Hunter slept well that night. Maybe it was the bad sleep the night before. Maybe it was the remnant of the hangover. More than likely it was Arabella's presence next to him. He slowly woke up and looked around. He was in Arabella's room and there she was, sleeping peacefully with her arms around him. He yawned and rubbed his eyes briefly as he adjusted ever so slightly. He pulled her in tightly and gently pressed his lips to her hair before brushing it out of her flawless face. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. After a few moments of falling asleep, he felt her stir. The thought made his heart race and his stomach clench. "Good morning." He whispered, seeing if she was awake.
Arabella dreamt of Hunter that night. Nothing specific. Just of him and the feeling he gave her. She slowly woke up with a warm glow in her heart. Still half asleep, she could feel him kissing her head and his fingers brushing the hair out of her face. Part of her didn't want to wake up. This feeling was so perfect the way it was. She squirmed around a little and heard his voice whisper a good morning to her. Arabella buried her face in his side and after a few seconds she mumbled "Morning" but it was muffled because her face was hidden. Arabella rolled away from him slightly and yawned, stretching her arms and her legs out. She turned back to him and laid her head on his chest "I don't want to get up" she moaned.
Hunter chuckled. "Me either." He said quietly as he ran his fingers through her hair. "I should probably make sure that Kyle makes it to the altar though." He said with a smile. He briefly buried his face in her hair and soaked in the smell. "I really want to see you in that dress, too." He said with a small smile. He wished that Kyle and Marina would push their wedding back and he could stay here for the rest of the day. He pulled her closer which directly conflicted with the idea of them getting up. "Actually, Kyle is on his own."
"I really want to see you in that suit" Arabella told him with a smile and she placed a kiss on his chest. She was looking forward to getting dressed up but being in bed with Hunter was so perfect and comfortable. After a few moments, Arabella let out a sigh and pushed herself into a sitting position "Come on Sleeping Beauty..time to get moving. Lots to do" she said with a sigh and rolled over him and out of bed. Arabella stood up and walked over to her mirror, taking her hair out of the bun and watched as her hair fell in curls down her back.
Hunter sat up in bed and looked at her as she toyed with her hair. He smiled as she looked at him in the mirror. She put her hands on her hips and grinned. "Did you want to watch?" She asked with a chuckle. Hunter shrugged and appeared to weigh his options in his head. Arabella walked over and smacked his arm. Hunter put his hands up in surrender and stood up. He walked out of her room and into the kitchen, where he started in on making breakfast. Bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Hunter had a feeling it was going to be a good day.
Arabella watched Hunter walk out of her room with a smile on her face then turned back to the mirror. She smiled a little, happy that she had gotten outside the previous day to sit on her deck because she now had a bit of a tan. Arabella slipped out of her clothes and she pulled on a silk robe that ended around mid thigh. She tied it up and started setting out her wedding dress on her bed but then she smelt the food and she followed her nose. Hunter was in the kitchen, finishing up what looked like a breakfast for the gods. Arabella stood behind him and placed her hands on his sides, planting a kiss in between his shoulder blades "That look amazing" she said
Hunter turned and saw her in a short robe. "Speaking of looking amazing." He said with a chuckle. He flashed her a smile and turned back to the bacon sizzling in the pan. "I thought you were going to get dressed." He asked before cracking a few eggs into a pan. He turned to her and looked at her again. She looked stunning. He turned back to the food and shook his head. "You're killing me, Ellie." He said with a grin.
Arabella smiled up at him through her eyelashes and gave him a little wink "That's the plan" she teased and patted his chest "Besides, you were killing me yesterday after that shower so...consider this pay back" she giggled and turned to the fridge. She grabbed a bottle of water then stood on her toes to give him a kiss. Arabella leaned against the counter, playing with the hem of her robe. She took a sip from the water and watched as Hunter started to mix up the pancake batter "You are going to make me fat if you keep making food this amazing"
"I could stop, but I don't think either of us want that. Besides, you're too thin anyway." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. He finished mixing the batter and started to pour. He was about to finish when Arabella bumped his arm making the batter slosh into the pan covering the bottom in batter. "This pancake is now enormous." He said with a chuckle. He waited for it to cook for a little while and then started to push the edges up. He looked at her and motioned for her to come here. "Grab the pan." She complied and Hunter stood behind her. He put his arms on hers and his hands on hers and pulled the pan away from the stove. Hunter blushed at their position and his heart skipped a beat. "Watch this." He grabbed and brought the pan down a bit before flinging the pancake into the air. It flipped once and Hunter caught it in the pan again. "How awesome is that?"
Arabella jumped slightly when the pancake landed in the pan. A wide grin spread across her face and she looked back at Hunter. Being that close to him in that position made her blush, her cheeks matching his. She giggled and leaned back into him slightly "You are an awesome cook" she told him and looked at the pancake. He smiled and Arabella leaned up to kiss his jaw. She watched as his cheeks turned red again and he started to put the pancakes on plates "What time is the wedding again?" she asked him, leaning against the counter.
