Arabella looked down at herself. The sun was bright and warm. She was wearing a fancy dress and she was wearing her favorite high heels. A small squeeze told her that Hunter was holding her hand and she looked up at him with a smile. Arabella turned her eyes to look at the scene around them. There were beautiful flowers everywhere and the sun was beating in through a window. They were sitting in a church and everyone around them looked fancy. She recognized a lot of people that she knew from camp. Her eyes landed on a man at the front of the church, looking nervous but happy. Arabella turned into her seat and she saw the flash of glasses and a red head before everyone screamed and Arabella felt a sharp pain in her side.
Arabella's eyes popped open and she sat up quickly, breathing hard. It was a dream. It was all a dream. she touched her hand to her forehead lightly and realized that she had been sweating a little bit. Her heart was racing and she felt a little sick to her stomach because of nerves. It had been years since she had a dream like that. Trying to calm herself down, she looked to the bed beside her and saw that Hunter wasn't there. With a sigh, she rested her forehead on her knees, trying to forget about the dream.
Hunter woke up and got dressed. He knew that they had a long day ahead of them and, to be honest, he was a little excited for it. He went downstairs and walked into the kitchen. He started cooking some pancakes with eggs and a few strips of bacon. He got out a tray and put a glass of orange juice on it. He hoped that Arabella had slept well, considering the circumstances. Once he finished cooking breakfast, he loaded up the tray and carefully picked it up. He walked upstairs and pushed the door open with his back. "Breakfast is ser-" He said with a grin as he walked in. His smile dropped and so did the tray almost at the sight of Arabella. He quickly hurried over to her, setting the tray on the bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Are you okay, Ellie?" He asked quietly. "What's wrong? Is something wrong?" He said, putting an arm around her.
When his arm went around her, Arabella started to relax almost right away. She took a breath and she leaned into him slightly, trying to regain her composure and her control. That dream couldn't mean anything good. She felt it in her heart and in her soul, it was not just a random dream. Arabella took her forehead off of her knees and she shivered lightly "Dream" she whispered "Just a bad dream"
"Oh. A demigod dream. Got it." He said with a nod as he pulled her closer. He rubbed her arm and kissed her temple. "What was it of?" He asked quietly. He leaned over and hooked his finger in the tray. He carefully slid it back over and offered it. "I have breakfast here. Food will make you feel better." He said, scooting behind her and rubbing her shoulders.
Arabella smiled a little smile when he started to rub her shoulders and she took a bite of the bacon. It was perfect and made her bacon from the previous day taste like crap. Arabella sighed as she thought about her dream "I, I don't know..really. I was at a wedding and you were with me but then suddenly, everything just sort of..fell apart and monsters started attacking like crazy" she said softly. Arabella had never been the best when it came to fighting monsters and they kind of terrified her. "Then I woke up" she finished and she ate another piece of bacon.
"It was a good thing you were there." He said quietly. "I'm just a mortal, now, remember? I don't have any celestial bronze weaponry. No bow. No arrows. No knife. No sword." He said with a sigh as he moved his hands up to the base of her neck. "Other that the dream, how did you sleep?" He asked, rubbing his fingertips in small circles, down her back
Arabella moaned softly as he moved his hands down her back. It was relaxing and it was wonderful and it was perfect. She let out a little sigh and she ate some of the eggs. "I slept good" she told him with a nod then chewed on the inside of her lip "You were never just a mortal and you're never going to be just a mortal. We're gonna have to get you some weapons and get you trained up again, mister. I do not want to be the one that has to protect us if we ever get attacked. You know how much I suck"
"Umm...Excuse me." He said, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her back for a moment to look at her. "I remember a certain student of mine, elbowing me in the face." He said with a smile before pecking her on the lips. "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that." He kissed her again and let go, going back to working on her back. "You, Ellie, did not suck. Not compared to some others. They sucked." He said as he ran his hands down her sides.
Arabella let out a soft sigh, leaning forward slightly as Hunter worked on her back. She took a bite of the pancakes and ket out a little moan while Hunter rubbed her back "Why are you so good at this?" she teased him, echoing what he has said to her lat night. She took another bite of her food and cleared her throat "I'm okay with the fact that I suck, Hunter. It took me a hell of a lot of work to be able to elbow you in the face. And that wasn't even on purpose" she giggled "Daughter of Athena, I am not"
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You've got charmspeak." He reasoned, rubbing her shoulders again. "That's not nothing. I saw you make the scariest monsters do whatever you wanted." He rubbed her arms and down her sides before wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. "Mmm...You haven't been charmspeaking me, have you?" He asked with a chuckle, trailing his lips down to her shoulder.
Arabella giggled and she turned around in his arms so that she was facing him and she put her hands on his neck, pulling him down to kiss her "Maybe I have. It was all a big scheme of mine to get you into bed" she teased with a wiggle of her eyebrow and she pressed her lips against his, giggling softly. Arabella ran her hands down to his shoulder for a moment before pulling away softly "Amazing breakfast, by the way"
"Mmm. Thanks." He said kissing her again. He took a deep breath and ran his fingers lightly down her side, pulling her closer for a moment. "You taste like maple syrup." He said against her lips as he leaned into her. He finally broke away and sighed. "Let's finish unpacking." He said quietly. "Then if there's some time..." He smiled and kissed her again before standing up. He picked up her tray and walked out the door.
"You are such a tease!" Arabella called after him. She heard him chuckling from the stairs and she smiled to herself. With a small sigh, she rolled off of the bed and she worked on getting her clothes unpacked again. It was easier this time and soon enough, she had her closet organized perfectly with her shoes neatly lined up. Arabella smiled before pulling off her clothes from yesterday and slipping into a pair of skinny jeans and a simple v-neck shirt. Arabella pulled her to the side and she started to braid it as she walked down the stairs, wondering where Hunter was.
Hunter washed the dishes and put them away. He dried off his hands and did a quick inventory of the fridge, making sure they had everything for dinner tonight. With nothing better to do he stood in the living room and stared at the TV. Arabella's TV. He looked up when he saw Arabella walk in. "What are we going to do with this?" He asked quietly. It really didn't fit in anywhere. He walked over to her and slid an arm around her waist. "Are you done already?" He asked with a smile as he pulled her in for a kiss.
Arabella smiled against his lips and she nodded "Yeah, I had most of clothes organized in the boxes and bags so it didn't take too long to fix it up in the closet" she said softly and she leaned into him slightly before looking down at the TV. Arabella let out a little huff and turned her head to the side, like a puppy that heard a sound it had never heard before. "We can figure it out some other time" she finally decided with a shrug.
"Well," Hunter said, checking his watch. "We've got an hour and....a half until noon. What do you want to do until then?" He said with a raised eyebrow and wrapped an arm around her waist. He pressed his lips to hers and pulled her closer. "Do you have any ideas, at all?" He asked, smiling against her lips.
"Mmm...I could think of a few things" Arabella said with a giggle and she pressed herself closer to him, kissing him seductively "Let's make a puzzle!" she laughed and placed gentle kisses on his jaw before pulling away. She started to walk away from him, making sure to wiggle her hips.
Hunter grabbed her by the wrist and spun her into him. He kept his arm around her and kissed her. "Maybe tomorrow." He said as he stepped backward and tumbled over the back of the couch, dragging her along. He landed awkwardly and wrapped his arms around her even tighter. He looked at her with surprised eyes before laughing and kissing her again. "Are you okay?" He asked with a laugh.
"Yeah, I'm great" Arabella said, looking down at him with an amused but shocked look. She kissed his chin lightly and put her hands on his chest, holding onto his shirt lightly "Let's not fall over anymore couches, though. Okay?" she teased and grazed her lips down to his neck, kissing him around the base of his neck "So, what do you want to do?" she whispered against his skin
"Mmm." He said, running his hands down her sides. "We could just sit and watch TV." He suggested, bring her face up to his and kissing her tightly on the lips. "Or something a little more...interesting." He said, running his fingers up and down her spine.
She smiled against his lips and pushed herself closer to him, into the kiss more. Part of Arabella wanted to stay with Hunter like that all day, Thye didn't even need to get off of the floor. They could stay like there, happy in each other's arms and Arabella would be content. "Maybe we should watch TV. You'll need to save your strength for tonight, after Dad is gone" she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows
"Oh, really?" He said with a chuckle. He kissed her again and stood up from his spot on the ground. "Uhh...We can just move it." He said quietly as he plugged in the TV. He handed Arabella the remote and sat down next to her on the ground. He put an arm around her and held her close before pulling a blanket off the back of the couch and put it over their legs. "I don't watch TV, really..." He said as he leaned his head toward hers. "So it'll be your job to get me addicted."
"I can do that" Arabella said with a giggle and she folded her legs under her. She leaned into him slightly and turned on the TV. There wasnt too many shows on really, not at that time of the day. Arabella chewed on her lip and flipped through the menu. With a little gasp of delight, she saw that her favorite show was coming on and she quickly turned it on "This is a good show. It's called Monsterquest" she told him and put the remote down.
"Monsterquest." Hunter said with a nod. He raised an eyebrow at Arabella. "Really? Okay." He said, clearing his throat and turning to the TV. They were searching for proof of giant birds. "What? No." He said as they showed 'proof'. After the first episode, his opinion of the show was very low. The next episode was a search for Bigfoot. He leaned into Arabella a little and ran his fingers through her hair. "Bigfoot." He said shaking his head. "That's not real. I've fought every monster ever. Trust me. Bigfoot is not real. Chimera. That's real." He said with a nod.
Arabella smacked his leg but she didn't take her eyes off of the TV. "Oh, just enjoy the show. I find it quite hilarious" she said stubbornly and turned her head to grin at him "Besides, how do we know for sure that Bigfoot isn't real?" she giggled and turned her eyes back to the TV. She never took the show seriously, but she thought that it was funny. It was entertaining to see them trying to find these monsters and prove that they were real "We could always watch Ghost Hunters" she added with a nod.
"At least ghosts are real..." He said quietly as the credits rolled. He sighed and checked his watch. "You stay here, beautiful. I'll make lunch." He said, kissing her cheek. He stood up and walked into the kitchen where he started on making a pizza. "What do you want on your pizza?" He shouted into the living room.
"With pepper heart?!" Arabella shouted back excitedly and she switched the chanel to Ghost Hunters. Arabella loved all of these kinds of shows. She found them interesting and funny and in the case of Ghost Hunters, sometimes a little scary. Arabella sat up straighter and she pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees and watched as they searched a light house for ghosts.
"Sure!" Hunter said with a chuckled. He made the pizza and slipped it into the oven. He set the timer and walked back into the kitchen with a cup of coffee for Arabella and a cup of water for himself. He sat down and handed her the coffee. "What did I miss?" He asked, pulling the blanket over himself again. "Oh. 'Ghosts'. Right." He said, making quotes with his hands.
"Don't be such a party pooper" Arabella said, taking a sip of her coffee and leaning into Hunter slightly "You know what we should get for tonight? For after my dad leaves?" she asked and looked up at Hunter who looked down at her with an eyebrow raised, looking a little hesitant "We should get a horror movie, popcorn, lots of candy. And maybe a few extra things too" she added with a wink and a nudge, trying not to giggle too much.
Hunter blushed a little. "Extra....things?" He said quietly. He pushed the images that he thought of out of his head and finally recognized the other words in the sentence. "A movie night. That sounds like fun." He said with a nod. He looked at her again and blushed. "Ex-Extra things." He stammered quietly to himself. "I guess that's okay, too." He said quietly. "Within limits!" He added.
"Babe, we are young and in love" Arabella said in a playful tone and she slipped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her "There are no limits" she added and giggled as she kissed him. She could practically feel his heart racing and his cheeks getting hotter. When Arabella made Hunter feel awkward like that, she thought it was the cutest thing in the world. Hunter had always been someone who was so strong and sure of himself in her eyes and the fact that she could make him feel awkward at the mention of sex was just too much fun.
Hunter smiled against her lips and tried not to think of what she was intending. "Oh. Speaking of your father..." Hunter shuddered at the topic transition. "Did you call him?" He asked, leaving one more kiss on her lips before leaning back again. "I'm curious what his thoughts were on the idea of dinner here. He probably thinks I'm going to poison him or something." He said with a chuckle.
Arabella looked over at him and she shook her head. She took a sip of her coffee and cleared her throat "No, I never got around to it yet. Do you think I should call him, right now?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together. She was a little worried about calling him, to be honest. Arabella didn't know how he would take it.
"Well, I want him to have plenty of time to come up with ways to insult me." Hunter said with a sigh. "You still want to have him over, right?" He asked, putting his arms around her. He put his forehead against hers and smiled. "I really want your dad to like me. I will win him over. Oh! And make sure you invite Tyler. He's always welcome here." He said with a nod. He smiled at her and looked into her eyes. "Tonight is going to be really good."
"He's not going to get away with insulting you anymore" Arabella said softly and she put a hand on his cheeks gently. She smiled up at him, looking into his eyes and she nodded "Tonight is going to be the best night ever. If he is a jerk to you, then I'll just make it up to you after he leaves" she said softly and pressed her lips against his in an innocent kiss.
"We saw what happened last time, didn't we?" He said against her lips. He smiled and lightly licked her lips before breaking away. "Why don't you give him a call? Get everything set up. Then we'll go-" BEEP! Hunter perked up. "Oh. The pizza. I totally forgot about that." He said, standing up. He jogged over to the oven and pulled out the pizza. "Eat first and then call your dad." He said, waving her over.
Arabella pushed herself off of the ground. She walked towards the kitchen, holding her coffee mug close to her chest, "Ohh, it smells amazing, Hunter" Arabella said and she kissed his cheek before looking down at the pizza. Her stomach grumbled in an angry way and Arabella blushed. Quickly, she grabbed a knife and started to cut a slice but she came very close to slicing her finger off and Hunter took the blade from her so that he could cut up the pizza.
Hunter cut up the pizza and gave Arabella 2 slices and himself 3. He handed her a plate and refilled her coffee before grabbing his own plate and walking back over to their spot on the floor. "Wouldn't this be better if the TV was in view of a piece of furniture?" He asked with a chuckle as he sat down and curled up with Arabella again. He said a little prayer to Aphrodite and bit into his pizza. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until now.
"Oh well, I'm fine on the floor" Arabella said with a little shrug and she took a bite of her pizza. She moaned softly and turned to look at Hunter with wide, loving eyes "You, my good sir, are seriously the best. How did I manage to find a guy like you?" she said before leaning into him and kissing him tightly for a moment. Arabella smiled at him and turned back to her pizza, enjoying every bite.
Hunter smiled. He blushed, like she could always make him, and took another bite of pizza. "I don't know actually. There was a camp or something. I remember saving your life a lot. Then you saved my life a lot. I don't know. Something like that." He said with a chuckle as he leaned into her a little bit and finished off his second piece of pizza. "How did I manage a girl as beautiful as you?" He asked, taking a sip of water.
Arabella blushed lightly and she smiled up at him. Trying to sound smooth, she shrugged "Just lucky I guess" she giggled and put her empty plate down so she could pull his face down to hers and kiss him lightly. She looked at the time and let out a sigh "I should go call my dad" she told him then kissed him before standing up "Wish me luck" she giggled before walking out of the room with her phone.
"Good luck." He said with a smile as he finished off his pizza. He watched the rest of the episode of Monsterquest and stood up, shaking his head. "Jungle cats in suburbia...So dumb." He said with a scoff as he picked up the plates and brought them to the kitchen. He washed them and put them away before walking back and sitting on the couch. He was showing confidence about meeting her father again, but in all honesty he was going crazy a little. He took a deep breath and looked at himself in a mirror, checking his appearance.
As the phone rang, Arabella knotted her hands in her shirt, trying to calm herself down. Why was she so nervous about this? He was her father. He had been wrapped around her delicate little finger her whole life. Then, she heard the phone pick up and a familiar voice was speaking into the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Daddy!" Arabella said in her sweetest, daddy's litte girl voice "Look, before you say anything, I have something to ask you. I really wanted to say sorry about the last time that I saw you. Things got a little heated and I was hoping that maybe we could try it again. Hunter wanted to invite you over to his..our place for supper tonight"
"Arabella, dear, I don't think that's a really-"
"Please, Daddy! It would mean so much to me. Please, please, please, please, please!" Arabella said and walked around the spare bedroom. With a sigh, she opened up a box that Hunter had placed there and she started to look through it. She had kind of zoned out of her conversation with her dad because he was starting to ramble. The box had a whole bunch of things in it. A Camp Half Blood necklace was in there, a small photo album was in there. There was a ring that looked very, very old. It looked like it might have been made in the 1920's. She smiled softly and closed the box then let out a sigh.
"Will you come tonight, or not?" Arabella asked her father, cutting him off. Her father sighed.
"Yes, dear. I'll come over"
"Thank you, Daddy! Bring Tyler too!" Arabella said "I love you!" she added quickly before hanging up and grabbing the box, resting it on her hip as she walked out of the room and up the stairs towards Hunter "Look what I found!" she told him happily.
Hunter turned quickly away from the mirror to look at Arabella. His eyes widened at the sight of an old worn Converse shoebox. He had forgotten where he put it after Marina brought it to him. She had claimed a few of the things he left behind when he left camp. He had put it somewhere and totally forgot about it, partially not wanting to go through a semi-painful memory. "Oh..." He said quietly. He took it from her and sat on the bed with the box on his lap. The first thing he pulled out was a very small and faded Camp Half-Blood shirt. He smiled softly at the sight of it. "This was my very first Camp Half-Blood shirt." He said with a chuckle.
Arabella sat down next to him, folding her legs under her. She smiled at the camp shirt and touched it lightly, smoothing it out "You must have looked very adorable in it" she teased, nudging him lightly. It was interesting to see some of these things. Arabella wondered what kinds of things Hunter would have held onto after he left camp, what kinds of things would have meant something to him.
He handed the shirt to Arabella and looked in the box again. "Oh, wow. I thought someone would have taken this for sure." He said as he reached in and pulled out a shining silver knife, curved like a claw. "This is the claw of the Nemean Lion." He said with a soft smile. He lightly ran a finger across the side. There was no dust at all. He wrapped it in the shirt and set it on the bed next to him. He looked into the box and swallowed. A dog tag. He reached in and pulled it out, running a finger across is and read then name. "Orion." He said with a sigh.
