping toward Arabella. "Hey, I just...I wanted to apologize for spilling on your dress. I had been drinking and it was..." She shook her head then rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry and I'll pay to dry clean your dress." She said, forcing a smile onto her face.
Arabella looked at her then glanced at Hunter for a moment. On one hand, it was a little nice to hear Chrissy apologize to her but it was also pretty obvious that she was being forced into saying. The fake smile could not be more obvious. "That's okay. Don't worry about it" Arabella said stiffly and she slipped off of the counter, tugging on the shorts a little bit. "Is breakfast almost ready?" Arabella asked Hunter, hoping that it was to keep everyone busy eating instead of talking.
Hunter sighed and looked at Jake who shrugged. He heard Chrissy sigh and grumble a little bit. She mumbled something under her breath.
"Yeah. Just a couple more minutes." Hunter said, pinching a little bit of salt over the eggs. He looked at Arabella a little pleadingly, hoping just everything would just blow over. After a couple moments of awkward silence, he grabbed some plates out of the cabinet and then served up four plates of food.
Arabella passed a plate to Jake with a smile and then she passed a plate to Chrissy, her smile faltering a little bit. "This, uh, this looks really good" She said, turning back to Hunter and grinning up at him. "Thank you" She added, kissing his cheek and then walking over to the table. Arabella sat down nibbling a little bit of toast.
Hunter sat down, blushing a little bit. He started eating, unable to ignore how awkward everything was. "So, have you guys looked at how bad the mess is?" He asked, breaking the silence.
"Well, there's a fair amount of trash outside." Jake said with a nod. "The backyard in particular."
"You can come back and help once you take Arabella home." Chrissy added, looking down at her food. Hunter opened his mouth to speak and looked over at Arabella.
"You said you were going to stay, right?" Hunter asked, looking at her a little hesitantly.
"Uh, yeah.." Arabella replied. She cleared her throat and she shifted in her chair a little, sitting up straighter. "Yeah, it's a pretty big mess. I don't mind sticking around to help out a bit" She nodded, glancing at Chrissy for a brief second before looking back at Hunter. "And besides, it seems a little silly for you to drive me back to camp, then drive back here and then drive back to camp later today"
"Well, Chrissy, you're going to have to drive us back, too." Hunter said with a nod. "I don't really want to leave the jeep on the side of the road.
"I control your fate then." Chrissy said with a giggle. She smiled at Hunter and glanced at Arabella, taking a deep breath. Hunter kept his head down a little bit and finishing his food somewhat quickly. He then stood up grabbing his plate and gesturing to Jake to finish. Jake finished and the two of them put their dishes in the sink then Hunter grabbed a couple trash bags.
"Jake and I are going to take care of the stuff outside." Hunter said, dragging Jake out the door.
Arabella opened her mouth to say something but the boys were gone before she had a chance to say anything. She quickly shut her mouth and glanced at Chrissy then took a bite of her food, finishing up her breakfast. She really didn't know how this was going to go but she figured that she might as well get down to cleaning. Maybe if they were busy, they wouldn't have time to keep fighting. Arabella stood up and she walked over to the sink, glancing around it. "Where, uhm, where do you keep the dish soap?" She asked Chrissy, turning to look at her.
Chrissy looked at her for a long moment then cleared her throat. "There's some below the sink." She said, putting her dishes in the sink. "You've probably had a ton of these parties before." She said, grabbing a couple trash bags. "Though you'd probably have the guy you slept with that night help." She took a breath, grabbing some trash off the floor. "I guess that's Hunter now..." She mumbled with a sigh.
Arabella had started doing the dishes but when Chrissy mentioned Hunter, Arabella stopped. She put down the plate she was holding and bushed her hands off on a towel. Things were getting too harsh between them and Arabella had enough of it. She needed to stand up for herself, now. "Would you stop it?" She snapped, turning to look at Chrissy with annoyed eyes. "You don't know anything about me and you have no right to start saying shit like that." She said and huffed, turning back to the dishes. "Why do you have to be such a bitch"
"I know girls like you, Arabella!" Chrissy said, stepping toward Arabella. "You're one of those entitled girls who grew up in the city. You go to some private school where everybody eats out of the palm of your hand. You've had a long list of boyfriends and an even longer list of sex partners. And every single guy at school pays attention to you more than anything else." She said, sinking down into a kitchen chair, her face falling to the floor.