"2 o clock." He said with a nod. "I want to get there a little bit early though. I want to hear the bride and groom thank me for introducing them to each other." He said with a chuckle. He pulled her in to his side and kept an arm wrapped around her as he finished the food. Once it was ready, he plated it and held one out to Arabella. "Do you want to eat on the couch?" He asked with a grin. He didn't feel like sitting at the table. He felt like he wanted his arm around Arabella the whole day.
Arabella snatched it out of his hands and kissed his cheek "It looks awesome" she told him and headed for the couch. She sat down right in the middle and folded her legs under her. She rested the plate on her lap then looked over at Hunter "So, you set the two love birds up, did you?" she asked him before taking a bite out of the pancakes. They were perfect. It was all perfect.
Hunter nodded with a mouthful of egg. He swallowed before continuing. "Marina was helping me find a sword, back before I was claimed and Kyle and I took plants class together." He wiped his mouth and cleared his throat. "They've been dating for a long time, now, if memory serves." He said with a nod. "It would only make sense that they would be getting married, now. Especially if you know Marina." He said with a chuckle. He took a bite of pancakes and leaned back on the couch. It was so calm.
Arabella adjusted herself so that she was leaning against his side slightly. She didn't even mean to do it. She just did it. Arabella nodded softly and finished off her pancakes. They sat together in the quiet for a while, the only sound was the soft hum of the New York traffic below them. Arabella worked on her eggs then looked up at Hunter "Do you miss Camp sometimes?" she asked him, not sure if it was a sensitive subject or if he didn't mind talking about it
Hunter sat there for a second. "Yeah, sometimes." He said with a shrug. "It's hard not to. It was all that I knew for most of my life. I think it would be cool to visit it one of these days. I'm not sure how possible that is, but I think it would be nice." He said with a sigh as he took a bite of bacon. Hunter shifted and leaned into her slightly. He could smell the faint scent of roses coming off her body. Hunter loved it.
Arabella nodded softly. She could understand what he was saying. She kind of knew how he felt. Camp had been such a big part of her life too and she knew that Hunter had grown up in camp. She took the last bite of her food and stood up "Well, I should start getting ready" she announced. Hunter looked at the clock then back to Arabella like she was crazy "What? It takes time to look good" she said and put her plate in the kitchen sink.
Hunter watched her walk away before leaning back in the couch and sighing. He needed a hobby. He chuckled to himself as he finished eating. He stood up and walked into the kitchen where dishes awaited him. It felt like such a long time since he had done any housework. He was reminded of how far Arabella and he had come since that fateful day all those weeks ago. He did the dishes and scrubbed down the kitchen counters. After cleaning the kitchen, he casually strolled into his room and sorted through his clothes. He had let his room get a little messy and it was starting to bother him. After that was done, he finally decided to get dressed. He set the garment bag on his bed and slipped out of his clothes. He put on the tux except for the bowtie and stepped out of his room. "Ellie? You ready, yet? You've been getting ready for about 3 hours at this point." He said with a chuckle.
Arabella looked at herself in the mirror, studying the final result. She bit her lip, trying to decide on the shoes. Finally, she slipped into a pair of nude platform pumps, figuring that they would make her legs look longer and they would match the coral dress she had on. Arabella ran her fingers through her curls, messing them up a little bit. She turned around and looked at her back in the mirror when she heard Hunter's voice, seeing if she was ready. Arabella smiled gently and grabbed her clutch off of the bed and looked once more in the mirror at her make up. She touched it up quickly before stepping outside of her room "Shut it" she said then raised an eyebrow "Still don't know how to tie a bowtie? The man can kill monsters like it's nothing but he can't tie a bowties" she teased
"Well, you need to be better than me at SOMETHING." He said with a grin. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "And don't you look absolutely gorgeous" He said with a smile. He walked over and put his hands on her waist and pulled her close. "I'm not kidding. You are the most beautiful woman in the world." He said before placing a gentle and brief kiss on her lips.
Arabella felt herself blush deeply. She realized in that moment that she didn't care what anyone else in the world thought of how she looked. It didn't matter if there were going to be tabloids saying that she was ugly or that she needed a nose job. All that mattered was that Hunter thought she was beautiful. Arabella pulled him down to her, kissing him again "You're not so bad yourself, stud" she whispered against his lips. She kissed him for a second longer then pulled away "Maybe we'll be able to put the back seat of my car to good use today" she said with a wink before turning to walk out of her apartment.
Hunter's eyes widened. She wasn't serious, was she? He followed her out and they got to her car. She got in and started it, but Hunter hesitated. He stood there a moment, looking into the window of the car. He looked at her. After a moment, she looked at him and smiled. Everything was okay. He smiled back and climbed into the car. After a little while they were parking outside the church. Hunter got out and ran around to her side of the car. He opened the door for her and flashed her a smile.
"Well, aren't you quite the gentleman" Arabella teased and slid out of the car with a smile. She fixed her dress as Hunter closed the car door behind her. He offered her his arm and she smiled happily up at him. Arabella slid her arm into his and together they walked towards the church. Arabella looked up at it and let out a soft sigh "Do you believe in a god? Not like..my mom, but God..?" She asked him, stumbling over her words slightly.