Arabella looked back at the claw and smiled a little bit. She looked back at Hunter then down at the dog tag in his hands "Oh, Hunter..I'm sorry" she said softly and rested her chin on his shoulder. She felt so bad for pulling out the box now. Arabella never thought that it would have something like Orion's dog tag in it. She chewed on her lip and looked up at him "Do you want me to put the box back?" she asked him softly
Hunter sighed and looked over at her. "No." he said quietly. He set Orion's dog tag on the knife next to him and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Thank you." he said with a soft smile. It felt good to look through some of these memories. He was glad that Arabella was there with him too. He looked into the box again and pulled out a small flower. "Oh my gods...I had totally forgotten about this." he said holding I up. "When I was 13, who was it? Jordan. Daughter of Ares. She challenged me to a sparring match with the stipulation, that if she won, I had to go to her school dance with her." He said, looking at the smashed flower. "I won, but she had already bought the corsage. She hit me in the eye with it." he said with a chuckle.
Arabella laughed and she lloked at the flower for a moment before looking back at Hunter "I can't believe you broke her hert like that" she teased and looked into the box, pushing a few things around in it. There were lots of little items that looked like they had been pretty old. She pulled out a small photo of a group of kids, recognizing some of the people in it from camp, but not too many. She knew Hunter in the picture and a couple Hermes guys but that was it. Everyone looked happy and they were holding a flag in the air "Capture the flag, I'm guessing?"
Hunter set down the flower and looked over at the picture. "Mmhmm." He said with a smile. "Never on a losing team." He said with a chuckle as he pulled out the flag from that game. "It was the first time Chiron let me compete. I actually won the game. I was...10, maybe? Yeah. I had to be. " He said, spotting a knife on his belt. The same knife that he found in this box. He blinked at it for a moment before taking a deep breath and pulling it out of the box. He carefully unlatched the sheath and gingerly pulled the knife, letting the tip linger for a moment inside the sheath for a moment. He held the familiar knife in his hand, feeling the wear in the handle. He looked at it and closed his eyes a moment before flipping it over and running his finger over the stain. The stain that he could never get out.
She looked away from the picture, setting it down. Arabella used to to love playing capture the flag. She was never the one that caught the flag or did anything too major to help her team win, but she enjoyed herself. Arabella looked over at Hunter and her eyebrows knitted together in concern. She looked down at the knife and the stain and she chewed on her lip "Is everything okay, Hunter?" she asked him softly.
Hunter sighed and debated telling her what it was exactly that he held in his hand. He shook his head a moment and took a deep breath. "This is um...This is the knife that I killed Kate with." He said with a nod as he resheathed it. He was done shedding tears about that. He had come to terms with what had happened, but seeing the knife again made it feel all too real again. He cleared his throat and handed it to her. "I didn't even know I still had it." He said with a nervous chuckle. He cleared his throat again and shook his head before looking into the box again.
Arabella looked at the knife for a second, but she quickly put it down. She remembered when Kate died. It had been a really, really difficult time. Arabella kept running around the camp, trying to find out what had happened. All she had known was that Kate died. No one would tell her anything. Either they didn't know themselves or they didn't think that she should know. Arabella reached out, taking Hunter's hands and holding it in her own gently "If you ever want to talk about it, or anything like that..I'm here" she told him with a nod and she looked up into his eyes. She couldn't imagine what it would have been like to have gone through something like that. The guilt would probably have killed her.
Hunter ran his thumbs across the back of her hands. "I know." He said quietly with a sigh. "I don't know what I'd do without you." He said with a soft smile before kissing her lightly on the forehead. He sighed and looked down into the box. He laughed at what he saw. "Ugh...I'm shocked I kept these." He reached and pulled out a glasses case. He opened it and pulled a large pair of glasses, slipping them on his face. "How do I look?" He said, looking at Arabella with very blurry vision.
Arabella burst out laughing at the sight of Hunter in those big glasses. She put her hands on his cheeks "You look like the sexiest nerd in the world" she teased and pulled his face closer to hers so that she could kiss him. Arabella smiled against his lips and she slipped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her "Oh, by the way, my dad said that he would come. So you can go back to having a panic attack now" she teased
Hunter smiled against her lips. "Oh. Good. I was starting to relax." He said with a chuckle. He glanced into the box and saw it. "Oh, I remember this." He said with a chuckle, reaching in and pulling out a flower. "Kyle made this back when he was more...creative. It was actually my idea, but..." He held it up and it turned into a yellow tulip. He smiled and kissed Arabella on the cheek, slipping the flower into her hair. He watched as it turned into a bright pink orchid. "It never wilts and it changes into the favorite flower of whoever is holding it." He said with a smile. He looked into the box again and pulled out an envelope. He immediately recognized his name written on the outside in very curly and adorable handwriting. He had never even opened it. He tore it open and pulled out a bracelet. One that he recognized as the ones they made in Arts and Crafts at camp and a note. "Hunter," He read aloud. "Hey, buddy! I thought I'd make you this to remind you that we're best friends. Looks like this note will need to be quick though. The schnook is coming. Love you, Hunter. Let's go jogging sometime. Arabella." He stared at the note and thought for a second. "Jogging?" He said with furrowed eyebrows. "Jogging...Jogging...OH! Jogging! Ohmygods...Jogging..." He said before busting out laughing. He turned to Arabella and held up the bracelet. "I'm so sorry, I never opened this." He said with a chuckle. "I'm serious. I feel like an idiot." He said with a smile. "I'm definitely up for a good jog, though." He muttered before kissing her lightly on the lips.
"I'm always up for a good jog. I gotta stay in tip top shape" Arabella giggled against his lips and kissed him quickly before pulling away a little bit. She took the bracelet from his hands and turned it over in her fingers. She remembered making it and writing that little note. Part of her wondered why he had never opened it but she didn't want to ask. She didn't wantt to be the girlfriend that get angry at stuff like this. It wasn't her. Arabella looked back into the box, pulling out a beaded necklace "Your camp necklace!" she said excitedly and held it out for him.
"Oh, wow." He said with a chuckle, taking the necklace from her. He had given up on actually wearing it considering the 14 beads on it. He handed her the bracelet and gave her his wrist for her to tie it on. "This is...Wow. Here's my first year. I was the big event." He looked at the bead and the little cradle painted on. Then Thalia's pine. Then...Oh. I remember this. This was a hunters vs. Campers summer. One of the Ares kids bet that the camp would win. If they lost then Chiron would wear a prom dress to campfire that night. That was a pretty boring summer, except for that. I don't remember this one." He said going through the beads. "We had a music contest this year. Then this one was the year that the pegasi went a little crazy. A few campers got injured." He shrugged. "These are all from the war." He said, skipping the next 4 years and letting his eyes linger on the empire state building bead. He had lost a lot of friends in the war. He cleared his throat and looked at the sun bead on his necklace. "This was when Apollo went on vacation and so his kids were responsible for the chariot. They crashed. A LOT." He said with a chuckle and looked at the next one. "Oh, I remember this one. Mr. D was a little...crazy that summer." He said with a chuckle rubbing his finger across the diet coke can bead. He blushed at the sight of the next one. "You probably remember this year. Do you remember when your mom just...went bananas on the camp? She cast that love spell? And everyone was all...lovey dovey for like 3 weeks? I can't imagine you don't remember."
Arabella laughed and she nodded, reaching out to touch the bead "How could I forget? It was probably the funniest summer that I have ever lived through" she said with a giggle "I swear, every guy I spoke to asked me out. A couple girls did too, now that I think about it..." her voice trailed off and she touched the flower in her hair lightly "Capture the flag was the most awkward thing. Ever. I remember walking through the woods and everywhere I looked, there was a couple making out. Some guy I didn't even know from the Ares cabin proposed to me.." she told him with a shudder. It had been 3 of her favorite weeks at Camp Half Blood but the weeks following it was tough. Mostly because she had gotten her hopes up during those 3 weeks that Hunter would run to her cabin and sweep her into his arms. But she had hardly even seen him.
"I uh...I was in the infirmary a lot." He said with a chuckle. "I would be sparring or out in the woods and somehow someone would find me, expecting some sort of...romantic...thing up in a tree. I fell. A lot." He smiled at the memory and rubbed his leg which he had broken and then rebroken in that short period of time. He looked back at the beads and moved on to the next one. "This was the year I got claimed. Or...Took the oath." He said looking at a small bead with antlers on it. That quest was tough on him and it was a weird year to save the world. He moved onto the last bead which had several eyes wrapped in chains. "This one was from...the uh...The other war." He said quietly. That one was a little too...fresh. To talk about at least. He lost a lot for that war. He dropped the necklace in the box and closed it before looking at his new piece of body decoration on his wrist. "This is beautiful, Ellie." He said, looking up at her from his new/old bracelet. He leaned in and kissed her on the lips. "Mmmm....I'm sorry I didn't open it." He said against her lips. "I promise I'll make it up to you. Name it. I'll do it." He said, kissing her again.
"Oh, I could think of quite a few things" Arabella whispered against his lips and smiled. She moved her lips away from his and placed gentle kissed over his cheek, to his jaw and up to his ear. Seeing Hunter's things like that had been nice. It was fun to see some of the things that he had kept with him at camp, even if some of it was depressing, like the blade and that bead. Arabella kissed around his ear before pulling away slightly to look at the clock "Maybe we should get going soon. I don't want to miss the visiting hours at the hospital.." she sighed and looked back at Hunter.
Hunter turned to look at the clock and nodded. "Yeah. We should leave. I guess I'll pay my penance after dinner with your dad." He said with a chuckle as he stood up. He repacked the box except for the knife wrapped in the shirt. He put the lion claw in and looked at the shirt with a proud smile on his face. He sighed and put it on the box again, closing it finally. He grabbed his keys off the dresser and slipped into shoes before putting a hand on the small of Arabella's back and leading her out. They walked out of the house and locked the door before getting into Hunter's car. They backed out of the driveway and took off toward the hospital.
Arabella tugged at a loose thread on the hem of her shirt as they drove. She was looking forward to seeing tom but she was still a little nervous about it. How would he look? Would he be okay or would he still be in pain? Arabella shook the thought from her mind and she turned a little bit in her seat so that she could look at Hunter. She smiled at him as he drove and she studied the way that he sat, the way that he held the wheel, the strong line of his jaw. It was like she was trying to commit everything about him to memory, locking it all away in a little safe in the back of her mind. Being with Hunter like this was something that she used to dream about when they were at camp together. Now that it was all coming true, she was worried that it was too good to be true. Arabella reached over and she put her hand on his leg, tapping her fingers lightly out of nerves.
Hunter was a little nervous. The last he saw of Tom was loading him into Daniel's car. He was bloody and mangled and looked almost dead. He was definitely glad that Tom was going to be okay, but the Tom that he was going to see was a different one. A damaged one. He let out a small sigh as he felt fingers on his leg. He looked down and saw Arabella's slender fingers tapping his leg. He looked over and raised an eyebrow. "Something on your mind?" He said, slightly amused at her obvious sign of anxiety.
"Hmm? Oh, I'm just worried about Tom" Arabella said softly, not taking her hand away from his leg. Being able to touch him, to have some kind of contact with him was calming her down a little. "I mean, Daniel said that he was going to be okay but that really doesn't tell us much. I'm worried that we're going to walk in and he'll be in a lot of pain and still really messed up" she said, all in one breath. Arabella chewed on her lip "I guess I'm a little nervous about Dad coming over, too. So that's not really helping much"
Hunter smiled a little at her nervousness. "Nervous." He said with a nod. "You? This sexy, confident, beautiful executive woman is nervous?" He teased a little. He put his hand on hers and gave it a little squeeze and looked over to her. "Ellie, I can't really tell the future, but I feel like today is going to be great. Tom will probably be sleeping when we get there. If he's not sleeping then he'll be awake, but heavily drugged. He's probably more mellow than Addie after exhausting her stash." He said as comforting as he could be. "And as far as your dad goes..." He said, reaching over and brushing the hair out of her face. "He's going to come in. We're going to have a lovely steak dinner. He'll toss some insults my way. I'll not care. He'll eventually tire himself out and the battle goes to me. He'll leave. We'll go upstairs and go on with the rest of our night." He said with a wink. "That sound good?" He asked with a smile.
"That sounds perfect" Arabella said softly in a grateful voice. Hunter always knew the right things to say. She leaned towards him and she placed a kiss on his jaw, near his ear "We're going to have a wonderful night after my dad leaves" she whispered, giving him a small wink then sat back in her seat. the city was coming into view at this point and Arabella smiled a little bit. Maybe Hunter was right. Maybe everything would go well. Maybe her dad would calm down enough to be nice to Hunter. "Almost there" she whispered, looking out the window as they got closer to the hospital.
Hunter nodded and kept driving. When they reached the hospital he drove to the curb. "Alright. You go ahead and find his room. I'm going to run one quick errand and then meet up with you." He said with a smile. He kissed her on the cheek as she got out and closed the door behind him. He turned around and parked in the lot. He remembered that Elliot Benson's office was only a few blocks from the hospital. Hunter locked his car and left the lot, walking toward the lawyer's office. As soon as he walked in, he gave a friendly nod to his secretary before walking straight into Elliot's office. "Elliot?" He said quietly. The lawyer perked up from his desk and smiled.
"Hunter, my boy. It's good to see you." He said, standing up and walking over to shake his hand. "Please. Sit." He said, gesturing to his regular spot. Hunter shook his hand and sat down. "Well, what brings you around?" He asked with a pleasant smile. Hunter chuckled.
"I was curious. If I changed my mind on an item, could I get it back by chance?" Hunter asked with a raised eyebrow. Elliot seemed to debate in his head for a moment before walking over to his filing cabinet.
"It truly depends on the item." He said, looking for a file in the many drawers. "Some stuff we straight sold. You probably can't get that back. Other things though. The cars. The jewelry. Many of them are still--Here it is." He said, pulling out a file. He placed it on the desk in front of Hunter. "Excuse me. Many of them are still waiting for auction. You can happily take those back. It's less paperwork and less actual lawyering for me to do." He said with a nod. Hunter laughed quietly and gingerly looked at the file, leafing through the items.
"I'm looking for a gift. For a 16 year old boy." He said quietly. "I remember seeing it here bef--Perfect. This one." He said, turning the file around and sliding it to Elliot. "I'll take this one. I'll pick it up. Tomorrow, I think." He said with a nod. Elliot looked and nodded.
"Very nice." He said with a chuckle. He made final arrangements and left, feeling satisfied with the meeting. He quickly walked back to the hospital and walked in and up to the front desk.
"Hi. Ma'am, I'm looking for...Tom?" He asked, realizing that he had never learned Tom's last name. The nurse gave him a 'I don't have time to play games, sir' look and Hunter sighed. "Tom. He's a doorman. He got hit by a car.Yesterday. Came in with a fla-"
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Arabella said, walking over to Hunter. She took his hand and before she could say anything, she started to drag him off, towards Tom's room. Arabella glanced up at Hunter and took a deep breath before pushing the door open. Tom was on the bed and he was awake. He had a far off look on his face, which Arabella assumed was from the drugs, but other then that, he looked like he was going to be fine. He was banged up, of course, but there was no doubt that he was going to get getter. Arabella let go of Hunter's hand and walked over to Tom's bedside. Gingerly, she sat down in the chair and smiled at him.
"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Tom said in a raspy sort of voice, like he hadn't used it in a little while. Arabella giggled and looked up at Hunter, who was standing by the door awkwardly. Tom coughed and Arabella looked down at his beside table, looking for a glass of water or something for him.
"Are you doing okay, Tom?" She asked gently and she reached her hand out to Hunter, making it obvious that she wanted him to take her hand and sit beside them. "Is Danny around here?" she asked
"This is the longest he's been gone. He went for some coffee. I don't think he's left since I got here" Tom told her. Slowly, he turned his head to look at Hunter "How are you doing, Hunter?"
Hunter cleared his throat and stepped forward. "I'm doing just fine." He said with a nod. "How are you doing, Tom? You healing okay?" He said, lightly putting his hand on Tom's good leg. Tom smiled weakly.
"I think so." He said with nod. "I'm going to be in here for a while longer, but I feel fine. Probably the uh..." He ran a finger along the IV line trailing from his arm. "Whatever this is. It's pretty good." Hunter chuckled to himself. "I'm glad to hear that." He turned to Arabella. "I'm going to see if I can track down Danny. I'll be back." He said before waving at Tom and walking out.
Arabella watched Hunter walk out then she turned back to Tom, putting her feet up on the chair and wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees. Tom looked back at her and he smiled lightly. Seeing him in the bed like that was hard for Arabella. He had been a person that she saw every day and it was reassuring. He always had a smile for her and he could always make her laugh, even if she was having a bad day. She reached out and took his hand lightly "It sucks seeing you like this, Tom" she said softly
Tom shook his head, waving her concern away "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me" he said and looked down at her hand in his "If anything, you should worry about Daniel. He's really beating himself up over this"
Hunter turned a corner, keeping look out for the blonde hair of Daniel. He was worried that Daniel had passed out somewhere, not to be found until the end of the week by a janitor who had been putting off cleaning for a while. He scanned the cafeteria and saw no one, but soon-to-be dads retrieving ice chips and doctors looking for any drip of coffee they can get their hands on after a long day. He walked out and almost tripped when his feet collided with a leg sticking out from between two chairs. He looked down and saw Daniel slumped down on the ground next to an empty styrofoam cup. Hunter raised an eyebrow and knelt down. "Danny. Danny!" He said as he shook his leg. Danny let out a groan and turned to his side before cringing and sitting up. "Not a comfortable place to sit, I'm assuming."
"Hmm? What?" He said, rubbing his back and neck. "Hunter? Oh my gosh! What time is it?!" He said, checking his phone. "Wait! What are you doing here?!" He asked, looking at Hunter like he wasn't supposed to be there.
"Calm down, Daniel." Hunter said, standing up and extending his hand. Daniel took a drank from his empty cup and, with a disappointed face, tossed it aside and took Hunter's hand. Hunter hauled him up and patted his back. "Ellie and I are here to visit Tom." He explained, leading Daniel back to the cafeteria. "Let's get you some coffee and we'll get you presentable for your man." He said with a chuckle as he stood him in front of the coffee depository. He patted the dust and lint layer from Daniel's jacket and straightened it slightly as Daniel refilled his coffee cup.