"Gods, dammit, Chrissy!" Arabella raised her voice a little bit and she turned back around to face her but stopped when she saw how she was looking at the floor. She took a breath, trying to calm down, and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "That's not me. That's not who I am, at all. I mean, sure, my siblings back at camp can be a little bit like that. They are crazy.." She said, her voice trailing off. Arabella cleared her throat and took a bit of a step towards her. "Why do you hate me so much, Chrissy? Why do you just assume that I'm anything like those girls?"
"Thomas Samson." She said quietly. "We went to high school together and I had the biggest crush on him. We were really close and we talked a lot and he started dating Vanessa Bradshaw. Cheerleading, student counciling, prom queen permanent toothbrush commercial. He started dating her and then I fell by the wayside and I'm not really even upset about the fact that he liked her over me. I'm just...I lost a friend." She said, looking up at Arabella. "So, when I see you, I think about Vanessa Bradshaw and last night Jake told me that he used to like you and I just...I got mad and I spilled that drink on you."
"I'm not Vanessa Bradshaw, Chrissy." Arabella said and she leaned back against the counter, glancing over at the girl across from her. "Look, I know that Hunter told you about everything we've...everything him and I have been through. I get it. You're being protective" She sighed and rubbed her eyes, feeling pretty tired from the previous night. "But you have to know that I'm not like that in any way. I don't plan on hurting Hunter like that."
"I know, Arabella..." Chrissy said with a sigh. "I'm just...I've seen the way you look at him and I've seen the way he looks at you and I just don't want Hunter getting hurt and I...I don't want to lose Hunter either. He's my best friend and I don't want to lose him like I lost Thomas." She said quietly. "I'm sorry for how I've treated you, Arabella. You don't deserve it, but I don't want to lose anything."
"I don't want Hunter to be hurt, either, Chrissy. You have to believe me when I say that I regret every single thing that I have done in the past that hurt Hunter. He means more to me than he knows" Arabella confessed, feeling rather vulnerable. She hadn't really said anything like that to anyone, not even Daniel. "I know how much Hunter cares about you. You won't be losing him any time soon" she added.
Chrissy looked up at Arabella and then stood. She played with her hands for a moment. "Can I give you a hug?" She asked, looking up at Arabella a little hesitantly. She didn't really wait for an answer before she hugged her. She took a deep breath and then pulled away. "...Sorry. I'm just...I'm happy. He cares a lot about you, Arabella. He really, really cares for you and I'm relieved a little bit..." She chuckled a little uncomfortably, blowing some hair from her face. "Can I trust you?"
Arabella smiled back at Chrissy. Finally, things were starting to smooth out for them and it felt great. Arabella was so happy that Chrissy was starting to accept her and she couldn't wait to see Hunter again, to let him know. Even if he didn't say anything to her, she knew that the tension between her and his cousin was putting a lot of stress on him. "Yeah, yeah of course you can" Arabella said in a soft voice.
"I like Jake." She said, blushing hard, turning away from Arabella, opening a trash bag and grabbing some cups off the floor. "He's a huge dork and he has the lamest jokes, but he's so sweet and I...I don't know." She said, shaking her head, her cheeks bright pink as she sweeps a bunch of cups off the table into the bag.
Arabella grinned, quickly finishing up with the dishes. When she had walked in that morning, she got an instant feeling that there was some kind of chemistry between those two. "Well..." Arabella started and she moved on, taking down some of the decorations. "Jake is a really great guy. He's one of the best people I know" She said with a little nod then she turned to look at Chrissy "And I think he likes you, too"
Chrissy blushed and took a deep breath, tapping her fingers against her leg. "You're a daughter of Aphrodite, so you probably have a sense for that kind of thing, right?" she said, looking up at Arabella. "I just...I don't know. Guys usually don't like girls that look like me..." She said, looking own at herself, placing a hand on her stomach.
