Arabella nibbled on her sandwich after Hunter left. She thought about the conversation they just had and she blushed slightly to herself. She let out a little sigh and put her food down on her plate for a second. Arabella had felt relief when she heard that he was still a virgin. Why did she feel relief? Arabella closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about the dream that she had just woken up from. It was the same dream she had been having ever since she saw Hunter and Chad again. But this time, when Hunter leaned down to kiss her, he didn't change into Chad. He was still Hunter. Arabella had woken up with a flush in her cheeks and a tingle through out her whole body. She let out a sigh and finished off her food. He had said that he wasn't planning on changing his status as a virgin anytime soon, and when he said that, Arabella's heart dropped a little bit. Why though? This was Hunter she was thinking about. He was her best friend.
Arabella put the dishes in the sink and took her ring off of her finger, placing it on top of the fridge. She didn't want to get it dirty which would inevitably happen if she was painting. She picked up the buckets of paint and headed outside. It was too nice of a day to not be outside, so she was going to paint the outside of the house first. Arabella peeled off her sweater, revealing a black bikini top underneath and she put her sunglasses on. she set up a sheet on the ground and put a ladder against the wall. Carefully, she started climbing to the top.
As she painted, she thought about Hunter, again. Arabella didn't mean to, but her mind always seemed to go back to him somehow. Slowly, she painted the side of the house, trying not to mess up. Not for the first time, Arabella thought of the girl that Hunter might end up with. The thought of it made her kind of sad, because the girl that she was picturing for Hunter wasn't Arabella. Part of her was afraid that he would leave her to be with some other girl. Was that selfish? It's not like Hunter and Arabella were actually...together. She didn't own him or anything and they were just friends. Hunter would never like her in that kind of way. Arabella felt like she didn't deserve him. But she just couldn't let go of him. He was too important to her.
"Shit..." Arabella muttered as a couple drops of paint fell onto her stomach. She didn't even bother trying to clean it off. So what if she got covered in paint? She was going to get a shower later. Arabella started to paint faster, trying to get her mind off of Hunter. Arabella finished up a small section of the house but she was starting to get thirsty, so she put down her painting things and climbed down. Arabella stepped into the kitchen and jumped a little when she saw Hunter standing at the sink, washing the dishes. She had been so lost in her own little world and she wasn't expecting to see him there. Hunter looked over at her and all of the drips of paint all over her stomach, arms and chest. A faint smile slid onto his face and Arabella smiled a little in return. Seeing his smile was like a light in a dark room for her and she missed seeing it. Hunter shook himself though and his smile faded. He went back to doing the dishes and Arabella walked over to him, sitting on the counter beside him. She leaned over and opened the fridge, grabbing a bottle of Pepsi.
"Done the stairs?" Arabella asked him, taking a gulp of her drink. Hunter nodded and he drained the water from the sink.
"I have to start sanding now" Hunter said and looked over at her. He seemed lost in thought for a second before drying his hands.
"Hunter?" Arabella started and looked at him. His eyes met hers and she felt a small rush of..something. She couldn't explain it. It was like sparks just flew between them or something. Arabella looked down for a moment before continuing "We're going to have some fun this weekend too, okay? It's not all about work. I need time off my work to relax and you need to learn how to let loose and have a good time. Okay? We're going to have fun!" She said with a giggle then took a sip of her Pepsi "Also..I'm making a salad tonight and I don't need your help. I think I'm going to have to go to the grocery store though. So..you better have the sanding done when I get back so that we can make food" Arabella slid off of the counter and looked at Hunter, who had his eyebrow raised at her. Arabella rolled her eyes and smacked his arm "I can make salad, you jerk" she said and walked up the stairs to her room, listening to Hunter chuckle as she walked out.
Arabella grabbed a tank top and pulled it on. She picked up her purse and slipped into a pair of shoes. "I'll see you later!" Arabella called to Hunter when she came down the stairs and headed towards the door. Arabella drove towards the grocery store, it was about an hour away from the beach house, but that was okay. It would give Hunter plenty of time to finish his work for the day. She hoped that when this was all over, he would feel like he had paid her back enough to stay with her and stop feeling guilty.