"He can't be my man anymore. I hit him with my car." Daniel said drearily. Hunter sighed.
"Danny, I know Tom." Hunter said with a nod, putting an arm around Daniel's shoulders. "Come on, Danny. Tom is going to be fine. He's not really one to hold a grudge." He lead him back to Tom's room and walked in. "I found him by the side of the road. Can we keep him, Ellie?" He teased lightly.
"Do you really like him?" Arabella asked, leaning towards Tom slightly with an eyebrow raised "'Like' like him. Not just as a friend?"
"I-uh, I mean, we..." Tom stammered but he looked over to the door when Hunter walked in and Arabella let out a little sigh. She looked away from Tom and towards the door. A smile spread across her lips and she shrugged
"I guess so. He's just so cute!" she teased and she slid out of the chair, walking over to Daniel and giving him a little hug. He was going to be beating himself up over this for the rest of his life, Arabella knew that for sure. She hoped that he would be able to forgive himself eventually. Tom coughed and Daniel let go of Arabella and ran over to Tom's bedside so fast, it hardly seemed possible. She giggled a little and looked up at Hunter.
"It's like they're married already." Hunter whispered to Arabella, slipping an arm around her waist and looking at Tom and Daniel. "So, did they say how bad your injuries were, Tom?" Hunter asked.
"Umm..." Tom said quietly with a look of thought on his face. "My leg is broken. A few ribs are cracked and bruised. A slight concussion. Could be a lot worse, according to the doctor." He said with a nod. "Danny was gentle with his car." He said with a chuckle.
"I'm so sorry, Tom." Daniel said with a sigh. Tom put his hand on Daniel's and smiled.
"Don't worry about it, Danny. It's not an issue." He said with a smile. "Our date will just have to be that much better on Friday." He said, giving Danny a wink. Hunter was taken aback a little by Tom's flirting. He had never seen Tom do anything like that.
Arabella saw them flirting and she looked up at Hunter with big eyes and an excited look on her face. Seeing people flirting like that, especially Daniel and Tom, made her simply giddy. Arabella loved to see love. She could practically feel it in the room. With a soft sigh, Arabella linked her arm with Hunter and looked back to Tom and Daniel "You better get well soon then, Tom. Daniel goes all out on his dates. I'm sure he has a whole day of things planned for you two"
"Zip it, sweetie" Daniel said, looking over at Arabella with a small smile on his face. She could tell that he was kind of forcing the smile but it was still nice to see it.
"I'm sure it'll be wonderful" Tom said and he never took his eyes off of Daniel. It was obvious that he was crazy about him. Arabella looked up at Hunter with a slightly raised eyebrow because she was shocked that she hadn't picked up on this earlier. How did she not know that Tom is gay?
Hunter looked at Tom who was paying little to no attention to Arabella or Hunter. "Well," Hunter said, breaking the brief awkward silence. "We should be going. We've got...something else. Danny, it looks like you have everything under control here." He said, walking over to Tom. He shook his hand and patted him on the shoulder. "Get better, okay? We'll invite you over to the house sometime." He said with a smile. Tom grinned and nodded.
"Sounds good, Hunter. Thanks for coming." He said quietly. Hunter looked at Danny and sighed. He put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll see you later, Danny. Try to sleep in a bed next time, okay?" He said with a chuckle.
Arabella walked over and she kissed Tom's cheek lightly, not wanting to hug him in case she hurt him "We'll make supper for you, sometime. Well, Hunter will make supper. I'll make the drinks" she teased before turning to Daniel and hugging him tightly. After a few moments, Arabella let go of him and she walked back to Hunter, taking his hand.
"Have a good day, you two" Tom said with a little nod.
"You too, Tom" Arabella said and she waved at the two men before walking out of the hospital room with Hunter "Well, they seem perfect for each other" she said with a little laugh.
Hunter let out a laugh as they walked out to the parking lot. "Pretty much." He said with a chuckle as he unlocked the car and opened Arbella's door for her. She smiled at him and he kissed her gently before walking around and getting in on his side. "So, when is your dad coming over?" He asked with a small yawn as he started the car. "I was thinking that you could make your Greek salad with dinner. I already have everything for it." He said with a nod.
"He said that he's going to come over around 5:30" Arabella said with a nod and she looked over at Hunter. "Salad sounds good. Dad really likes that salad" She told him and turned to look out the window. So far, everythign was going good. Her father coming over could be wonderful or it could be terrible. But with any luck, it would be wonderful "I'm looking forward to your steak. Best steak ever" she said and her stomach growled in agreement.
Hunter laughed quietly and leaned over, kissing her cheek. "Well, shucks." He said with a smile. After a few moments, he was pulling into the driveway of his house. He walked into the house and straight into the kitchen. "Bacon-wrapped steak with freshly baked breadsticks." He said to himself as he pulled several ingredients out of the fridge and pantry. He put them in a tupperware container along with the steaks and closed it. He shook it up and put it back in the fridge. The plan was to marinade them for a while before cooking them. He'd start when her dad got here.
"I'm going ot go for a quick shower, okay?" Arabella said and she kissed Hunter's cheek lightly. She patted his butt once before walking out of the kitchen, giggling at the look on his face. Quickly, she got to the bathroom and she peeled off her clothes, stepping into the shower. The hot water hit her body, relaxing her muscles. With a sigh, Arabella closed her eyes. She thought about the night ahead, about her dad coming over. She hoped that he would be nice and that he would give Hunter a chance. Arabella knew that Hunter would never hurt her but her dad didn't know that. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself before walking to the bedroom. Arabella jumped a little when she saw that Hunter was in the room, looking for some clothes to wear. "I swear, bumping into each other like this is like..out thing now" she teased, her cheeks were pink and she held onto the towel tightly.
Hunter turned around and blushed a little. "I can't...We need to have a signal or something." He said with a chuckle. He grabbed a dark blue polo and a pair of black jeans before stepping into the hallway. He changed clothes slowly, supposedly allowing enough time for Arabella to become decent at the least. He buckled his belt and balled his old clothes up before opening the door and walking in. "Oh, seriously? I gave you like an hour and a half." He said, shielding his eyes from the sight of Arabella just now pulling up her panties. A very risque pair of panties, actually. "You don't own anything more...suitable for having dinner with your dad, brother, and boyfriend who wants very much to not be killed by your father?" He asked as he cautiously walked to his hamper and tossed his dirty clothes in.
Arabella looked down at the pale pink lace panties she had just pulled on and her eyebrows knitted together, almost in confusion. She looked up at Hunter and shook her head "These are the most conservative ones I own, actually" she told him with a nod them turned back to the closet. Arabella had no problem with being naked but she thought that the way that Hunter got all awkward was pretty funny. She pulled on a skirt and walked back out of the closet, wearing only the skirt and her bra, with a shirt in her hands "Besides, my dad and brother aren't going to be seeing them. My boyfriend however, just might get to see them again" she teased with a wink.
Hunter chuckled and peeked through his fingers to see her slipping on a shirt. He sighed and moved his hand down before creeping up behind her. As she pulled the shirt down, he slipped his hands around her waist, under the shirt. "Is that so? Well, I wouldn't have it any other way then." He said, as he buried his face in her hair and kissed her head. She turned around and put her hands on his chest, lightly grabbing his shirt and kissing him. Hunter kept his hands on her hips and lightly ran his fingers up and down the soft skin on her sides. He felt her press her body closer to his and hum against his lips. He brushed his lips across her cheek and to her neck, when a loud knocking on the door rang through the house. Hunter pulled away and licked his lips. "There not here alrea-" He checked his watch and let out a sigh when he saw that it was 5 o clock. "If that's them, I'm going to make them wait outside for 30 minutes." He said with a chuckle, kissing her on the nose.
Arabella giggled and kissed his neck lightly. They would show up just then. It was just Arabella's luck. She grazed her lips from his neck to his ear "Later" she whispered and placed a hand on his arm, squeezing his bicep. Arabella smiled when she felt him shiver and she fixed her shirt before skipping out of the room and down the stairs. She pulled the door open and jumped into her dad's arms, giving him a bit hug.
Tyler stepped into the house and his face broke into a wide smile when he saw Hunter walking down the stairs. "Hi, Hunter!" he said excitedly
Hunter smiled and looked at Tyler when he reached the door. "Hey, Tyler. How's it going?" He said with a chuckle as he extended his hand. Tyler shook it excitedly.
"I'm doing great." He said with a smile before receiving a look from his father, causing his smile to fall a little. Hunter sighed and looked up at Arabella's father.
"Sir. How are you?" He asked, extending his hand. Matthew reluctantly shook it, strongly, in an impromptu game of Mercy that Hunter quickly gave up on. "Won't you please come in? Make yourselves comfortable." He said, stretching his hand slightly. He watched as Matthew walked in cautiously, looking around for something with which to attack Hunter.
Arabella looked at her dad as he walked into the house and she turned to give a look to Hunter. She gave him a comforting smile and touched his arm lightly. She looked over at Tyler and pulled him into a tight hug "Nice to see yoo too, sis" he said, patting her back lightly. Arabella let go of him and he walked over to Matthew.
"What is the TV doing on the floor?" Matthew scoffed, raising an eyebrow
"Dad, be nice" Tyler said in a small voice. Arabella sighed and rolled her eyes slightly at her dad. She knew that he was going to pick at little things like that, just to find some fault with Hunter.
"It was Ellie's TV from her apartment. We're just deciding where we want it, you know?" He asked with a nod. He looked over at Arabella and gave her a wink. "We want to make the house perfect. Since we're both living here, of course." He glanced around for a moment. "Oh and speaking of house perfection, Ellie why don't you get your dad a cup of coffee. I want to show Tyler something." He said with a grin at Tyler who looked as excited as ever. He patted Tyler lightly on the shoulder and lead him to the basement. "So, I asked Ellie what some of your interests were." He said as he flipped the lightswitch and climbed down the stairs. "She only had good things to say, of course, and I figured, 'hey this kid sounds awesome. I want to hang out with him.'" He said as he finally reached the empty basement. He opened his arms in a 'ta da' type manner and smiled at Tyler.
"Umm..." He said with knit eyebrows. "I appreciate it, but what are we doing here?" He asked quietly. Hunter chuckled.
"This is your blank canvas." Hunter said with a smile. "I grew up at Camp Half-Blood. I don't know anything about video games or computers or TVs. I mean, the only forms of entertainment I knew for 20 years of my life was practicing Ancient Greek and firing a bow." He said with a nod. Tyler looked at him excitedly. "No, we're not going to fire a bow." He said with a chuckle. "Not until I ask Ellie." He said quietly. Tyler laughed a little. "So, my question is...Would you be willing to teach me all of the stuff that I missed? Video games, TV, computers, all that. No cost to you, of course." He placed a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "I might be able to fit in an archery lesson." He said with a smile. "So, what do you think? You up for it?"
Tyler looked at Hunter with wide eyes. Was this really happening? "Are you...are you serious?" he asked softly then let out a breath, trying desperately not to freak out. He didn't want to look like a loser in front of Hunter. Tyler took as couple steps around the basement, his heart was racing. "This is just...wow, Hunter. Thank you" he said softly, looking back at Hunter. He couldn't tell him just how much this meant to him. It meant a lot. "I hope that we can get some archery in"
Arabella and her dad stepped into the kitchen and she poured a cup of coffee for him. He looked around the kitchen, looking a little uncomfortable. With a small sigh, Arabella pushed the coffee towards him and started getting the things out for her salad.
"So, you moved in with him?" Matthew asked, taking a sip of the coffee. Arabella looked up at him and started chopping, trying not to slice her fingers off.
"Yes, Dad. I did" Arabella said softly and looked up at him "Can you please, please, please be nice tonight? I understand that you're protective and all that but please just give Hunter a chance"
"Wonderful." Hunter said, giving Tyler a high five. "I guess, I'll have you come over soon and you can give me my list of school supplies." He said, patting Tyler on the back. "Come on. Let's get back upstairs before your dad starts thinking I'm giving you drugs or something." The two of them started back up the stairs. Hunter felt really good about how his first real interaction with Tyler went. Reaching the ground floor again, Hunter let out a sigh and walked into the kitchen. He kissed Arabella on the cheek and smiled down at her work. "Looks good, Ellie." He said with a smile as he pulled the steaks out of the fridge along with the bacon and the breadsticks. "How do you like your steak, Mr. Foster?" He asked as he opened the tupperware.
"Well done" Matthew said in a stiff voice and Arabella threw him a look. He looked back at her and sigh, taking another sip of his coffee. He was trying to be hate Hunter but it wasn't easy. Arabella looked at Hunter with a glow and a happiness in her face that Matthew had never seen on her before. At the same time though, this was his little girl. He had seen Arabella with Chad and Brian and too many other boys that broke her heart.
"Tyler likes his rare, like mine" Arabella told Hunter, just as Tyler walked into the kitchen.
"This is such a cool house! I wish we lived near a beach" Tyler said, looking over at Arabella with a big smile.
"You can come visit us whenever you want, Ty" Arabella said, returning the smile. In most ways, they looked nothing alike. Tyler looked exactly like their father and Arabella looked more like her mother. But they had the exact same smile.
"Alright. Well done. Rare. Rare. And then however it is mine ends up." He said with a chuckle as he got out the stovetop grill and set it out. He waited for it to heat up as he prepared the breadsticks. "I'd like to apologize for my previous actions, Mr. Foster." He said with a smile as he slipped the breadsticks in the oven. "I let my emotions get in the way of a nice evening." He tried to hide a smile that screamed, 'I'm making it really hard to not like me, aren't I?' and turned around, leaning on the counter. "I'm glad that you decided to join us for dinner tonight. It's really special considering your daughter is cooking." He said, walking over and glancing at her ingredients.
Arabella nudged Hunter lightly, smirking at him "Don't be mean" she teased and chewed on her lip as she focused on slicing the last tomato.
"Have you managed to find a job yet, Hunter?" Matthew asked, looking at Hunter and raising and eyebrow. He was determined to find something wrong with Hunter. Something to make him look like an idiot. Arabella sighed, trying not to think of her Dad or what he was saying. She looked over at Tyler and he walked over to her.
"The basement is going to be amazing, Bell" Tyler said softly, looking into the salad. Arabella looked at him and she smiled. Every time she looked at him, it kind of blew her away a little bit. He had grown up so much in the past few years. He was taller than her now and he was starting to fill out a little bit.
"You're welcome to our house anytime, Ty. If Dad is giving you a hard time and you want to get away for a weekend or something, our home is open for you" She said in a low voice, looking into his eyes. Tyler nodded and smiled softly at her.
"No, I haven't, sir." Hunter said, turning back to the stove. He held his hand over the grill and sighed. "No, not yet." He said under his breath before turning the heat up a little. "It's been about a month since I became a legal person. I had to fill out some paperwork. Finding out my last name. I grew up at camp. I don't know if I told you that. Umm...Part of that time since then has been getting her moved in and we spent some time at the beach house. I helped fix that up a little. Sanded the floors. Did some painting. Past that it's been a lot of paperwork." He said with a chuckle. "I'll have to explore my options a little. I'm not sure how many companies want archery and knife fighting on their employees' resumes, you know?" He said before holding his hand over the stove again. It was ready.
Arabella finished up the salad and looked at Hunter with a raised eyebrow. She didn't want her dad to start picking at him about the knife fighting and the archery. That would have been very bad. Arabella walked past him with the salad in one hand and she grazed his arm with her other hand. She placed the salad in the middle of the table then walked back to help Hunter with the plates.
"Wonderful. My daughter is living with an unemployed man whose only skill is knife fighting" Matthew muttered in an audible voice and he sat down at the table.
"Knife fighting? That sounds so cool! Arabella told me that she was terrible at it.." Tyler said, his voice trailing off slightly. He had always been really interested in the weapons but Arabella could never really tell him much about it. She would start talking about knife fighting but the conversation would soon turn into a conversation about her hot teacher.
Hunter smiled at Tyler's enthusiasm before setting the steaks on the grill with a loud sizzle. He watched them closely as he tried to continue the conversation. "And archery." He added to the end of Matthew's sentence, hiding a smile again. He looked into the reflection of a pan hanging about the stove to see Matthew glaring at him. "Maybe, I'll see if I can teach archery somewhere." He said with a nod. "You know the city pretty well, Mr. Foster. With your real estate dealings. Do you know anywhere that would want an archery teacher? I doubt knife fighting lessons will go off well at the local rec center." He asked as he flipped the steaks.
"No, Hunter. No one wants anything like that" Matthew said curtly and he kept his eyes on Hunter, glaring at him. He knew that there were lots of summer camps and after school programs that would love to have Hunter teaching them and being with the kids. But Matthew wasn't about to tell him that.
"Hunter could be a cook. You won't believe how amazing his steaks are. They're almost too good to be true" Arabella said, looking up at Hunter with a big smile. She was trying to make this supper go smoothly, but it wasn't helping too much. Matthew seemed to be determined to hate him.
"What are your intentions with my daughter?" Matthew asked bluntly, making Arabella cough in surprise and look at her dad with wide eyes. It seemed like Matthew had been waiting to ask this question.
Hunter's eyes widened and his smiled dropped. He had never expected such a blunt question. "Uh...well," Hunter started as he turned the steaks. He stared at the reflection of Matthew in the pan again. Hunter could tell that he seemed proudly and defiantly satisfied with his question that had given Hunter pause. "I love your daughter." He said with a nod. He turned around and took a quick glance at Tyler who seemed painfully familiar with this situation. "My hope is to spend every waking moment with her. I have never felt so strongly about anything as I do about her." He leaned on the counter and stared at the ground. "My 'intentions' with your daughter then are to make her happy and to do anything within my power to do that." Hunter said, finally. He looked at Arabella and smiled for a moment before turning back to the steaks.