"I don't know." He said with a shrug. He'd never really thought about it. "It's possible. I've see the gods. I haven't seen God. I accept the possibility of God, I just haven't seen it." He sighed as they walked into the building. They were early and not many people had arrived, yet. "Let's see if we can find the groom's room." He said with a smile. After a little bit of exploring, he found it. He knocked and got no reply. "Huh. I guess we'll see him later. I can guilt trip him then." Hunter said with a smile.
The wedding went by fairly quickly. It was a beautiful ceremony and it made Arabella tear up a little. She sat next to Hunter the whole time, leaning against him slightly. He held her hand in his lap and it was like her entire hand was tingling. The worst part was that her phone kept vibrating with calls. Arabella didn't answer them but it was horribly annoying. Every 5 minutes, another call would come in and Arabella would have to press ignore. After the wedding was let out, she followed Hunter, listening to all of the messages left on her phone. She gave Hunter an apologetic look and sighed as the messages kept playing. They were nothing serious, but it was still work. Arabella put her phone away and looked around. The reception was at a beautiful outdoor pavilion, there was a DJ and a table with food and punch bowls. Arabella looked around and smiled softly "Wow..it looks amazing" she said
Hunter was a little peeved by Arabella working at the wedding, but he understood. "They did a really good job." He said with a smile as he glanced around the pavilion. He finally spotted Kyle and Marina mingling among a group of people. Some of them from camp. Hunter took Arabella's hand and ran toward them. "Kyle. Marina. Congratulations. It was a beautiful ceremony." He said with a grin. Marina turned and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. Kyle turned around and laughed.
"Needs more nuts, huh?!" He shouted before pulling Hunter into a hug. Hunter had no idea what he was talking about. Hunter assumed it was something from his drunken night at the bar. He looked at Arabella briefly as she was ignoring another phone call. "Can' you believe I got her to marry me? It felt like days ago since she said that there was no chance." Marina slapped his arm and the three of them chuckled to each other.
Arabella sighed as her phone rang again and she had to dig it out of her clutch. She didn't even really notice the conversation going on around her. She pressed ignore before shoving it back into her clutch. Arabella looked up to see the three of them chuckling about something and she felt very out of the loop.
"Arabella, you met Marina" Hunter said to her a smile on his face. Arabella was glad that he was around his friends again, it was nice to see him smile like that "And this is Kyle"
"Oh, the one that got you really drunk?" Arabella teased and smiled at Marina and Kyle "Congrats, it was a really beautiful wedding" she told them then let out a sigh when she felt her phone vibrate again.
Hunter took control again as her phone vibrated once again. "I saw Will up there. Where did he end up?" He said with a smile. "Was he your best man?" Kyle eyed Hunter for a second.
"We went over this." He said with a chuckle. "Do you not remember?" Hunter smiled and rubbed his eyes before shaking his head. "That's a shame. You missed out on a great night." Kyle said with a chuckle. Hunter sighed and looked back at Arabella who was listening attentively until her phone rang once again. He turned back to see Kyle already talking to someone else. "Do you want to dance, Ellie?"
Arabella looked up from her phone when Hunter asked her if she wanted to dance. She gave him a small smile and nodded, slipping her phone into her purse "I can try to dance" she said with a giggled and he took her hand, leading her out onto the dance floor. Arabella put her hands on his shoulders and as he swayed with her, she looked down at her feet nervously. She had never really danced before, not like this. Sure, she danced before but it was mostly to songs like Bootylicious and Get Low. Arabella bit her lip and looked at Hunter briefly who was suprisingly a really good dancer. She leaned up, about to kiss him when her phone rang. Arabella sighed and stopped dancing, taking out her phone and pressing the answer button "Hello?"
Hunter's heart fluttered at the feeling of her body closed to his. She wasn't a great dancer, but Hunter wasn't horribly better. He found it not dissimilar from knife fighting. Smooth movement. Making motions that go with other motions. He blushed as he could feel her move closer and closer to him. He saw her looking up at him and Hunter smiled and looked down at her. He could feel her leaning up and Hunter leaned down. The moment was perfect. And THAT'S when her phone rang. She answered and Hunter sighed as his heart sank. She walked off the dance floor leaving him standing there by himself. He glanced around at the other couples happily dancing. This wasn't a day to work. You were there to celebrate love and the marriage between two happy people. This needed to stop. Hunter took a deep breath and followed Arabella off the dance floor. "Ellie, you shouldn't-" He said before being given a 'wait a minute' finger from Arabella. "I'm getting sick and-" She looked at him and mouthed that she was on the phone. Hunter clenched his fist and, without thinking, grabbed her phone. He hung it up and dropped it into a vase of flowers in the middle of a table. He watched as the flowers grew vines which seemed to wrap around the phone, crushing it into pieces. Hunter glanced at Kyle who gave him a nod. Hunter nodded back before turning to Arabella who looked at him in disbelief.