Arabella looked over at her and she bit her lip. It was a difficult thing, being worried about how you looked. Arabella felt like that sometimes, everyone felt like that sometimes. But Chrissy seemed to be really sad about the fact that she was carrying a little extra weight. "Well, you're just not meeting the right guys. Because you're beautiful" Arabella said honestly and smiled over at her. Chrissy got this sceptical look on her face and Arabella widened her eyes a little bit. "I'm telling you the truth! You are!" She said and she paused for a moment to fix her bun in her hair. "Look, we should do a girls day some time. We can go into the city and...have a spa day. It'll make you feel like the fabulous person you are"
Chrissy blushed a little bit and then smiled at Arabella. "You know...you being nice to me is making me feel awful for all the stuff I did..." She said, a small tear slipping down her cheek. "Ugh...I'm sorry. I cry like a leaky faucet." She said, turning away, wiping her cheek. "Anything and everything sets me off." She said, taking a deep breath.
Arabella laughed and she nodded. "Yeah, you and me both" She said, giggling and she walked over to Chrissy, hugging her again. It felt really good to be getting along with Chrissy. After all of the crap, it was easy to see her as she was and Arabella thought she seemed pretty great. Hopefully, they could just get along now at this point. Arabella heard the door open just as she pulled out of the hug and she looked over to see Hunter and Jake stepping into the house.
Hunter walked in slowly and when he didn't hear shouting and the silence wasn't uncomfortable, he headed into the kitchen and looked at Arabella and Chrissy. "The uh...outside is...done." He said, narrowing his eyes.
"What went on in here?" Jake asked, grabbing his sportcoat off the back of a chair. "It's...not as much of a mess. Did you guys do anything in here?"
"Shut up, Jake. They're bonding." Hunter said, elbowing him hard in side.
"Here, Jake" Arabella said, tossing him a garbage bag. "Why don't you and Chrissy go clean up the living room. She'll be able to make sure that you don't break anything" She teased. As Jake walked off towards the living room, grumbling slightly, with Chrissy following him, Arabella gave her a little wink. As soon as they were gone, Arabella stretched and went back to taking down the decorations, smiling at the look on Hunter's face.
Hunter looked at her, taking a deep breath. "Did you..." Hunter cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Uhh...Did you...charmspeak her...?" He asked, glancing back at where Chrissy and Jake were cleaning. "When does it wear off?" He said, placing a hand on her side.
"Oh, ye of little faith!" Arabella gasped with a little giggle and she grinned up at him. "No, I did not charmspeak her. When you leave two people alone for a certain amount of time, things tend to come up" Arabella said and she leaned into his arm a little bit. "We, uh, we just started snapping at each other and things kind of calmed down and we talked it out"
"That's great!" Hunter said with a smile. "I don't know how this is possible, but I'm definitely happy about it." He said, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her. "So, what did it?" He asked. "What was the breaking moment? Are you BFFs now or something?"
Arabella rolled her eyes at him but she still smiled. "Oh, yeah, we are so totes BFFs" She said in a teasing tone and she placed her hands on his arms. "How was cleaning with Jake? Anything exciting happen?" She looked up at him, happy that everything seemed to be doing better. Her and Hunter were talking, she wasn't fighting with Chrissy and things were just good. Arabella couldn't wait to get back to camp.
"Oh, nothing special." He said with a smile. "Don't go spreading this around, but Jake is pretty happy about being invited. Except for being a shoulder to cry on, he had a good night with Chrissy." Hunter said in a hushed tone, placing a hand on her side. He looked down at his hand and then smiled, blushing a little bit. He couldn't help, but blush. He had no idea why he was worried now before. He had nothing to worry about. He could tell by the way she was looking up at him and he was almost positive he was looking at her the same way. He took a breath and then leaned in a little bit before blushing hard and turning into a hug. After a slightly awkward moment, he pulled away and cleared his throat. "We should go help clean up. And make sure they're not off making out or something." He said with a slightly nervous chuckle.