Arabella looked up at Hunter, her a smile spreading across her lips again. It took everything she had not to throw herself at Hunter and start kissing him. She cleared her throat, trying to find something to take the conversation away from Hunter's intentions. "Did Hunter tell you about his cars, Daddy?" she asked lightly, looking over at her father. Matthew looked like he was thinking over Hunter's words, trying to pick out something that would be bad or could be taken in a bad way. He looked at Arabella and shook his head in response. "Well, he got these amazing cars and he did some really awesome work on them. Tell him" she said, looking back at Hunter and nudging him lightly. She hoped that cars would be a decent conversation topic.
Hunter took the two rare steaks off the stove and set them on a plate. He took a deep breath before returning his attention to the conversation going on behind him. "Well, as part of my inheritance I was left this huge collection of cars." He said, trying not to look at Tyler. "I called a friend from camp and the two of us fixed up a couple of them. I actually gave one to Ellie. Just as a...a thank you, I guess." He said with a pensive nod. He shook his head and turned back to the steaks, flipping his one more time and pressing Matthew's slightly. "They're almost ready." He said with a nod just as the oven beeped. "Oh. Those must be the breadsticks." He said with a smile. He pulled them out, closing the door with his foot before using a spatula and pushing them into a basket and placing them on the table.
"Cool! I want a car so bad" Tyler said with a little sigh and he looked at the breadsticks that Hunter placed on the table. Arabella looked at Hunter, who seemed to be avoiding anyone's eyes for some reason then walked over to the table and picked up a breadstick.
"How long have you been driving?" Matthew asked Hunter, looking up at him. The steak smelled amazing but he didn't really want to admit that. Arabella walked back to Hunter with the breadstick in her hands and pulled out fours plates and four glasses. She got out her bottle of Pepsi and set it down on the counter, wishing that she could get out some rum too. That might make the rest of the supper bearable.
"Umm...a month, I think." He said with a nod. He smiled at Arabella. "I was taught by the best." He said, kissing Arabella on the cheek. Hunter took his steak off and put it on the plate before pressing Matthew's for a moment or two, finishing its cooking. He took it off and set it on the plate with the others. He picked it up with one hand and slipped his other arm around Arabella's waist. "Alright. Food is served. These two are the rare ones. I'll take the mystery one. And this one is yours, sir." He said, divvying out the steaks. He set the plate down on the table and took his seat, conveniently across from Matthew.
Matthew looked down at his steak for a moment before taking a bite. It was delicious, some of the best steak that he had ever had. Matthew tried to find something wrong with it, but he couldn't. He ate some of Arabella's salad and he looked over at her with a rare smile "Your salad is amazing" he said to her softly and she grinned.
"Thanks, Daddy" Arabella said before taking a bite of her steak.
"This is the most delicious steak I have ever had. It is so much better than the steak that we get from the take out place" Tyler said, looking up at Hunter with admiration "Have you practiced your archery much since you left the camp?" he asked Hunter.
"Didn't that Chad say that he was good at archery?" Matthew said pointedly, looking at Arabella.
Hunter ignored Matthew's previous statement. "I haven't really had a chance, actually." He said with a nod. "Except for the uh...What was it?" He asked, turning to Arabella. "A Laistrygonian? The one I killed in your office." He said with a nod, taking a bite of salad. "Great salad, Ellie." He said before clearing his throat. "That reminds me though. Can I have my pendant, real quick?" He said, brushing his hands off on his pants. Arabella handed him the pendant and he summoned the bow from it. He pulled out his pendant and pressed the bow to it. "Ήφαιστο και τον Άρη, με ευλογήσει και να μαγέψει το μενταγιόν με την ουσία αυτού του όπλου. Σας....Uhh...What was it? Oh. ευχαριστώ, ω θεοί." The bow glowed and then transferred into his new pendant. He handed his pendant back to Arabella and went back to eating. "Sorry. My Ancient Greek is a little rusty." He said, spreading butter on one of the breadsticks.
Tyler was looking at Hunter with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. Arabella looked over at him and she slipped the pendant back around her neck. "Tyler, close your mouth. You tongue is getting dusty"
"That is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Tyler said excitedly, nearly bouncing out of his seat. Arabella smiled softly and she held the pendant in her hands, rubbing it with her thumb. She looked over at Matthew, who was eating his steak and clearly ignoring Hunter.
"Show off" Matthew muttered under his breath and he took a bite from his steak.
"My Ancient Greek was always rusty" Arabella teased, trying to ignore what her father was saying.
"You didn't have Chiron teaching you for 10 years." Hunter said with a chuckle. He bit into the breadstick and nodded. "Is the food okay?" He asked, glancing at Matthew who was grimacing while he ate. "I taught myself how to cook, so it could be a little iffy." He said with a shrug. He looked at Matthew expecting the criticism.
Matthew looked down at his steak, chewing carefully. It was amazing steak. He let out a sigh and he looked up at Hunter, glaring at him a little bit then turned to Arabella, his expression turning into a small smile "The salad is incredible" he said.
"Thanks, Dad" Arabella sighed and she finished up her food. She grabbed Tyler's empty plate and walked over to put them in the sink.
"You taught yourself? That was amazing!" Tyler said, totally in awe. Hunter was his new hero at this point and he didn't think that there was anything that Hunter could do wrong, really. Arabella smiled over at Tyler and poured herself a glass of Pepsi.
"What are your long term plans, Hunter? For your life? With my daughter?" Matthew asked. Arabella looked at Matthew with wide eyes and poured a splash of rum into her Pepsi.
"Daddy, please..." She said, her cheeks pink.
Hunter casually stood up from the table. "I don't know." He said, grabbing Arabella's glass. He walked over to the sink and poured it out before pouring another glass of plain Pepsi. "I mean...I guess I never thought about it. Getting a job will probably be the next thing on my agenda. Support your daughter. I try not to think too far ahead. You start getting bogged down by details and disappointments. You forget to see what's really important." He said, taking Arabella's hand and kissing it lightly.
Arabella huffed when he dumped her drink and she looked up at Hunter with a slightly annoyed look on her face. But then he was kissing her hand and she could feel her stomach doing flips. Resisting the urge to kiss him, Arabella turned to Tyler "Come on, Ty, I want to show you something!" she said and walked over to Tyler. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him off to the back door and outside. They walked around the house a little bit and Tyler turned to look at her with a confused look on his face.
"What did you want to show me?" Tyler asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Nothing, I just wanted to get out of that house" Arabella teased and nudged Tyler. He rolled his eyes and took a breath.
"I'm really happy for you, Bell. This house is amazing and Hunter is great" Tyler said, looking down at her. Arabella smiled up at him.
"Hunter is pretty great, isn't he?" Arabella said in a soft voice and Tyler nodded. "I just want Dad to see that, you know?"
"Dad will come around. Just give him some time. He has nothing to pick at anymore. He's going to like Hunter" Tyler said with a nod and Arabella grinned up at him.
"Here's hoping.." Arabella giggled and Tyler smiled down at her. They stood outside for a little while, looking around at the woods and the ocean. Soon enough though, Arabella was shivering in the night breeze. So they walked back into the house and towards the living room. Her eyes landed on Hunter and her father, who were sitting together and....laughing? They looked like they were getting along perfectly. "Uhm, hi...Hunter.." Arabella said in a cautious voice, like if she said too much, this moment would end.
Hunter turned around and smiled at Arabella. "Hey, Ellie." He said with a chuckle. "Your dad and I were just talking about this joke his old boss told him. What was it a penguin with a...what? A mustache?" Hunter stood up and walked to the other side of the couch. "Well, this duck. He walks...You know what? You tell it, Mr. Foster." He said with a nod as he slipped an arm casually around Arabella's waist. Matthew wiped his eye and stood up as well.
"No, no, no." He said, shaking his head. "I'll save it for next time." He said, taking deep breaths. "Well, Tyler? Shall we go?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Arabella looked at Tyler and raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged at her then nodded at Matthew "Yeah, that sounds good, Dad" he said and walked towards the door with Matthew. Arabella looked up at Hunter with a questioning look on her face before following her Tyler and Matthew.
Matthew extended his hand, shaking Hunter's strongly. "It was good to talk to you, Hunter" he said and Arabella looked at Hunter again with wide eyes. Was this really happening? She hugged Tyler and Matthew and watched as they walked out to the car. She really didn't know how to wrap her mind around what she had walked in on. Arabella turned to look up at Hunter again.
"What was that about?" she asked, a small smile spreading across her lips.
Hunter shrugged. "What was what about?" He asked with a smile. "Oh, you mean that thing with your dad?" She nodded. "We just talked. We actually have a fair amount in common." He said with a nod. She eyed him suspiciously. He walked over and put the dishes in the sink. "I poisoned him. I said that I would give him the antidote if he pretended to like me."
"Oh, okay. That makes sense" Arabella teased and she picked up her glass of Pepsi, taking a quick sip. She put it down and walked over to Hunter and wrapped her arms around his neck. Seeing her dad laughing with Hunter was special, it meant a lot to her. She wanted them to get along and it felt great to know that her dad liked him and approved of him. "Well, whatever you did...thanks" she said softly and kissed his jaw.
Hunter smiled against her lips and put his hands on her hips. "Mmm...Didn't I tell you that your dad was going to like me?" He said, kissing her cheek. "Mmm...So now that we have the rest of the night to ourselves..." He asked, brushing his lips down to her neck. "What are we going to do?"
Arabella grazed her hands from his neck and down to his arms. She leaned into him with a small smile on her face and she bit her lip "I could think of a few things" she said softly and squeezed his biceps lightly. Arabella giggled and she turned with Hunter so that she was leaning against the counter and Hunter was standing in front of her "What did you want to do tonight?"
"I think it's less of a matter of what..." He said, brushing his lips up to hers. "And more a matter of where." He laughed to himself and kissed to her ear before nibbling lightly on her earlobe. He wrapped an arm around her waist and swept her into his arms, burying his face into her neck. Tonight was going to be a good night.
Arabella giggled and she wrapped her arms around him, lightly rubbing the nape of his neck "Well, we have a whole house filled with places to pick from" she teased and pulled herself closer to him. Arabella was blissful like this. She didn't think that life could get much better than this. She scratched her nails down his back lightly and she snaked her hands up his chest, under his shirt. This was perfect. This was easy with Hunter.
"Sorry guys, I just forgot to ask-oh my god!" Tyler's voice came from the doorway and Arabella squeaked in surprise, pulling her hands out from under Hunter's shirt.
Hunter blushed and quickly set her down. "Tyler." He said, clearing his throat. "What can I do for you?" He asked with a sigh. It seemed like being interrupted was becoming a habit for them. Tyler studied the ground.
"Uh...I was wondering if you wanted me to come by tomorrow. Or after that. Or when did you..." He asked quietly and obviously awkwardly.
"Umm...How about the day after next? That work? I'll pick you up or Ellie will. We'll figure it out." Hunter said a little quickly. "Okay. Call Ellie's phone if you have a question." He said before quickly ushering Tyler out the door. He locked and hurried back to the kitchen where he lifted Arabella onto the counter and started kissing her. "If we get interrupted one more time..." He said quietly against her skin. He brushed his hands onto her legs and up her skirt a little, gently squeezing her thighs.
"I swear, it's a miracle that anything happens between us at all" Arabella whispered and she hook her legs around his waist, pulling him closer to him. Her heart started racing when he squeezed her thighs and she prayed to whatever god was listening, asking to not be interrupted again. Her fingers grazed up his shirt again, starting off where she had left off. She brushed her lips away from his and along his jaw, up to his ear and nibbling on his ear lobe lightly. "So, do you know where you want to go, yet?" she giggled.
"Mmm...why fix what ain't broke, right?" He said, pushing her further onto the counter. He breathed on her neck before biting gently on the skin there. He felt all of the tension that he had felt during the dinner and during the hospital visit and during the entire day slip out of his mind. Hunter ran his hands up her sides, letting his hands linger upon the revealed skin on her stomach before cradling her face in his hands, placing soft kisses all over her face and neck.
Arabella gasped lightly as he kissed her. Her whole body felt like it was on hyper-sensitivity mode and everytime he touched her or kissed her sent shock waves through her whole body. Goose bumps rose on every inch of her skin. Arabella placed her hands on his hips, digging her fingernails into his skin lightly. "You are the best man I have ever met, Hunter" she whispered with a smile.
"We're a match, then." He said, before lifting her up and supporting her with his hands wrapped around her. He walked into the living room and putting her back on the couch, moving on top of her. "Because you're the best woman I have ever met." He said, smiling against her lips as he placed a hand gently on her cheek and, with his other arm, held him self up on his elbow.
Chapter 92 - Arabella and Hunter
Arabella moaned softly when the morning sun hit her face. She was very warm and at first she didn't know why. But then her eyes fluttered open and she realized that Hunter was beside her and she was wrapped up in his arms. A small smile spread across her lips and she leaned up, kissing his jaw lightly. His chest rose and fell with every deep and steady breath. He was still asleep and Arabella didn't want to bother him. But she was really, really hot. Slowly and gingerly, Arabella slid out from Hunter's arms and she delicately walked back to her bedroom, pulling off her sweater as she walked. She quickly changed into a pair of shorts and one of Hunter's shirts. It was much too big for her and hung around her shoulder's loosely but she felt better instantly. Arabella looked around her room and let out a sigh then started packing away all of her clothes. Once the clothes were done, the rest would be easy. After a little while, all of her clothes were in boxes and Arabella was dying for a cup of coffee and some breakfast. She walked down the hall and into the living room. Hunter was still on the couch, fast asleep. So she smiled lightly then went to the kitchen and pulled out the eggs, the bacon and the frozen hash browns. With a huff, Arabella read the instructions on the hash browns and started her adventure in cooking.
Hunter swallowed and rolled over on the couch. In his head he was dreaming. He was in the woods back at camp. He was wearing an orange camp shirt and had his old pendant around his neck. He looked down to see a bow slung around his chest and a quiver on his back. He felt a soft squeeze in his hand and looked over to see Arabella standing there, smiling at him. He smiled back and gave her a peck on the cheek before walking through the forest. He suddenly found a small dock looking over a pond in a clearing. He lead her onto the dock and looked at her again. She had changed from her orange shirt and jean shorts to a sweater and sweatpants. He looked down and found himself in a sweater and a pair of jeans. He dug his hand into his pocket and looked at her as she bit her lip and twirled her hair as she always did. Hunter's hands were shaking like crazy for some reason. He finally pulled his hand out of his pocket and heard a small plunk as whatever it was he was pulling out dropped into the water. He looked up at her and opened his mouth to speak, but smelled bacon. He furrowed his brow and took a deep breath of slightly burned bacon smell. He listened and heard humming and the sound of a pan sizzling. That's when he woke up. He rubbed his eyes and licked his lips as he squinted due to the sunlight. She was cooking. Hunter shrugged and sat there, just to see how things turned out.
Arabella cursed under her breath when she saw that the bacon had started to burn while she was trying to crack an egg. She quickly grabbed a fork and tried to pull the bacon out of the pan. A few drops of hot bacon grease jumped out of the pan and landed on her hand, making her curse again. But she managed to get the bacon out and she quikly got the eggs into the pan. The timer went off on the oven and Arabella squeaked out of surprise and she opened the door. With gloved hands, she pulled the hash browns out of the oven but not before wacking her forearms against the inside of the oven door. Finally, the food was done and Arabella had managed to put it all on two plates. The bacon and the eggs were slightly burnt but the hash browns turned out fine. Arabella was just proud that she only managed to burn her arms a little and cut her finger while she cut up some strawberries. She poured orange juice into two big cups and she gingerly walked towards the living room, making sure that the oven and the stove was off "Are you awake?" she asked softly, not wanting to look up from the full tray in her hands in case she dropped it.
Hunter saw the full tray and quickly hurried over to take it from her. He kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Good morning." He said with a smile as he looked down at the tray. "This looks great. I couldn't have done it better myself." He said as he walked over and carefully set the tray on the coffee table. He smiled as he looked at his breakfast. He took a bite of bacon and it crunched a little too much. He cleared his throat and swallowed it. "This is great, Ellie. Thank you."
Arabella looked at him and raised her eyebrow "No it isn't..but that you for telling me that it is" she said and kissed his cheek. Arabella leaned back in the couch, folding her legs under her and playing with the hem of the shirt she had on "But look! I only hurt myself twice!" she said happily, showing off the burns on her arms and her bandaged ring finger on her left hand.
Hunter gasped at her injuries. "Ellie..." He said with a chuckle. "You could have woken me up. Or....worn a suit of armor or something." He gingerly took her arms and kissed them and took her finger and kissed it. "There. All better." He said with a smile as he took another bite of bacon. "This is actually really good though." He said before scooping some of the hash browns into his mouth. He smiled and looked at her. "Are you hiding a chef in there?" He teased before taking a sip of orange juice.
"Pssh, there is no chef in here" Arabella said and she grinned at him, picking up a piece of bacon and eating it quickly. Hunter's food was so much better in her opinion. The only thing that turned out was the hash browns and those were pre-made. She smiled at Hunter then looked down at her arms briefly before picking up her plate and eating some of her eggs "I got all of my clothes packed up too. The rest will be really easy to take down to the cars" she told him with a nod.
"Fabulous." He said with a nod. "I should sleep in more often." He smiled as he finished off the eggs and bacon. The food wasn't out of this world, but it was exactly what Hunter needed. He leaned over and kissed Arabella on the cheek before taking the tray and all the dishes into the kitchen. He started to wash them when he heard the door open and close from the other room.
"Sis! I think I'm in love!" Hunter heard a familiar voice say. He walked in to see Daniel sitting on the couch.
"Not me. I'm accounted for." Hunter said, walking into the room. Daniel looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Not you, but where is that sleeveless shirt I was promised." He said with a grin. Hunter sighed and went back to the dishes. He did promise.
"I'll get it after I'm done with the dishes." He shouted back as he started in.
"You better hurry with those dishes, Stud Muffin..waiting for a sleevless you is pretty difficult" Arabella said and Daniel giggled beside her. Arabella turned on him and took his hands, practically bouncing up and down with exctement "Who is he, Danny? Whose the lucky guy?" she asked
"Well, you know him and-" Daniel started but Arabella's excitment got the best of her.
"Is it someone from the office? Someone from camp?!" Arabella asked excitedly and she grinned up at her brother.