When Arabella got to the store, she quickly got all of the things that she needed for her salad. She also threw in some chocolate, pita bread, hummus and a few other basic things. Arabella walked over to the counter to pay for all of it.
"Arabella?"
Arabella looked up when she heard a man say her name. Her eyes landed on the sandy blond hair and the green eyes. Her face broke into a smile "Spencer? Hi!" she said, reaching over the counter to give him a hug. Spencer smiled at her
"How long has it been?" Spencer asked her, ringing her things through. Arabella shrugged, pulling out her wallet.
"Too long?" Arabella said with a laugh. Spencer had been good friends with Arabella since they were really young. His family lived near their beach house and Arabella and him used to play together all the time. Spencer used to be her best friend. Spencer was her first kiss, her first boyfriend. But they hadn't been together for a while. Once she started going to Camp Half Blood, things got a little rough for Spencer and Arabella "How have you been?" she asked and handed him her Visa.
Spencer swiped her card then thought about it for a second "I've been okay. Working a lot since finishing school. How about you? I hear you're pretty famous" he teased her and she shrugged with a small smile, signing the receipt "How long are you here for?" he asked her
"Just for the weekend. I'm here with my friend, Hunter. We're fixing up the beach house then I have to get back to work" Arabella said and looked up at Spencer. He raised an eyebrow for her, bagging her things.
"Just a friend?" Spencer asked her with a small smirk on his face. Arabella blushed. Could he really tell what Arabella had been thinking about Hunter? Did he actually know her that well?
"He...we...I" Arabella stammered then sighed "Yes, just a friend" she finally answered him, her cheeks burning. Spencer let out a laugh and he handed her the bags.
"Take care of yourself, Arabella" Spencer said "And if you and this Hunter are only friends, then I'm a goat" he said. Arabella rolled her eyes and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before walking out of the store.
Arabella drove back to the beach house, thinking about what Spencer had said to her. Maybe he could see something that she couldn't. Arabella let out a little huff and turned on the music, deciding to focus on the lyrics to Lady GaGa's CD instead of Hunter. She drove up to the house, parking the car and climbing out with all of the groceries in her arms. She walked inside and towards the kitchen. Arabella saw Hunter, standing over the stove and stirring something in a big pot. Steam was coming off of what ever was in the pot and Hunter seemed to be thinking of something else, not even aware that Arabella had walked in the room. Quietly, Arabella placed the groceries down and tip toed over to him. She stood behind him for a second then threw her arms around his waist, giving him a bear hug from behind "Hey!!" she said excitedly.
Hunter jumped slightly when she hugged him and his cheeks turned pink. Arabella let go of him and looked into the pot to see spaghetti and meatballs. Arabella let out a happy sigh and started to take her groceries out of the bag "That looks amazing, Hunter" Arabella said to him and he looked over at her.
"Thanks" Hunter said to her in his quiet voice and watched her for a second as she started to get things ready for her salad "Should I get the first aid kit, just in case?"
"Shut it!" Arabella said with a grin on her face as she threw the lettuce in a bowl and started to crumble the feta cheese over top of it "This is the only thing that I know how to make and I don't do it very often, so you better like it" she joked and sliced up the tomato carefully, not wanting to slice her fingers off. Hunter started to work on making the garlic bread and Arabella cut up the cucumber.
"Where did you learn to make that?" Hunter asked her, nodding towards the bowl. Arabella looked into the bowl for a second and smiled softly, remember when she first learnt how to make it.
"When I was at Olympus, visiting my mom" Arabella told him, drizzling the dressing on top of the salad "My mom showed me how to make a Greek salad. I told her that I didn't know how to cook anything and she said that she couldn't let me go back to New York and not know how to at least make something Greek" she finished and looked at Hunter for a moment. He nodded, placing the bread into the oven. He had that faint smile on his face again.
"That's great" He said to her and Arabella nodded. She was able to go visit her mother because of Hunter and she was grateful for that. She placed the salad on the table and poured herself a glass of wine before sitting down. Hunter got the plates ready and handed Arabella hers before sitting down. Arabella took some of the salad then looked over at him, smiling slightly.
"We should go swimming after supper" Arabella suggested with a mischevious smirk on her face "Maybe we could go skinny dipping" she teased with a wink