Arabella laughed a little bit and she nodded, pulling out of his arms and walking into the living room where she saw Jake and Chrissy, sitting down on the couch and talking about something. Most of the living room was clean and they seemed to be deep into their conversation. Arabella grinned to herself then glanced at Hunter. "We're uh, we're done in the kitchen" She said, getting both of them to look over at her and Hunter. "I think that all of the cleaning is pretty well finished"
"Oh!" Chrissy said quietly, standing up off the couch. "Thank you so much, guys. You saved me a ton of work." She said with a smile.
"Hey, it was our pleasure." Jake said, nudging her with his hip. Hunter smiled at Arabella for a moment then looked back.
"Yeah. It was a kicking party and you can't throw a party without cracking a few eggs, right?" Hunter said, glancing at Chrissy. She shrugged. "Anyway, I was wondering if you could give us a ride back to camp. I don't really want to leave the jeep there."
"Yeah, definitely. Let me just grab my keys." She said before disappearing into the kitchen.
"I'll just run upstairs and grab my stuff" Arabella said, kissing Hunter's cheek. She turned around and walked up the stairs, into Hunter's bedroom. She walked over to her dress where it was sitting on the chair and she frowned a little bit. Arabella didn't really feel right taking Hunter's cousin's shorts but her dress smelt terrible. It was also is pretty terrible condition. If she walked into camp wearing a dirty dress that smelt like beer, she would never hear the end of it. Everyone already thought she slept with half of the guys at camp. This wouldn't help. She sighed and slipped out of the shorts, walking over to the dresser in Hunter's room. Arabella pulled open drawers until she found what she was looking for. She pulled on a pair of gym shorts, pulling the ties around her waist as tight as she could get them. Arabella put her bag on her shoulder with her dress and tied Hunter's t-shirt around her waist so it was a bit more fitted and she walked downstairs. "I'm ready to go"
Hunter turned around when Arabella came back in. When he saw her, his jaw nearly dropped. She looked great even though she was just dressed in his clothes. Maybe that's why he liked it so much. He took her hand once she was close enough and left a kiss on her forehead. "You know, I'll need to buy new clothes if I keep giving you mine." He said with a smile down at her. "Not that I'm complaining. You make them look good." He smiled and pulled her a little bit closer, looking down at her. He leaned forward to kiss her, but was interrupted when Chrissy returned to the room.
"Alright, break it up you two. Let's hit the road." Chrissy said with a smile, twirling her keys on her finger. Hunter sighed a little bit then offered his arm to Arabella, turning toward the door.
Arabella smiled, letting Jake walk in front of them and she hook her arm with Hunter, walking out to the car. She was excited to get back to camp. They had only been gone for a night but so much had happened. Her and Hunter were more or less exclusive at this point and Arabella wanted to show him off. She wanted the whole camp to know that she was crazy about him. Hunter held the door open for her and she slid into the back seat, smiling at him as he sat down next to her. "Thanks for giving us a drive, Chrissy"
"It's not a problem." She said, checking her mirrors and looking at Jake for a long moment. She finally turned to the road and put the car in drive. Nothing happened. The car very slowly creeped forward, moving very slowly. Her foot thumped against the pedal, but nothing happened. "Umm...guys?" Hunter furrowed his eyebrows and Jake leaned toward her a little bit.
"You didn't turn the car on, Chrissy..." Hunter said with a small smile. She looked down at the unturned key in the ignition. Her cheeks quickly turned bright red.
"Oh, gosh..." She mumbled, putting the car in park. "I can't believe I just did that." She said, obviously embarrassed. She started the car and began to drive.
"Hey, it happens. I'd forget my name if it wasn't screwed onto my head." Jake said, patting her leg lightly. "...Or however it is that saying goes." He said, smiling over at her. She blushed and smiled back, turning back to the road after a moment.