"It's Tom" Daniel said and Arabella stopped bouncing. She looked over at the kitchen where Hunter was and she raised an eyebrow. She was sure that Tom was straight and she didn't want Daniel to have his heart broken when he found out.
Hunter peeked his head out of the kitchen at the mention of his name. "Tom?" Hunter said as he dried a plate. "As in...Tom? Doorman Tom? As in the one down stairs?" Hunter asked with a raised eyebrow. Daniel nodded excitedly.
"Mmhmm. He's so great!" Daniel said. "He's so funny! And smart!" Daniel said as he fell into the back of the couch in a dreamy state. "He's not too bad on the eyes, either. You know what I mean, sister?" He said with a wink. Hunter narrowed his eyes and shared a brief look with Arabella.
"Uhh...Daniel? You do know that Tom is-" Hunter started, but was interrupted by Arabella.
"A really great guy" Arabella said quickly, looking over at Hunter for a second before turning her attention back to Daniel "So, have you gotten his phone number or anything?" she asked him and Daniel nodded, holding up his phone.
"Just got it" Daniel said happily and he looked down at his phone, like he was expecting Tom to call right then. Arabella took a little breath.
"And have you asked him if he's gay..?" Arabella asked in a careful voice, really worried about how Daniel would answer. He shook his head and slipped his phone into his pocket.
"No, but there was major flirting. He was flirting with me like crazy" Daniel said and grinned "Besides, I have an excellent gay-dar. I know these things. Sorry Hunter, I know how much you want me but Tom has my heart"
"Gasp. Oh no. Whatever will I do." Hunter said, incredibly deadpan. Hunter could have sworn that Tom was straight. He never tried to flirt with Hunter. At least not that Hunter noticed. Hunter shrugged and went back to doing dishes. As soon as he was done, he left the apartment and went straight to his car. He sorted through the box of his clothes and found a camp shirt that he had cut the sleeves off of, during a sleeveless shirt phase. He was about to change shirts, but thought about what he would look like walking back. Surely he'd pass Tom. Maybe that would prove it. He changed shirts and tossed the other one in the back of the car. He twirled his keys once before locking it and walking back. He glanced over at Tom who did his usual smile and nod. Hunter lingered for a moment before walking back up the stairs and into the apartment.
Arabella had started walking around the living room, putting Post It notes on her things. She had kind of zoned out while Daniel was talking about every little details about Tom. He was dreaming and giddy and Arabella was just letting him talk. She was putting pink Post It notes on things she wanted to keep, yellow on things she wanted to give away and green on things for storage. She smiled at Daniel then turned when Hunter walked in the door and she gasped lightly. Seeing him in a sleeveless shirt was enough to make her giddy. But then he went and made it a camp shirt and she remembered when he used to wear that shirt at camp. When she first saw him in it, she squeaked and ran off to her cabin when he started to walk towards her, even though he was going to talk to his friend who was standing behind her.
"Oh, hot damn, Hunter. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Daniel said, giving Hunter a wink. Arabella giggled and she walked over to Hunter, giving him a kiss and squeezing his biceps.
"I am one lucky girl" She said and grinned up at Hunter.
"Keep it in your pants, Daniel." He said, unintentionally flexing under Arabella's hand. He pulled Arabella into a hug and put his forehead on hers. "Tom is straight as an arrow." Hunter whispered, giving Arabella a cautious look. He moved his hands to her waist and gave her a small kiss on the lips before breaking away. "Okay. What do I need to take down?" He said, clearing his throat.. "Rest of the clothes?"
With a nervous sigh, Arabella looked around at her apartment "Uhm, all of the things with pink stickers need to go to the cars" she said with a nod and Daniel stood up excitedly. He grabbed a lamp and a pile of magazines and walked out of the apartment, saying something about Tom under his breath. Once he was gone, Arabella looked at Hunter "How do you know that he's straight?"
Hunter hesitated. "I walked past him in this." He said quietly. He realized how dumb that sounded. "Every gay guy I've ever met has hit on me though. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm attractive." He said a little embarrassed. "Other than that, he has never hit on me or made a pass at me or anything. Oh! And he said something about punching a unicorn for a shot at you. Something like that." He said slightly frantically. He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose before shaking his head and shrugging. "I'm going to take something down." He said as he walked to the bedroom.
Arabella let out a little giggle and she started placing some things by the door to go downstairs. It wasn't much stuff, really. Her furniture and things didn't have to go with her but she did want her TV and some of the other little things around her house. Arabella walked back to the bedroom and she gingerly picked up her goldfish tank "Maybe he's just..in denial or he hasn't come out yet" she said with a shrug and looked at Hunter.
"I don't know." He said with a sigh. "I'm going to take the rest of the clothes and then probably one more thing, then my car will be full." He filled his arms with clothes and left the apartment. He walked down and saw Daniel and Tom talking. He rolled his eyes and took the clothes to his car. As he was walking back, he saw Daniel and Tom laughing about something. It was very...flirtatious. Tom looked odd to Hunter. He had never seen him like that. "Danny. We're moving, remember?" He said with a chuckle. Daniel gave him a death glare very familiar to Hunter. He shuddered a little and walked by. He reentered the apartment and leaned against the door behind him. "I didn't think he was gay...." He said with a sigh.
"Hmm? What did you say, Babe?" Arabella asked, walking out of her bathroom with a huge box in her hands. Inside of the box was all of her make up and lotions and shampoos and perfumes and body washes and at-home spa treatments. She was glad that they had two cars and that Daniel had a car too. It would make all of this moving so much easier. Arabella looked at Hunter and raised and eyebrow. He looked upset about something "You doing okay?"
Hunter nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just...confused or surprised or something." He said, shaking his head. "Ellie, can Daniel charmspeak?" He asked hesitantly. He took the box from her and cleared his throat. "I'm not saying he did! But it's a little...I don't know. Hinky?" He said with a raised eyebrow. "Never mind. Never mind. I'm done talking about this. Sorry. I'm done." He said before leaving the apartment.
Arabella watched Hunter walk out of the apartment and she sighed softly. His ego seemed to have been bruised and Arabella felt a little bad. She wondered if there was anything that she could do, anything to make him feel better. For the entire time that she had known Hunter, she had seen a lot of her brothers hit on him and a lot of her sisters too. But she never thought that it was something that he had noticed or cared about. When Hunter walked back upstairs and into the apartment, Arabella walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her and kissing him deeply.
Hunter jumped a little at the kiss. He didn't really see it coming, but leaned into her and put his hands on her hips, pulling her close. He finally broke away and peppered her cheek with kisses. He stopped and smiled at her with his hands still holding her tightly. "What was that for?" He asked before kissing her on the forehead. "If we keep doing this, we'll never get you moved." He chuckled and kissed her on the nose.
"You look like you've seen a ghost, Hunter." He said, patting him on the arm, lightly squeezing his bicep. "Mmmm...Great." He said with a grin.
Hunter swallowed and rolled over on the couch. In his head he was dreaming. He was in the woods back at camp. He was wearing an orange camp shirt and had his old pendant around his neck. He looked down to see a bow slung around his chest and a quiver on his back. He felt a soft squeeze in his hand and looked over to see Arabella standing there, smiling at him. He smiled back and gave her a peck on the cheek before walking through the forest. He suddenly found a small dock looking over a pond in a clearing. He lead her onto the dock and looked at her again. She had changed from her orange shirt and jean shorts to a sweater and sweatpants. He looked down and found himself in a sweater and a pair of jeans. He dug his hand into his pocket and looked at her as she bit her lip and twirled her hair as she always did. Hunter's hands were shaking like crazy for some reason. He finally pulled his hand out of his pocket and heard a small plunk as whatever it was he was pulling out dropped into the water. He looked up at her and opened his mouth to speak, but smelled bacon. He furrowed his brow and took a deep breath of slightly burned bacon smell. He listened and heard humming and the sound of a pan sizzling. That's when he woke up. He rubbed his eyes and licked his lips as he squinted due to the sunlight. She was cooking. Hunter shrugged and sat there, just to see how things turned out.
Arabella cursed under her breath when she saw that the bacon had started to burn while she was trying to crack an egg. She quickly grabbed a fork and tried to pull the bacon out of the pan. A few drops of hot bacon grease jumped out of the pan and landed on her hand, making her curse again. But she managed to get the bacon out and she quikly got the eggs into the pan. The timer went off on the oven and Arabella squeaked out of surprise and she opened the door. With gloved hands, she pulled the hash browns out of the oven but not before wacking her forearms against the inside of the oven door. Finally, the food was done and Arabella had managed to put it all on two plates. The bacon and the eggs were slightly burnt but the hash browns turned out fine. Arabella was just proud that she only managed to burn her arms a little and cut her finger while she cut up some strawberries. She poured orange juice into two big cups and she gingerly walked towards the living room, making sure that the oven and the stove was off "Are you awake?" she asked softly, not wanting to look up from the full tray in her hands in case she dropped it.
Hunter saw the full tray and quickly hurried over to take it from her. He kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Good morning." He said with a smile as he looked down at the tray. "This looks great. I couldn't have done it better myself." He said as he walked over and carefully set the tray on the coffee table. He smiled as he looked at his breakfast. He took a bite of bacon and it crunched a little too much. He cleared his throat and swallowed it. "This is great, Ellie. Thank you."
Arabella looked at him and raised her eyebrow "No it isn't..but that you for telling me that it is" she said and kissed his cheek. Arabella leaned back in the couch, folding her legs under her and playing with the hem of the shirt she had on "But look! I only hurt myself twice!" she said happily, showing off the burns on her arms and her bandaged ring finger on her left hand.
Hunter gasped at her injuries. "Ellie..." He said with a chuckle. "You could have woken me up. Or....worn a suit of armor or something." He gingerly took her arms and kissed them and took her finger and kissed it. "There. All better." He said with a smile as he took another bite of bacon. "This is actually really good though." He said before scooping some of the hash browns into his mouth. He smiled and looked at her. "Are you hiding a chef in there?" He teased before taking a sip of orange juice.
"Pssh, there is no chef in here" Arabella said and she grinned at him, picking up a piece of bacon and eating it quickly. Hunter's food was so much better in her opinion. The only thing that turned out was the hash browns and those were pre-made. She smiled at Hunter then looked down at her arms briefly before picking up her plate and eating some of her eggs "I got all of my clothes packed up too. The rest will be really easy to take down to the cars" she told him with a nod.
"Fabulous." He said with a nod. "I should sleep in more often." He smiled as he finished off the eggs and bacon. The food wasn't out of this world, but it was exactly what Hunter needed. He leaned over and kissed Arabella on the cheek before taking the tray and all the dishes into the kitchen. He started to wash them when he heard the door open and close from the other room.
"Sis! I think I'm in love!" Hunter heard a familiar voice say. He walked in to see Daniel sitting on the couch.
"Not me. I'm accounted for." Hunter said, walking into the room. Daniel looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Not you, but where is that sleeveless shirt I was promised." He said with a grin. Hunter sighed and went back to the dishes. He did promise.
"I'll get it after I'm done with the dishes." He shouted back as he started in.
"You better hurry with those dishes, Stud Muffin..waiting for a sleevless you is pretty difficult" Arabella said and Daniel giggled beside her. Arabella turned on him and took his hands, practically bouncing up and down with exctement "Who is he, Danny? Whose the lucky guy?" she asked
"Well, you know him and-" Daniel started but Arabella's excitment got the best of her.
"Is it someone from the office? Someone from camp?!" Arabella asked excitedly and she grinned up at her brother.
"It's Tom" Daniel said and Arabella stopped bouncing. She looked over at the kitchen where Hunter was and she raised an eyebrow. She was sure that Tom was straight and she didn't want Daniel to have his heart broken when he found out.
Hunter peeked his head out of the kitchen at the mention of his name. "Tom?" Hunter said as he dried a plate. "As in...Tom? Doorman Tom? As in the one down stairs?" Hunter asked with a raised eyebrow. Daniel nodded excitedly.
"Mmhmm. He's so great!" Daniel said. "He's so funny! And smart!" Daniel said as he fell into the back of the couch in a dreamy state. "He's not too bad on the eyes, either. You know what I mean, sister?" He said with a wink. Hunter narrowed his eyes and shared a brief look with Arabella.
"Uhh...Daniel? You do know that Tom is-" Hunter started, but was interrupted by Arabella.
"A really great guy" Arabella said quickly, looking over at Hunter for a second before turning her attention back to Daniel "So, have you gotten his phone number or anything?" she asked him and Daniel nodded, holding up his phone.
"Just got it" Daniel said happily and he looked down at his phone, like he was expecting Tom to call right then. Arabella took a little breath.
"And have you asked him if he's gay..?" Arabella asked in a careful voice, really worried about how Daniel would answer. He shook his head and slipped his phone into his pocket.
"No, but there was major flirting. He was flirting with me like crazy" Daniel said and grinned "Besides, I have an excellent gay-dar. I know these things. Sorry Hunter, I know how much you want me but Tom has my heart"
"Gasp. Oh no. Whatever will I do." Hunter said, incredibly deadpan. Hunter could have sworn that Tom was straight. He never tried to flirt with Hunter. At least not that Hunter noticed. Hunter shrugged and went back to doing dishes. As soon as he was done, he left the apartment and went straight to his car. He sorted through the box of his clothes and found a camp shirt that he had cut the sleeves off of, during a sleeveless shirt phase. He was about to change shirts, but thought about what he would look like walking back. Surely he'd pass Tom. Maybe that would prove it. He changed shirts and tossed the other one in the back of the car. He twirled his keys once before locking it and walking back. He glanced over at Tom who did his usual smile and nod. Hunter lingered for a moment before walking back up the stairs and into the apartment.
Arabella had started walking around the living room, putting Post It notes on her things. She had kind of zoned out while Daniel was talking about every little details about Tom. He was dreaming and giddy and Arabella was just letting him talk. She was putting pink Post It notes on things she wanted to keep, yellow on things she wanted to give away and green on things for storage. She smiled at Daniel then turned when Hunter walked in the door and she gasped lightly. Seeing him in a sleeveless shirt was enough to make her giddy. But then he went and made it a camp shirt and she remembered when he used to wear that shirt at camp. When she first saw him in it, she squeaked and ran off to her cabin when he started to walk towards her, even though he was going to talk to his friend who was standing behind her.
"Oh, hot damn, Hunter. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Daniel said, giving Hunter a wink. Arabella giggled and she walked over to Hunter, giving him a kiss and squeezing his biceps.
"I am one lucky girl" She said and grinned up at Hunter.
"Keep it in your pants, Daniel." He said, unintentionally flexing under Arabella's hand. He pulled Arabella into a hug and put his forehead on hers. "Tom is straight as an arrow." Hunter whispered, giving Arabella a cautious look. He moved his hands to her waist and gave her a small kiss on the lips before breaking away. "Okay. What do I need to take down?" He said, clearing his throat.. "Rest of the clothes?"
With a nervous sigh, Arabella looked around at her apartment "Uhm, all of the things with pink stickers need to go to the cars" she said with a nod and Daniel stood up excitedly. He grabbed a lamp and a pile of magazines and walked out of the apartment, saying something about Tom under his breath. Once he was gone, Arabella looked at Hunter "How do you know that he's straight?"
Hunter hesitated. "I walked past him in this." He said quietly. He realized how dumb that sounded. "Every gay guy I've ever met has hit on me though. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm attractive." He said a little embarrassed. "Other than that, he has never hit on me or made a pass at me or anything. Oh! And he said something about punching a unicorn for a shot at you. Something like that." He said slightly frantically. He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose before shaking his head and shrugging. "I'm going to take something down." He said as he walked to the bedroom.
Arabella let out a little giggle and she started placing some things by the door to go downstairs. It wasn't much stuff, really. Her furniture and things didn't have to go with her but she did want her TV and some of the other little things around her house. Arabella walked back to the bedroom and she gingerly picked up her goldfish tank "Maybe he's just..in denial or he hasn't come out yet" she said with a shrug and looked at Hunter.
"I don't know." He said with a sigh. "I'm going to take the rest of the clothes and then probably one more thing, then my car will be full." He filled his arms with clothes and left the apartment. He walked down and saw Daniel and Tom talking. He rolled his eyes and took the clothes to his car. As he was walking back, he saw Daniel and Tom laughing about something. It was very...flirtatious. Tom looked odd to Hunter. He had never seen him like that. "Danny. We're moving, remember?" He said with a chuckle. Daniel gave him a death glare very familiar to Hunter. He shuddered a little and walked by. He reentered the apartment and leaned against the door behind him. "I didn't think he was gay...." He said with a sigh.
"Hmm? What did you say, Babe?" Arabella asked, walking out of her bathroom with a huge box in her hands. Inside of the box was all of her make up and lotions and shampoos and perfumes and body washes and at-home spa treatments. She was glad that they had two cars and that Daniel had a car too. It would make all of this moving so much easier. Arabella looked at Hunter and raised and eyebrow. He looked upset about something "You doing okay?"
Hunter nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just...confused or surprised or something." He said, shaking his head. "Ellie, can Daniel charmspeak?" He asked hesitantly. He took the box from her and cleared his throat. "I'm not saying he did! But it's a little...I don't know. Hinky?" He said with a raised eyebrow. "Never mind. Never mind. I'm done talking about this. Sorry. I'm done." He said before leaving the apartment.
Arabella watched Hunter walk out of the apartment and she sighed softly. His ego seemed to have been bruised and Arabella felt a little bad. She wondered if there was anything that she could do, anything to make him feel better. For the entire time that she had known Hunter, she had seen a lot of her brothers hit on him and a lot of her sisters too. But she never thought that it was something that he had noticed or cared about. When Hunter walked back upstairs and into the apartment, Arabella walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her and kissing him deeply.
Hunter jumped a little at the kiss. He didn't really see it coming, but leaned into her and put his hands on her hips, pulling her close. He finally broke away and peppered her cheek with kisses. He stopped and smiled at her with his hands still holding her tightly. "What was that for?" He asked before kissing her on the forehead. "If we keep doing this, we'll never get you moved." He chuckled and kissed her on the nose.
Arabella leaned into him, kissing him lightly before pulling away "It was just to remind you that I still think you're the sexiest man on the planet" she said softly with a smirk then she grabbed a box and headed for her car.
Hunter knit his eyebrows and stood there after the door closed. "What..." He muttered as he heard the door open and see Daniel walk in. He raised an eyebrow at Hunter.
"You look like you've seen a ghost, Hunter." He said, patting him on the arm, lightly squeezing his bicep. "Mmmm...Great." He said with a grin.
"Hey!" Hunter said, pulling his arm away from him and shuddering. "Look, but don't touch. Only Ellie can touch." He said with a chuckle as he walked toward the living room and picked up her TV.
"You really do love her, don't you?" Daniel said behind Hunter. Hunter turned around briefly and looked at Daniel.
"Yeah." He said, picking up the TV with a groan. "More than anything." He said in a strained voice as he carried the TV. Daniel smiled and sighed.
"That's really great." He said before awkwardly hugging Hunter. It was at that time that Arabella came back. Daniel stopped and stepped back, looking at Arabella. Hunter smiled at Arabella squeezed through the doorway and made his way down to Arabella's car.
Arabella watched Hunter walk away and she looked at Daniel, a little bit confused. She never thought that she would walk in on Hunter and Daniel hugging. Daniel however grinned at Arabella and hugged her. She patted his back and he pulled away from her.
"I'm so happy for you, Arabella" Daniel said in a happy voice. Arabella looked at him, she was slightly confused but she still smiled at him.
"And I'll be happy once we get some of this stuff out of here" Arabella teased and she handed a box to Daniel. He took the box from her hands and headed out of the apartment "And don't stop to flirt!!" she called after him and she started looking though a stack of papers to try and find her land lord's phone number.
Hunter put the TV in her car and decided to take the first load in his car to the house. It was at this point that he wished that he had a cell phone. He quickly ran upstairs, passing Daniel and Tom inevitably flirting, and walked into the apartment. He walked in and found Arabella looking for something. "What are you looking for?" He asked, stepping toward her and slipping an arm around her waist. "Can I help?"
"I'm just trying to find the land lord's phone number" Arabella said with a sigh and she leaned back into him slightly. She took a deep breath, happy that she was with him and that she was moving in with him. "I think that most of my stuff is pretty well downstairs" Arabella said softly and she looked around at the apartment. She realized just how little stuff she had. She had never turned this apartment into a home. Arabella let out a soft sigh and looked up at Hunter.
Hunter smiled and kissed her forehead. "Nothing has left." He said, turning her around and putting his hands on her sides. "It's not too late to change your mind." He said. He pulled her close and kissed her lightly on the lips. "We'll always have the rooftop." He said with a smile.
Arabella smiled softly against his lips and she shook her head "I want to, Hunter. I don't regret this" she said softly then looked back at her apartment "I just noticed that I had never really made myself home here. I put things up on the walls and decorated because I wanted it to look pretty, not because I liked it and I was settling in" she said softly and shrugged, slipping her arms around his waist "I can't wait to have a home"
"Well," Hunter said as he hugged her. "Let's go, then." He looked into her bright blue eyes a moment before placing a small kiss on her forehead. She sighed and shook her head. "Land lord's number. Right. Sorry. Uhh..." He said as he pulled away from her and looked around for a second. He snapped his fingers and walked into the kitchen. He pulled the number off the fridge and walked back in. "It was magneted to your fridge." He said, handing it to her.
"Of course it was" Arabella sighed then gave Hunter a little smile "Thanks" she said and kissed his jaw before walking out to the balcony. She quickly dialed the phone number on the piece of paper and she got the voice mail. Arabella left a message, telling her land lord that she was going to be moving out and she gave him her new phone number. She hung up and slid back inside to see Daniel walk in the door with a huge smile on his face "Wow, Danny..took you a long time to put a box into the car" she said in a teasing voice.
"He is so....amazing" Daniel sighed, ignoring Arabella and sitting down on a box with a dreamy look in his eyes.
"What happened, now?" Arabella asked and Daniel smiled up at her. He looked like he was about to burst.
"We're going out on Friday!" Daniel squeaked.
"Going out?" Hunter asked with a raised eyebrow. "As in...drinks? Or...coffee? Or..romantic date?" He verbally stumbled before glancing over at Arabella. Hunter chuckled at his gaydar being so off about Tom. "Well, either way...Friday is not today. We were going to go to the house. You want to take both of the things that you took over and I'll give you the grad tour?" He said, putting his hands up in a showy manner.
"Come on, Danny...you'll love the house. It's so big!" Arabella giggled and she linked arms with her brother. Daniel and Arabella walked out of her apartment together and Arabella smiled back at Hunter as he walked out behind her, closing and locking the door.
"He is such a great guy, Arabella! I seriously think he might be the one!" Daniel sighed as they walked down to the cars. Arabella looked at Hunter and rolled her eyes. Daniel had a habit of saying that every boy he was with was 'the one' but she hoped that Tom was someone special for Daniel.
"That's great, Danny" Arabella said softly and she hugged him, kissing his cheek in a friendly way then she pulled away from him and her hand automatically found Hunter's. She didn't even plan on it. It just happened "Just follow our cars..I'm sure you won't get lost" she said to Daniel.
Hunter and Arabella walked over to their cars, parked side-by-side. Hunter's dark blue Tucker sedan and Arabella's bright red Bel-Air convertible. As odd a couple as the owners. Hunter gave her hand one last squeeze and got into his car. He started it and started the drive toward his house. He pulled out of the lot and waved to Tom briefly who was waiting to get across. Hunter checked as rearview as Arabella followed close behind. He smiled and looked at the road. That's when he heard tires screech, a multitude of screams. He immediately parked and got out, thinking the worst. He saw Arabella doing the same and he exhaled in relief. "If it wasn't Arabella, then it's..." Hunter said as he sprinted to Daniel's parked car.
"Hunter! Arabella! Someone! Help! Oh my gods!" Daniel shouted.
Arabella looked at Hunter and she ran towards Daniel. She froze when she saw what had happened. Tom was on the ground and there was blood. A lot of it. He didn't look like he was moving and his body was in an horribly awkward position. She moved her eyes away from Tom, not wanting to see that and she looked at Daniel instead. He was freaking out. Arabella ran over to him and she wrapped her arms around him but he didn't move. He just stared down at Tom "Danny, what happened?"
"I was-I was driving and I got a text..." Daniel said, his voice broken "I only looked at my phone for a second then he was right in front of me, and.." his voice broke off and tears started welling up in his eyes.
"You need to take him to the hospital" Arabella said and she pulled away from Daniel. She was shocked. She couldn't believe what had happened. Looking down at Tom made her want to burst into tears right then and there but she wanted to be strong for Daniel. Oh gods, let him be okay..
Hunter ran up to Daniel and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Daniel." He said clearly. He shook him slightly and Daniel seemed to start paying attention to him. "You need to take him to the hospital. The hospital will call the police. You can talk to them. Now, help me load him up." He said, looking into Daniel's eyes. Daniel wiped his face and nodded. Hunter nodded back and immediately knelt down by Tom. "Tom, how you doing?" He said quietly as he pulled him away from the car. Tom had a large cut on his face and his leg seemed to be bent the wrong way. He moaned as he slipped in and out of consciousness. "Tom. Tom! Wake up!" He said, lightly slapping his face. "How's it going?!" He said clearly as he helped him sit up a little.
"I'm...I'm doing we-AAH!" He shouted and clutched his stomach. His breathing was shallow and he was shaking.
"Come on! Stay with me. Stay with me." He said as he slung him over his shoulder. "Daniel is going to take you to the hospital, okay? You're going to rest up and you're going to get better, okay?" He walked over to the open car doors with Daniel standing by. He carefully put him in and closed the car door before grabbing Daniel by the shoulders again. "Danny. Danny, listen to me. He's going to be fine, okay? Take him straight to the hospital." Hunter said clearly, shaking Daniel again. Daniel nodded and started to walk away.
"It'll be okay, Danny" Arabella called after him in a shaky voice and she watched with one arm folded across her chest and the other hand covering her mouth as her brother got into his car and drove away, towards the hospital. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't she just live a regular, happy life? It wasn't fair that Daniel had found someone that he was so crazy about only to have him get hit by a car. She looked over at Hunter, frozen in her worry and her fear. What if Tom wasn't okay? Daniel would never be able to forgive himself.
Hunter stood there as Daniel drove away. He wasn't even sure what to do, now. Should he follow Daniel to the hospital? He immediately looked for Arabella. He found her standing a few feet away by her car. He looked at her for a moment before walking to her and wrapping his arms around her. Hunter needed comfort just as much as she did. Tom was one of his closest friends. Hunter held her close and buried his face in her hair. "He's going to be okay, Ellie." He said in barely a whisper. Maybe he truly believed that, but he was probably just trying to convince himself.
Her arms wrapped around him and she held him close to her, giving him a small squeeze. She knew how important Tom was to him. Arabella gripped onto his shirt lightly with shaking hands "I know. Everything is going to be fine" she whispered back and took a small breath. She couldn't get the image of Tom on the ground out or the sound of Daniel's panicked voice out of her mind "Come on, let's get out of here" she whispered, looking around at the crowd that started to form.
Hunter nodded and got into his car, taking one last glance at the pool of Tom's blood that had formed. He shuddered and started his car. He drove. He just drove. He never took his eyes off the road. When he arrived at his house, he parked and got out. He walked to the back and started unloading things. He needed to get his mind off what he had just seen. He felt bad. He felt bad for Tom, his close friend and confidant. One of the only people he got to know outside of camp. He felt bad for Danny, someone who he considered a friend and someone who he could trust. He didn't deserve that kind of guilt. Hunter just needed to stop thinking about it. He brought in his box of clothes and brought them upstairs. He quickly put them away, solely to keep his mind occupied. As soon as that was done he went back out and got another box.
Arabella was too nervous to do anything. She saw Hunter taking the boxes inside and she tried to help, she really did. She managed to bring in a stack of magazines but then she had to go sit down. Her stomach was twisted into knots that seemed to get tighter and tighter as each second ticked on. Arabella sat down on a box by her car, looking at her phone in her hand. She was waiting for Daniel to call her, to tell her that Tom was alright. All she could do was wait. She turned her head up and she saw Hunter walking out of the house to grab another box and she wanted to say something to him but she didnt know what "You..you don't have to unload everything right now.."she told him softly and she bit her lip.
Hunter glanced at Arabella before walking past and back out to the car. He grabbed another box and brought up stairs. It was Arabella's clothes. He left it on the bed and walked back down. He went out and grabbed the last box out of his car. He brought it in and set it on the bed. He was starting breath a little heavy from the nonstop movement, but he knew that if he stopped that he would think about what he had just seen. He shook his head as he grabbed an armful of dress bags and hauled them inside.
Arabella sighed and she slipped her phone into her pocket. She walked inside the house and looked around. Once everything was settled, once she wasn't so worried, Arabella would be able to really look at the house. Right now, however, she had a lot on her mind. She headed towards the stairs and walked up them slowly. She could hear Hunter moving around in the bedroom. Arabella took a deep breath and walked into the bedroom "I'm sure that Danny will call me soon. It shouldn't take too long, right?" she asked him in a small voice.
Hunter looked up at Arabella and took a deep breath. "I uh...I don't know, Ellie." He said as he hung up what he could. "You want to do this?" He asked quietly. He came out sounding a bit rude and he hoped that she wouldn't take it that way, but he needed to keep moving. "I was going to get the TV and put it in here. What do you think? You're my decorator, so your opinion is the one that matters." He said with a nod and another deep breath. He didn't even wait for an answer before starting toward the door again.
Her stomach knotted up even tighter and Arabella felt her cheeks turn pink. The rudness of his voice made her feel like she had done something wrong. Messed up in someway. Arabella started picking up her things then looked at Hunter's back "No TV in the bedroom" she said curtly and stepped into the closet, hanging up some of her things.
Hunter nodded as he climbed down the stairs. They'd just need to figure out a place for it. He walked out to the car and grabbed the TV. He hauled it inside and set it down on the ground, assuming that they'd take care of it later. He took a deep breath and walked back outside to take the last armful of clothes inside. He brought it up to the bedroom and set it in front of Arabella before leaving again and walking out to her car. He grabbed a box and brought it inside. It was the box full of perfumes and make up and glass bottles. He headed toward the stairs and started to climb. He gasped as his foot caught on the last step and he fell to the ground. The box fell with a loud noise and Hunter took a deep breath and buried his face in the ground. "SHIT!" He said, his voice muffled by the floor. He stopped and that meant everything w as setting in. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" He shouted as he rolled over and sat against the wall.
The loud crash echoed though the house and it caused Arabella to squeak in shock and drop the shirt that she was folding. Hunter's voice hit her next and she jumped over the pile of clothes to find him. By the stairs, she saw a big box with one corner that was slowly getting wetter and wetter. Hunter was sitting against the wall and Arabella forgot that she was annoyed with him. Arabella bit her lip, walking over to him. She stood beside him and placed a hand on his head gingerly "Hey, are you okay?" she asked softly.
Hunter looked up at Arabella and put a hand over his eyes, rubbing his temples. He sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Ellie." He said quietly as he stood up from his spot on the ground. "I'll uh...I'll sort through the glass and find what's salvageable." He looked at Arabella who was giving him a disbelieving look. "I'm just worried." He said quietly. "I was trying to be strong, but obviously not strong enough." He said with a sigh as he picked up the box and walked toward the bathroom where he turned on the lights and started to sort through.He didn't care about cutting his hand on broken glass, he just wanted this day to be done. It could never be easy. Two days of perfection was all they got.
Arabella watched Hunter as he walked away and she let out a small sigh. What was she going to do? She wanted to help him but she felt like he kept pushing her away. Arabella chewed on the inside of her cheek and she followed Hunter to the bathroom. Without saying anything, Arabella took his hands out of the box gingerly then put the box on the floor. She didn't care about any of her things. All she cared about was Hunter. Arabella turned on the cold water and stuck his bleeding hands under it "You don't always have to be strong" she told him in a soft but steady voice.
"I need to be strong. I have to be strong." He said quietly. He wasn't sure when he learned that mentality, but it felt so ingrained in his memory that he would never see otherwise. " I've always taken care of myself. I've had to be strong for my sake. When I came into your life, I wanted to take care of you. You've been through hell and I wanted to be there to make you feel safe and loved and protected. To make you feel worth it. I need to be strong." He said in a shaky voice with his hands under the faucet. "Tom is injured. I don't know what to do. I feel like I should be at the hospital, but I know that he's in good hands. I don't know what's going on. Ellie, I don't know what's going on and it's driving me crazy." He said quietly, a lump forming in his throat.
"It's okay, Hunter. It's okay to be worried" Arabella said softly and she rested her chin on his shoulder for a moment, kissing his jaw line "You don't have to be so strong all the time. That safe and loved and protected thing goes both ways, you know. I'm here for you no matter what. If there is anything you need to talk about, you can always come to me" she told him and turned the water off. Arabella fished out a first aid kit and she went to work on his hands, bandaging them up neatly. Arabella looked up at him and she linked her arm through his. She placed her chin back where it was on his shoulder and she looked at him with big, worried eyes.
Hunter looked down at her and sighed. He didn't like being worried. At the same time, he felt comforted by Arabella's words. He slipped his arm out of hers and outside to bring in the last couple of boxes. He brought them in and put them on the bedroom before closing everything outside. He walked back and found Arabella again. He stood nearby and looked at her. "Did you want to do something? I can make us dinner or we can watch TV." He really needed something to take his mind off the hospital.
Arabella walked over to Hunter and she wrapped her arms around his waist, putting her forehead against his chest. "Doesn't matter..I just want to-" she said softly but she was cut off when her phone started ringing. Arabella pulled away from Hunter so that she could fish her phone out of her pocket. She quickly answered the phone "Danny?"
"Arabella, hi" Daniel said into the phone. He sounded exhausted but he didn't sound as stressed anymore.
"How is everything? Is he okay?" Arabella asked and she started biting on her nail.
"I can't talk for very long right now but I wanted to call you to tell you that Tom is going to be fine and I think that everything else is going to be sorted out pretty soon too. I already spoke to the police and I think that it went well" Daniel told her "Look, I gotta go but give Hunter a hug for me and tell him that I say 'thank you' and I love you, Sis"
"Love you too, Danny" Arabella said softly before hanging up. Tom was okay. He was going to be okay. Arabella could have danced right then and there.
Hunter looked at Arabella as she hung up the phone. He smiled and ran over to Arabella, wrapping his arms around her and picking her up into a hug. He spun a few times and held her there, her face a little bit above eye level. Tom was okay. Daniel was not in jail and he was okay. Hunter breathed easily again. Arabella was almost completely moved in. Today was not perfect, but the ending sure seemed to be. "What should we do with the TV?" Hunter asked with a chuckle as he put his forehead to hers.
The knot in Arabella's stomach seemed to unravel instantly. She rested her hands on his neck and giggled as he spun her. Everything in Arabella's world fell back into place and she felt like she could finally be happy and excited about the house. She could walk around and check it all out. She could cuddle with Hunter. She could relax. Arabella smiled and looked into his eyes "We can figure that out later" she said softly, not really feeling like doing anymore packing.
"Well, Ms. Foster." He said with a smile. "Welcome to your new home." He whispered before lightly kissing her top lip. He didn't bother putting her down. He never want to let go of her. "Shall I give you the tour?" He smiled and held her closer. He chuckled to himself as he slung her over his shoulder, keeping a tight grip on her legs. "As you can see, this is the living room." He started as she squirmed around, trying to break free.
Arabella squeaked when he put her over his shoulder and she giggled, trying to get out of his grasp "It's a wonderful living room" she said and she wiggled again. Arabella huffed and put her hands on the small of his back so she could lift her head up. As Hunter carried her into the kitchen, Arabella looked around "Oh, the kitchen. Lovely. I'm probably never going to cook again though, just so you know" she teased.
"The hospital bills would be too much anyway." He said as he moved through the kitchen and into the garage. "Through here is the garage. It's kind of boring." He said with a chuckle. It was mostly empty except for somecar parts and tools. He jostled her a little as he walked back into the kitchen. "And if you walk through here, we have the dining room. The chandelier was a gift from the queen of Peru and each crystal was cut by blind monks." He said as he continued to walk through. "Bedroom. Bedroom. Bedroom. Bathroom. Closet. Spooky basement." He pointed as he turned around in the hallway and walked back to the living room. "Here ends our tour." He said, giving her butt a few celebratory pats.