Arabella looked up at those two flirting and laughing and smiling. She turned to Hunter with this big grin on her face, poking his knee so he knew exactly what she was getting so excited about. They were adorable and she was determined to get them together. "So, Hunter, looking forward to being back at camp?" She asked him, trying not to giggle or say anything to embarrass Jake and Chrissy.
Hunter smiled at her, rolling his eyes a little bit at how giddy she seemed. He was glad that Jake and Chrissy had hit it off. Jake deserved to be happy and so did Chrissy and it was a strange twist of fate that they could be happy together. Now, he wondered how things might go wrong. With Chrissy and Jake and Arabella and himself. Things usually didn't tend to stay happy in his world. Not for very long at least. He looked over at Arabella however and his mind changed. He was happy with Arabella and he didn't want that to change. "I am. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you sans the squares." He said, whispering to her, poking his thumb toward Jake.
Arabella giggled and she nodded. "Oh, I know. We are so much cooler than them" She whispered back. There was silence in the car for a minute and Arabella cleared her throat. "So, I'm thinking that all four of us should go get lunch or something at sometime. We can go somewhere in the city and make a bit of a day out of it" She suggested, talking to the whole car. She wanted to see Chrissy again and she hoped that if all four of them went out together, it would get Chrissy and Jake closer.
Hunter looked over at Arabella and raised an eyebrow then looked at Jake who looked over at Chrissy, his cheeks turning a little pink. Chrissy kept her eyes on the road, but Hunter could tell that she was nibbling on the inside of her lip like she did when she was nervous. It was silent and Hunter was wondering if the front was even breathing. Finally, he decided to be merciful on them. "That sounds like fun, Ellie." Hunter said, putting his arm across the back of the seats. "You can drag us into girly stores and we can drag you into manly stores. It'll be a blast."
"It will be a blast" Arabella said with a little nod, grinning over at Hunter. The drive was quick and before Arabella knew it, they were pulling up to the side of the road, right where the hill to camp was. Arabella cleared her throat and she adjusted her bag on her arm. "Thanks for the drive, Chrissy" She said and she reached up front, giving her a little hug. "Talk to you later!" She said in goodbye and she jumped out of the car, waiting for the boys.
Hunter watched Arabella get out and smiled a little bit when he hugged Chrissy and Chrissy actually hugged her back. It didn't hold her attention long because she then looked over at Jake. Hunter went ahead and got out looking at Arabella and smiling, he then turned to Jake who was talking to Chrissy and she was giggling a lot. Hunter couldn't hear through the car windows, but whatever it was, he was pretty okay with it. Once Jake finally got out, after hugging Chrissy, Hunter slipped into the passenger's seat and smiled at Chrissy.
"You okay?" He asked at Chrissy who still had a pink hue to her cheeks.
"Yeah..." She said, nodding as a smile spread onto her lips.
"I love you, Chrissy." He said before leaning over and hugging her. She hugged him back and then Hunter finally got out, taking Arabella's hand and waving at Chrissy as she drove away. "So, how was that for a second date?" He asked quietly to Arabella.
"It was a pretty great second date" Arabella said with a laugh. She let go of his hand and she hooked her arm with his, leaning on him a little bit as they walked towards their camp, their home. "We should go to the beach later or something. It's such a beautiful day and I would hate to waste it sitting in my bed" She said and looked over at Jake. "You should come too, Jake"
Jake had a pensive look on his face and at the sound of his name, he looked over, blinking a few times. "Hmm? Yeah. That sounds like fun." He said, smiling a little bit. Hunter grinned over at Jake and then nudged Arabella a little bit.
"I'm surprised I don't see him floating." He said quietly to her. They got over the hill and Jake waved as he headed toward Hermes cabin while Hunter headed toward Aphrodite with Arabella. He walked kind of slowly, knowing that once she went inside then the night would officially be over. He stopped by the porch and turned to her placing his hands gently on her waist. "I like spending time with you." He said quietly.