"Oh, well, it was a wonderful tour" Arabella giggled and she let out a laugh when Hunter patted her butt. She lifted up the back of his shirt and she pressed her lips against the small of his back, giving him a raspberry. Arabella was thrilled with all of this. Tom was okay. Daniel was okay. She was in Hunter's arms and she was moving in with him. Everything was perfect. Everything was finally wonderful. It was easy and it was simple.
Hunter squirmed and bounced her on his shoulder. "Oh, wait. I need to show you the bedroom." He said, running toward the stairs. He climbed them quickly and burst into the room. He tossed her on the bed and fell down on his chest next to her, bouncing and shaking the whole bed. He felt his body relax into the bed. He had been on his feet most of the day. It felt good to just lay down for once.
When the bed stopped shaking, Arabella rolled over so that she was lying next to him on her stomach. She cuddled up to his side and she closed her eyes. Arabella could almost feel his body relaxing next to her and she smiled softly. It was comforting to know that he was relaxing and he was letting go of some of the stress. She moved then so that she was straddling his back and she lifted his shirt up. Arabella started to rub his back, working on all the kinks and all the knots.
Hunter moaned quietly as she rubbed his back. It felt fantastic. "So," He started, his voice slightly muffled by the bed. "What do you want to do tomorrow?" He asked quietly. They had so much to look forward to, now that she was living with him. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "I'd like to visit Tom, actually. After that, the entire day is open." He said, turning his head to the side. "We should invite your dad over to see the house. And Tom and Daniel as soon as he gets out." He moaned quietly again and sighed. "It's up to you, though."
Arabella smiled a proud little smile to herself when he moaned. She continued rubbing his back, adding just a touch more pressure "I would love to go see Tom" Arabella said softly with a nod. She wanted to see him for herself, to make sure that he was really okay. Whenever someone like Tom or Hunter got hurt, she realized how lucky she was to be a demigod. She could just eat some ambrosia and everything would be fine "It really means a lot to me that you want to try again with my dad, by the way" she said softly and she took her hands off of his back to reach for her purse. Arabella pulled a lotion out of it and squirted some on her hands before going back to rubbing his back.
"Well, I want him to support us." He said, starting to sit up a little, thinking that she was done. "I want to show him that-COLD!" The feeling of her lotioned hands on his back made him tense up. She giggled and started rubbing his back again. He relaxed again and closed his eyes as she seemed to work all the stress out of his body. "Mmm...What were we talking about...Oh. Right. Your dad." He said, clearing his throat. "I want to show him that I'm going to be with you, even if he doesn't like it. Hopefully, he'll come around." He said with a sigh. "I kind of wanted to apologize for storming out last time too." He said quietly.
Arabella ran her hands down his sides and started rubbing the small of his back. She looked up at him for a second before looking at his back again "I think he will come around. He just needs some time" she said softly and let out a sigh "Maybe once he sees us in this house and you making supper and all that, he'll realize that you're here to stay" she said with a little nod and run her hands up his spine. Arabella leaned down and she placed a kiss on the nape of his neck.
Hunter smiled. "I really hope so." He said with a sigh. "I really want your family to like me. And not just because I've saved the world." He said with a smile. "Did you see Tyler's face? Like I was made of gold or something." He chuckled to himself and moaned again as she found a knot near the base of his neck. "Why are you so good at this?" He asked quietly. He wasn't really looking for an answer, but was more amazed at her ability. "So, are there any other relatives that I should know about?" He asked with a sigh. "On your dad's side, of course. I know your mom. She likes me." He said with a chuckle.
Arabella giggled softly "No, I don't have any other family" she reassured him and slid her hands to his shoulders, rubbing with a little more pressure than she used on his back. She let out a softly sigh and chewed on her lip "I worry about Tyler, to be honest" Arabella admitted and moved her hands down his arms a little bit "He doesn't really have any friends, at all. He's been home schooled his whole life. His mother isn't around anymore, the bitch. And the only guys he has ever really looked up to were Chad and Brian. When they broke my heart, they broke Tyler's too" her voice broke off and she moved her hands to the middle of his back again.
Hunter sighed. Tyler seemed relatively normal. Hunter didn't think that he would have gone through something like that. He put his face in the sheets and stayed silent for a few moments. In a way, he related to Tyler. Hunter used to feel like he didn't have a place. A lot of the time at camp, he was lonely. He finally turned his face again and took a deep breath. "What's he like, Ellie?" He asked, clearing his throat. "Tyler. What are some of his interests? What does he like to do?" He wanted to get to know Tyler. He hoped that they could be good friends. That Tyler would finally have someone other than some deadbeat to look up to. "Tell me about Tyler."
"Well, his 16th birthday is coming up pretty soon. He likes to play video games and things like that, he's amazing when it comes to technology. I can hardly turn a computer on" Arabella said with a giggle "He loves to write and he loves to read. Tyler told me once that he wants to be an author but Dad doesn't approve. He wants Tyler to do something like...a lawyer or something like that. I think he would be an amazing author. I told him all about Percy and that whole story and he says that he wants to write a book about it"
Hunter chuckled. "I've got a few stories for him, if he's looking for inspiration." He said, before rolling over with Arabella still on top of him. He gently brought her face down for a soft kiss. "Thanks." He said with a smile. "16...So he'll be getting his license, then? That's perfect." He said with a nod as he fixed his shirt a little. "I was thinking, though. You said he didn't have many friends, so he basically hangs out with your dad, all day, right?" He said. Arabella nodded and slid sideways and laid next to him, snuggling into his side. "The basement has virtually nothing in it. I was thinking...." He said quietly. "What if that became Tyler's...area? Like a place where he could come and he and I could hang out and play video games and we can talk and he can amaze me with his writing ability. Would he go for that?" He asked, putting an arm around her. "I could even teach him how to knife fight." He chuckled and kissed Arabella on his forehead.
"Oh, dear gods. Teach him how to knife fight and he'll be your best friend for the rest of your life" Arabella said with a small roll of her eyes. She slipped her arm across his middle, pulling herself closer to him. Hearing him talk about Tyler like that, saying that he cared about him and wanted to make sure that Tyler was alright almost made Arabella cry right then and there. Tyler was always someone that she worried about a lot and she never really knew how to deal with it. She could hang out with him, sure. That was always something that Arabella loved but Tyler needed a guy to hang out with. Someone who he could talk to and get advice from. She smiled up at Hunter and nodded "You have no idea how much that means to me, by the way" she said softly
Hunter smiled and kissed her cheek. "I thought we went through this." He said with a chuckle. "I want to get along with your family." He rolled slightly, so that he was looking into her face. "I know what tomorrow is going to look like then." He said, kissing her lightly on the lips. "We'll sleep in after a long night of love-making." He said with a chuckle. "I'm kidding. We'll sleep in, so that you have time to get used to your new bed. I'll make you breakfast. You call your dad. We finish unpacking. I'll make you lunch. We'll visit Tom. I'll run a quick errand. We'll have dinner back here with your dad. I'm thinking about steak. That sound good?" He said, putting his head on hers. He kissed her lightly on the nose and smiled as he laid back again.
"Steak sounds amazing" Arabella said softly and she placed her arm across his middle again. A yawn managed to fight it's way out and Arabella rested her tired head against Hunter's side "Tomorrow sounds wonderful. Though I'm not sure I like the lack of love-making" she teased and looked up at him "I love you Hunter. You've done so much for me" she whispered and pressed her lips against his chest gently.
Hunter smiled and held her close. "I love you too." He ran his fingers up and down her arm and chuckled. "We're even." He wrapped his arms around her and rolled on top of her. "About the love-making..." He said with a smile before pressing his lips to hers. He finally broke it and yawned, sitting up. "We'll do a lot of it tomorrow. That sound okay?" He said, pressing his lips to hers again. "Let's go to bed. You go ahead and become even more beautiful, I'll be back in a little while." He kissed her on the lips again before standing up and walking out. He went downstairs and walked to the basement. It was bare. He stood there and imagined what this room could be. "I'll see if we can get a big TV on that wall. Gaming stuff down there. A computer in the corner. Maybe a few arcade games." He pondered. Hunter really wanted Tyler to be able to have a good time and making an awesome place where he can hang out was something that he thought was the right thing to do. He picked up a box that had miscellaneous things in it and brought it upstairs. He tossed it in one of the spare bedrooms and walked back upstairs.
Arabella watched Hunter walk away and she smiled, closing her eyes. She had gone through so many emotions that day and it was making her very tired. Tomorrow was going to be a perfect day and she was thrilled. Arabella knew that even if she had a bad day or something went wrong, Hunter was always going to be there and he was always going to turn her day around in a heart beat. Arabella yawned softly, waiting for Hunter to come back upstairs. She was happy and excited that he wanted to get to know Tyler. It was like a huge weight off of her shoulders. Arabella rolled over so that she was on her side and she pulled her knees up to her chest. Before she could stop herself, Arabella was drifting off into a gentle sleep just like that. Wearing Hunter's shirts, jean shorts and curled up on top of the blankets.
Hunter walked in to see Arabella asleep. He smiled gently and walked around to her side. He grabbed the throw blanket at the foot of the bed and spread it over her. Immediately she seemed to uncurl and relax. "You didn't change a thing, but you're even more beautiful." He whispered before kissing her ever so lightly on the forehead. He quickly changed into a pair of pajama pants and slipped off his shirt before sliding into bed next to her. He quietly and carefully got under the blanket and put an arm around her. He buried his face in her hair for a moment before relaxing and falling asleep.
Arabella watched Hunter walk away and she looked at Daniel, a little bit confused. She never thought that she would walk in on Hunter and Daniel hugging. Daniel however grinned at Arabella and hugged her. She patted his back and he pulled away from her.
"I'm so happy for you, Arabella" Daniel said in a happy voice. Arabella looked at him, she was slightly confused but she still smiled at him.
"And I'll be happy once we get some of this stuff out of here" Arabella teased and she handed a box to Daniel. He took the box from her hands and headed out of the apartment "And don't stop to flirt!!" she called after him and she started looking though a stack of papers to try and find her land lord's phone number.
Hunter put the TV in her car and decided to take the first load in his car to the house. It was at this point that he wished that he had a cell phone. He quickly ran upstairs, passing Daniel and Tom inevitably flirting, and walked into the apartment. He walked in and found Arabella looking for something. "What are you looking for?" He asked, stepping toward her and slipping an arm around her waist. "Can I help?"
"I'm just trying to find the land lord's phone number" Arabella said with a sigh and she leaned back into him slightly. She took a deep breath, happy that she was with him and that she was moving in with him. "I think that most of my stuff is pretty well downstairs" Arabella said softly and she looked around at the apartment. She realized just how little stuff she had. She had never turned this apartment into a home. Arabella let out a soft sigh and looked up at Hunter.
Hunter smiled and kissed her forehead. "Nothing has left." He said, turning her around and putting his hands on her sides. "It's not too late to change your mind." He said. He pulled her close and kissed her lightly on the lips. "We'll always have the rooftop." He said with a smile.
Arabella smiled softly against his lips and she shook her head "I want to, Hunter. I don't regret this" she said softly then looked back at her apartment "I just noticed that I had never really made myself home here. I put things up on the walls and decorated because I wanted it to look pretty, not because I liked it and I was settling in" she said softly and shrugged, slipping her arms around his waist "I can't wait to have a home"
"Well," Hunter said as he hugged her. "Let's go, then." He looked into her bright blue eyes a moment before placing a small kiss on her forehead. She sighed and shook her head. "Land lord's number. Right. Sorry. Uhh..." He said as he pulled away from her and looked around for a second. He snapped his fingers and walked into the kitchen. He pulled the number off the fridge and walked back in. "It was magneted to your fridge." He said, handing it to her.
"Of course it was" Arabella sighed then gave Hunter a little smile "Thanks" she said and kissed his jaw before walking out to the balcony. She quickly dialed the phone number on the piece of paper and she got the voice mail. Arabella left a message, telling her land lord that she was going to be moving out and she gave him her new phone number. She hung up and slid back inside to see Daniel walk in the door with a huge smile on his face "Wow, Danny..took you a long time to put a box into the car" she said in a teasing voice.
"He is so....amazing" Daniel sighed, ignoring Arabella and sitting down on a box with a dreamy look in his eyes.
"What happened, now?" Arabella asked and Daniel smiled up at her. He looked like he was about to burst.
"We're going out on Friday!" Daniel squeaked.
"Going out?" Hunter asked with a raised eyebrow. "As in...drinks? Or...coffee? Or..romantic date?" He verbally stumbled before glancing over at Arabella. Hunter chuckled at his gaydar being so off about Tom. "Well, either way...Friday is not today. We were going to go to the house. You want to take both of the things that you took over and I'll give you the grad tour?" He said, putting his hands up in a showy manner.
"Come on, Danny...you'll love the house. It's so big!" Arabella giggled and she linked arms with her brother. Daniel and Arabella walked out of her apartment together and Arabella smiled back at Hunter as he walked out behind her, closing and locking the door.
"He is such a great guy, Arabella! I seriously think he might be the one!" Daniel sighed as they walked down to the cars. Arabella looked at Hunter and rolled her eyes. Daniel had a habit of saying that every boy he was with was 'the one' but she hoped that Tom was someone special for Daniel.
"That's great, Danny" Arabella said softly and she hugged him, kissing his cheek in a friendly way then she pulled away from him and her hand automatically found Hunter's. She didn't even plan on it. It just happened "Just follow our cars..I'm sure you won't get lost" she said to Daniel.
Hunter and Arabella walked over to their cars, parked side-by-side. Hunter's dark blue Tucker sedan and Arabella's bright red Bel-Air convertible. As odd a couple as the owners. Hunter gave her hand one last squeeze and got into his car. He started it and started the drive toward his house. He pulled out of the lot and waved to Tom briefly who was waiting to get across. Hunter checked as rearview as Arabella followed close behind. He smiled and looked at the road. That's when he heard tires screech, a multitude of screams. He immediately parked and got out, thinking the worst. He saw Arabella doing the same and he exhaled in relief. "If it wasn't Arabella, then it's..." Hunter said as he sprinted to Daniel's parked car.
"Hunter! Arabella! Someone! Help! Oh my gods!" Daniel shouted.
Arabella looked at Hunter and she ran towards Daniel. She froze when she saw what had happened. Tom was on the ground and there was blood. A lot of it. He didn't look like he was moving and his body was in an horribly awkward position. She moved her eyes away from Tom, not wanting to see that and she looked at Daniel instead. He was freaking out. Arabella ran over to him and she wrapped her arms around him but he didn't move. He just stared down at Tom "Danny, what happened?"
"I was-I was driving and I got a text..." Daniel said, his voice broken "I only looked at my phone for a second then he was right in front of me, and.." his voice broke off and tears started welling up in his eyes.
"You need to take him to the hospital" Arabella said and she pulled away from Daniel. She was shocked. She couldn't believe what had happened. Looking down at Tom made her want to burst into tears right then and there but she wanted to be strong for Daniel. Oh gods, let him be okay..
Hunter ran up to Daniel and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Daniel." He said clearly. He shook him slightly and Daniel seemed to start paying attention to him. "You need to take him to the hospital. The hospital will call the police. You can talk to them. Now, help me load him up." He said, looking into Daniel's eyes. Daniel wiped his face and nodded. Hunter nodded back and immediately knelt down by Tom. "Tom, how you doing?" He said quietly as he pulled him away from the car. Tom had a large cut on his face and his leg seemed to be bent the wrong way. He moaned as he slipped in and out of consciousness. "Tom. Tom! Wake up!" He said, lightly slapping his face. "How's it going?!" He said clearly as he helped him sit up a little.
"I'm...I'm doing we-AAH!" He shouted and clutched his stomach. His breathing was shallow and he was shaking.
"Come on! Stay with me. Stay with me." He said as he slung him over his shoulder. "Daniel is going to take you to the hospital, okay? You're going to rest up and you're going to get better, okay?" He walked over to the open car doors with Daniel standing by. He carefully put him in and closed the car door before grabbing Daniel by the shoulders again. "Danny. Danny, listen to me. He's going to be fine, okay? Take him straight to the hospital." Hunter said clearly, shaking Daniel again. Daniel nodded and started to walk away.
"It'll be okay, Danny" Arabella called after him in a shaky voice and she watched with one arm folded across her chest and the other hand covering her mouth as her brother got into his car and drove away, towards the hospital. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't she just live a regular, happy life? It wasn't fair that Daniel had found someone that he was so crazy about only to have him get hit by a car. She looked over at Hunter, frozen in her worry and her fear. What if Tom wasn't okay? Daniel would never be able to forgive himself.
Hunter stood there as Daniel drove away. He wasn't even sure what to do, now. Should he follow Daniel to the hospital? He immediately looked for Arabella. He found her standing a few feet away by her car. He looked at her for a moment before walking to her and wrapping his arms around her. Hunter needed comfort just as much as she did. Tom was one of his closest friends. Hunter held her close and buried his face in her hair. "He's going to be okay, Ellie." He said in barely a whisper. Maybe he truly believed that, but he was probably just trying to convince himself.
Her arms wrapped around him and she held him close to her, giving him a small squeeze. She knew how important Tom was to him. Arabella gripped onto his shirt lightly with shaking hands "I know. Everything is going to be fine" she whispered back and took a small breath. She couldn't get the image of Tom on the ground out or the sound of Daniel's panicked voice out of her mind "Come on, let's get out of here" she whispered, looking around at the crowd that started to form.
Hunter nodded and got into his car, taking one last glance at the pool of Tom's blood that had formed. He shuddered and started his car. He drove. He just drove. He never took his eyes off the road. When he arrived at his house, he parked and got out. He walked to the back and started unloading things. He needed to get his mind off what he had just seen. He felt bad. He felt bad for Tom, his close friend and confidant. One of the only people he got to know outside of camp. He felt bad for Danny, someone who he considered a friend and someone who he could trust. He didn't deserve that kind of guilt. Hunter just needed to stop thinking about it. He brought in his box of clothes and brought them upstairs. He quickly put them away, solely to keep his mind occupied. As soon as that was done he went back out and got another box.
Arabella was too nervous to do anything. She saw Hunter taking the boxes inside and she tried to help, she really did. She managed to bring in a stack of magazines but then she had to go sit down. Her stomach was twisted into knots that seemed to get tighter and tighter as each second ticked on. Arabella sat down on a box by her car, looking at her phone in her hand. She was waiting for Daniel to call her, to tell her that Tom was alright. All she could do was wait. She turned her head up and she saw Hunter walking out of the house to grab another box and she wanted to say something to him but she didnt know what "You..you don't have to unload everything right now.."she told him softly and she bit her lip.
Hunter glanced at Arabella before walking past and back out to the car. He grabbed another box and brought up stairs. It was Arabella's clothes. He left it on the bed and walked back down. He went out and grabbed the last box out of his car. He brought it in and set it on the bed. He was starting breath a little heavy from the nonstop movement, but he knew that if he stopped that he would think about what he had just seen. He shook his head as he grabbed an armful of dress bags and hauled them inside.
Arabella sighed and she slipped her phone into her pocket. She walked inside the house and looked around. Once everything was settled, once she wasn't so worried, Arabella would be able to really look at the house. Right now, however, she had a lot on her mind. She headed towards the stairs and walked up them slowly. She could hear Hunter moving around in the bedroom. Arabella took a deep breath and walked into the bedroom "I'm sure that Danny will call me soon. It shouldn't take too long, right?" she asked him in a small voice.
Hunter looked up at Arabella and took a deep breath. "I uh...I don't know, Ellie." He said as he hung up what he could. "You want to do this?" He asked quietly. He came out sounding a bit rude and he hoped that she wouldn't take it that way, but he needed to keep moving. "I was going to get the TV and put it in here. What do you think? You're my decorator, so your opinion is the one that matters." He said with a nod and another deep breath. He didn't even wait for an answer before starting toward the door again.
Her stomach knotted up even tighter and Arabella felt her cheeks turn pink. The rudness of his voice made her feel like she had done something wrong. Messed up in someway. Arabella started picking up her things then looked at Hunter's back "No TV in the bedroom" she said curtly and stepped into the closet, hanging up some of her things.
Hunter nodded as he climbed down the stairs. They'd just need to figure out a place for it. He walked out to the car and grabbed the TV. He hauled it inside and set it down on the ground, assuming that they'd take care of it later. He took a deep breath and walked back outside to take the last armful of clothes inside. He brought it up to the bedroom and set it in front of Arabella before leaving again and walking out to her car. He grabbed a box and brought it inside. It was the box full of perfumes and make up and glass bottles. He headed toward the stairs and started to climb. He gasped as his foot caught on the last step and he fell to the ground. The box fell with a loud noise and Hunter took a deep breath and buried his face in the ground. "SHIT!" He said, his voice muffled by the floor. He stopped and that meant everything w as setting in. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" He shouted as he rolled over and sat against the wall.
The loud crash echoed though the house and it caused Arabella to squeak in shock and drop the shirt that she was folding. Hunter's voice hit her next and she jumped over the pile of clothes to find him. By the stairs, she saw a big box with one corner that was slowly getting wetter and wetter. Hunter was sitting against the wall and Arabella forgot that she was annoyed with him. Arabella bit her lip, walking over to him. She stood beside him and placed a hand on his head gingerly "Hey, are you okay?" she asked softly.
Hunter looked up at Arabella and put a hand over his eyes, rubbing his temples. He sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Ellie." He said quietly as he stood up from his spot on the ground. "I'll uh...I'll sort through the glass and find what's salvageable." He looked at Arabella who was giving him a disbelieving look. "I'm just worried." He said quietly. "I was trying to be strong, but obviously not strong enough." He said with a sigh as he picked up the box and walked toward the bathroom where he turned on the lights and started to sort through.He didn't care about cutting his hand on broken glass, he just wanted this day to be done. It could never be easy. Two days of perfection was all they got.
Arabella watched Hunter as he walked away and she let out a small sigh. What was she going to do? She wanted to help him but she felt like he kept pushing her away. Arabella chewed on the inside of her cheek and she followed Hunter to the bathroom. Without saying anything, Arabella took his hands out of the box gingerly then put the box on the floor. She didn't care about any of her things. All she cared about was Hunter. Arabella turned on the cold water and stuck his bleeding hands under it "You don't always have to be strong" she told him in a soft but steady voice.
"I need to be strong. I have to be strong." He said quietly. He wasn't sure when he learned that mentality, but it felt so ingrained in his memory that he would never see otherwise. " I've always taken care of myself. I've had to be strong for my sake. When I came into your life, I wanted to take care of you. You've been through hell and I wanted to be there to make you feel safe and loved and protected. To make you feel worth it. I need to be strong." He said in a shaky voice with his hands under the faucet. "Tom is injured. I don't know what to do. I feel like I should be at the hospital, but I know that he's in good hands. I don't know what's going on. Ellie, I don't know what's going on and it's driving me crazy." He said quietly, a lump forming in his throat.
"It's okay, Hunter. It's okay to be worried" Arabella said softly and she rested her chin on his shoulder for a moment, kissing his jaw line "You don't have to be so strong all the time. That safe and loved and protected thing goes both ways, you know. I'm here for you no matter what. If there is anything you need to talk about, you can always come to me" she told him and turned the water off. Arabella fished out a first aid kit and she went to work on his hands, bandaging them up neatly. Arabella looked up at him and she linked her arm through his. She placed her chin back where it was on his shoulder and she looked at him with big, worried eyes.
Hunter looked down at her and sighed. He didn't like being worried. At the same time, he felt comforted by Arabella's words. He slipped his arm out of hers and outside to bring in the last couple of boxes. He brought them in and put them on the bedroom before closing everything outside. He walked back and found Arabella again. He stood nearby and looked at her. "Did you want to do something? I can make us dinner or we can watch TV." He really needed something to take his mind off the hospital.
Arabella walked over to Hunter and she wrapped her arms around his waist, putting her forehead against his chest. "Doesn't matter..I just want to-" she said softly but she was cut off when her phone started ringing. Arabella pulled away from Hunter so that she could fish her phone out of her pocket. She quickly answered the phone "Danny?"
"Arabella, hi" Daniel said into the phone. He sounded exhausted but he didn't sound as stressed anymore.
"How is everything? Is he okay?" Arabella asked and she started biting on her nail.
"I can't talk for very long right now but I wanted to call you to tell you that Tom is going to be fine and I think that everything else is going to be sorted out pretty soon too. I already spoke to the police and I think that it went well" Daniel told her "Look, I gotta go but give Hunter a hug for me and tell him that I say 'thank you' and I love you, Sis"
"Love you too, Danny" Arabella said softly before hanging up. Tom was okay. He was going to be okay. Arabella could have danced right then and there.
Hunter looked at Arabella as she hung up the phone. He smiled and ran over to Arabella, wrapping his arms around her and picking her up into a hug. He spun a few times and held her there, her face a little bit above eye level. Tom was okay. Daniel was not in jail and he was okay. Hunter breathed easily again. Arabella was almost completely moved in. Today was not perfect, but the ending sure seemed to be. "What should we do with the TV?" Hunter asked with a chuckle as he put his forehead to hers.
The knot in Arabella's stomach seemed to unravel instantly. She rested her hands on his neck and giggled as he spun her. Everything in Arabella's world fell back into place and she felt like she could finally be happy and excited about the house. She could walk around and check it all out. She could cuddle with Hunter. She could relax. Arabella smiled and looked into his eyes "We can figure that out later" she said softly, not really feeling like doing anymore packing.
"Well, Ms. Foster." He said with a smile. "Welcome to your new home." He whispered before lightly kissing her top lip. He didn't bother putting her down. He never want to let go of her. "Shall I give you the tour?" He smiled and held her closer. He chuckled to himself as he slung her over his shoulder, keeping a tight grip on her legs. "As you can see, this is the living room." He started as she squirmed around, trying to break free.
Arabella squeaked when he put her over his shoulder and she giggled, trying to get out of his grasp "It's a wonderful living room" she said and she wiggled again. Arabella huffed and put her hands on the small of his back so she could lift her head up. As Hunter carried her into the kitchen, Arabella looked around "Oh, the kitchen. Lovely. I'm probably never going to cook again though, just so you know" she teased.
"The hospital bills would be too much anyway." He said as he moved through the kitchen and into the garage. "Through here is the garage. It's kind of boring." He said with a chuckle. It was mostly empty except for somecar parts and tools. He jostled her a little as he walked back into the kitchen. "And if you walk through here, we have the dining room. The chandelier was a gift from the queen of Peru and each crystal was cut by blind monks." He said as he continued to walk through. "Bedroom. Bedroom. Bedroom. Bathroom. Closet. Spooky basement." He pointed as he turned around in the hallway and walked back to the living room. "Here ends our tour." He said, giving her butt a few celebratory pats.
"Oh, well, it was a wonderful tour" Arabella giggled and she let out a laugh when Hunter patted her butt. She lifted up the back of his shirt and she pressed her lips against the small of his back, giving him a raspberry. Arabella was thrilled with all of this. Tom was okay. Daniel was okay. She was in Hunter's arms and she was moving in with him. Everything was perfect. Everything was finally wonderful. It was easy and it was simple.
Hunter squirmed and bounced her on his shoulder. "Oh, wait. I need to show you the bedroom." He said, running toward the stairs. He climbed them quickly and burst into the room. He tossed her on the bed and fell down on his chest next to her, bouncing and shaking the whole bed. He felt his body relax into the bed. He had been on his feet most of the day. It felt good to just lay down for once.
When the bed stopped shaking, Arabella rolled over so that she was lying next to him on her stomach. She cuddled up to his side and she closed her eyes. Arabella could almost feel his body relaxing next to her and she smiled softly. It was comforting to know that he was relaxing and he was letting go of some of the stress. She moved then so that she was straddling his back and she lifted his shirt up. Arabella started to rub his back, working on all the kinks and all the knots.
Hunter moaned quietly as she rubbed his back. It felt fantastic. "So," He started, his voice slightly muffled by the bed. "What do you want to do tomorrow?" He asked quietly. They had so much to look forward to, now that she was living with him. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "I'd like to visit Tom, actually. After that, the entire day is open." He said, turning his head to the side. "We should invite your dad over to see the house. And Tom and Daniel as soon as he gets out." He moaned quietly again and sighed. "It's up to you, though."
Arabella smiled a proud little smile to herself when he moaned. She continued rubbing his back, adding just a touch more pressure "I would love to go see Tom" Arabella said softly with a nod. She wanted to see him for herself, to make sure that he was really okay. Whenever someone like Tom or Hunter got hurt, she realized how lucky she was to be a demigod. She could just eat some ambrosia and everything would be fine "It really means a lot to me that you want to try again with my dad, by the way" she said softly and she took her hands off of his back to reach for her purse. Arabella pulled a lotion out of it and squirted some on her hands before going back to rubbing his back.
"Well, I want him to support us." He said, starting to sit up a little, thinking that she was done. "I want to show him that-COLD!" The feeling of her lotioned hands on his back made him tense up. She giggled and started rubbing his back again. He relaxed again and closed his eyes as she seemed to work all the stress out of his body. "Mmm...What were we talking about...Oh. Right. Your dad." He said, clearing his throat. "I want to show him that I'm going to be with you, even if he doesn't like it. Hopefully, he'll come around." He said with a sigh. "I kind of wanted to apologize for storming out last time too." He said quietly.
Arabella ran her hands down his sides and started rubbing the small of his back. She looked up at him for a second before looking at his back again "I think he will come around. He just needs some time" she said softly and let out a sigh "Maybe once he sees us in this house and you making supper and all that, he'll realize that you're here to stay" she said with a little nod and run her hands up his spine. Arabella leaned down and she placed a kiss on the nape of his neck.
Hunter smiled. "I really hope so." He said with a sigh. "I really want your family to like me. And not just because I've saved the world." He said with a smile. "Did you see Tyler's face? Like I was made of gold or something." He chuckled to himself and moaned again as she found a knot near the base of his neck. "Why are you so good at this?" He asked quietly. He wasn't really looking for an answer, but was more amazed at her ability. "So, are there any other relatives that I should know about?" He asked with a sigh. "On your dad's side, of course. I know your mom. She likes me." He said with a chuckle.
Arabella giggled softly "No, I don't have any other family" she reassured him and slid her hands to his shoulders, rubbing with a little more pressure than she used on his back. She let out a softly sigh and chewed on her lip "I worry about Tyler, to be honest" Arabella admitted and moved her hands down his arms a little bit "He doesn't really have any friends, at all. He's been home schooled his whole life. His mother isn't around anymore, the bitch. And the only guys he has ever really looked up to were Chad and Brian. When they broke my heart, they broke Tyler's too" her voice broke off and she moved her hands to the middle of his back again.
Hunter sighed. Tyler seemed relatively normal. Hunter didn't think that he would have gone through something like that. He put his face in the sheets and stayed silent for a few moments. In a way, he related to Tyler. Hunter used to feel like he didn't have a place. A lot of the time at camp, he was lonely. He finally turned his face again and took a deep breath. "What's he like, Ellie?" He asked, clearing his throat. "Tyler. What are some of his interests? What does he like to do?" He wanted to get to know Tyler. He hoped that they could be good friends. That Tyler would finally have someone other than some deadbeat to look up to. "Tell me about Tyler."
"Well, his 16th birthday is coming up pretty soon. He likes to play video games and things like that, he's amazing when it comes to technology. I can hardly turn a computer on" Arabella said with a giggle "He loves to write and he loves to read. Tyler told me once that he wants to be an author but Dad doesn't approve. He wants Tyler to do something like...a lawyer or something like that. I think he would be an amazing author. I told him all about Percy and that whole story and he says that he wants to write a book about it"
Hunter chuckled. "I've got a few stories for him, if he's looking for inspiration." He said, before rolling over with Arabella still on top of him. He gently brought her face down for a soft kiss. "Thanks." He said with a smile. "16...So he'll be getting his license, then? That's perfect." He said with a nod as he fixed his shirt a little. "I was thinking, though. You said he didn't have many friends, so he basically hangs out with your dad, all day, right?" He said. Arabella nodded and slid sideways and laid next to him, snuggling into his side. "The basement has virtually nothing in it. I was thinking...." He said quietly. "What if that became Tyler's...area? Like a place where he could come and he and I could hang out and play video games and we can talk and he can amaze me with his writing ability. Would he go for that?" He asked, putting an arm around her. "I could even teach him how to knife fight." He chuckled and kissed Arabella on his forehead.
"Oh, dear gods. Teach him how to knife fight and he'll be your best friend for the rest of your life" Arabella said with a small roll of her eyes. She slipped her arm across his middle, pulling herself closer to him. Hearing him talk about Tyler like that, saying that he cared about him and wanted to make sure that Tyler was alright almost made Arabella cry right then and there. Tyler was always someone that she worried about a lot and she never really knew how to deal with it. She could hang out with him, sure. That was always something that Arabella loved but Tyler needed a guy to hang out with. Someone who he could talk to and get advice from. She smiled up at Hunter and nodded "You have no idea how much that means to me, by the way" she said softly
Hunter smiled and kissed her cheek. "I thought we went through this." He said with a chuckle. "I want to get along with your family." He rolled slightly, so that he was looking into her face. "I know what tomorrow is going to look like then." He said, kissing her lightly on the lips. "We'll sleep in after a long night of love-making." He said with a chuckle. "I'm kidding. We'll sleep in, so that you have time to get used to your new bed. I'll make you breakfast. You call your dad. We finish unpacking. I'll make you lunch. We'll visit Tom. I'll run a quick errand. We'll have dinner back here with your dad. I'm thinking about steak. That sound good?" He said, putting his head on hers. He kissed her lightly on the nose and smiled as he laid back again.
"Steak sounds amazing" Arabella said softly and she placed her arm across his middle again. A yawn managed to fight it's way out and Arabella rested her tired head against Hunter's side "Tomorrow sounds wonderful. Though I'm not sure I like the lack of love-making" she teased and looked up at him "I love you Hunter. You've done so much for me" she whispered and pressed her lips against his chest gently.
Hunter smiled and held her close. "I love you too." He ran his fingers up and down her arm and chuckled. "We're even." He wrapped his arms around her and rolled on top of her. "About the love-making..." He said with a smile before pressing his lips to hers. He finally broke it and yawned, sitting up. "We'll do a lot of it tomorrow. That sound okay?" He said, pressing his lips to hers again. "Let's go to bed. You go ahead and become even more beautiful, I'll be back in a little while." He kissed her on the lips again before standing up and walking out. He went downstairs and walked to the basement. It was bare. He stood there and imagined what this room could be. "I'll see if we can get a big TV on that wall. Gaming stuff down there. A computer in the corner. Maybe a few arcade games." He pondered. Hunter really wanted Tyler to be able to have a good time and making an awesome place where he can hang out was something that he thought was the right thing to do. He picked up a box that had miscellaneous things in it and brought it upstairs. He tossed it in one of the spare bedrooms and walked back upstairs.
Arabella watched Hunter walk away and she smiled, closing her eyes. She had gone through so many emotions that day and it was making her very tired. Tomorrow was going to be a perfect day and she was thrilled. Arabella knew that even if she had a bad day or something went wrong, Hunter was always going to be there and he was always going to turn her day around in a heart beat. Arabella yawned softly, waiting for Hunter to come back upstairs. She was happy and excited that he wanted to get to know Tyler. It was like a huge weight off of her shoulders. Arabella rolled over so that she was on her side and she pulled her knees up to her chest. Before she could stop herself, Arabella was drifting off into a gentle sleep just like that. Wearing Hunter's shirts, jean shorts and curled up on top of the blankets.
Hunter walked in to see Arabella asleep. He smiled gently and walked around to her side. He grabbed the throw blanket at the foot of the bed and spread it over her. Immediately she seemed to uncurl and relax. "You didn't change a thing, but you're even more beautiful." He whispered before kissing her ever so lightly on the forehead. He quickly changed into a pair of pajama pants and slipped off his shirt before sliding into bed next to her. He quietly and carefully got under the blanket and put an arm around her. He buried his face in her hair for a moment before relaxing and falling asleep.
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