Arabella watched, stunned, as everything unfolded in front of her. She didn't know how to react. She was frozen in shock. Hunter? What was he doing? What was happening? Arabella looked up at him when he asked her if she was okay. She felt a wave of anger and pushed him away "What were you thinking?!" Arabella said, pushing him out of the way. She fixed her dress and knelt down by Chad. Arabella touched his face lightly and bit her lip "This is not good..this is so not good" she mumbled, trying to get her phone out of her purse. Finally, her hand clasped around the small rectangle and she pulled it out, touching the numbers on the screen. Quickly, without stopping to breathe, Arabella rattled off her address to the operator and hung up the phone. Her face was starting to throb and she could feel a sharp pain on the sides of her neck where Chad had held her. Arabella knew that it was going to bruise. She let out a shaky sigh and looked up at Hunter. What was he doing in her apartment? Why did he think that he could just leave her without saying goodbye then just suddenly show up. Her eyes narrowed and she stood up, fixing her dress.
"Get out Hunter" Arabella said softly. She didn't know why she was kicking him out. All she had wanted was to see him again but now that she was looking at him, she was angry and wanted to kick him out. Hunter looked at her with hurt and disbelieving eyes.
"Ellie, I-" Hunter started but Arabella shook her head, cutting him off.
"Get out of my apartment, Hunter. I'm furious with you and if you stay, you're going to be arrested. Leave" Arabella said, pointing to the door. Hunter just looked at her, like he was stunned and didn't know what to say or do. His eyes were filled with worry and hurt and guilt. Hunter seemed to think over what she was saying.
"Can we please just talk, Ellie?" Hunter asked her, his voice quiet. He took a step towards her and Arabella turned away from him, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. She shook her head
"NO! We can't just talk, Hunter!" Arabella said, her voice raising. She saw him flinch ever so slightly, stunned by her raising her voice. Tears started to flow easily and Arabella tried to rub them off of her cheeks "I can't talk to you, Hunter! Not after what you did to me! Will you please just LEAVE!" she yelled "I can't..we can't..I can't do this with you anymore, Hunter" she finished, not bothering to wipe her tears anymore. Hunter moved towards her, trying to pull her into a hug and Arabella shook her head, pushing him away from her. "Don't touch me. Just leave. Please" she said in a voice that was harsher than she meant it to be. Arabella took a shaky breath, folding her arms across from her. She didn't look at Hunter. She couldn't. If she did then she would probably have a totaly break down in his arms and she didn't want to do that to him. Not when she knew that he was probably just going to leave again. It seemed like forever before Hunter spoke again.
"Bye, Ellie" Hunter muttered, his voice quiet and sad. Arabella looked up at him as he turned and walked out of her apartment. She tried to take a deep breath, calm herself down. She hardly had the time to process the fact that Chad had hit her. Again. She took him back, trusted him for a third time and for a third time, he hit her. Right now, however, she was focused on getting Chad out of her apartment and out of her life for good. She wasn't going to talk to him again. Arabella also secretly hopped that Aphrodite was giving Apollo and big talking to and telling him to talk to his sons.
The paramedics arrived and loaded Chad onto a stretcher, asking Arabella a few questions. She told them that Chad had been jumped in the park on the way over to her house and he showed up like that. Arabella spoke quickly to the police but she convinced them that she didn't know much of what happened to Chad. Only that she showed up at her apartment like that. As they were taking chad out of her apartment, Arabella watched as a piece of paper fell out of Chad's pocket and floated to the ground. She walked over, picked it up then sat down on the couch, holding it in her hands. It looked like it was worn out a little bit, like it had been folded and unfolded multiple times. Did she really want to look at it? Arabella let out a small sigh and with shaking hands, she unfolded the paper. What she saw was not what she was expecting. It was Hunter's hand writing and there were tear spots all over it. She gingerly held the soft paper in her hands and scanned the words. The more she read, the more tears fell. I felt that I needed to be with you, but I will have to live without you. You deserve to live a good life, Ellie. I want that for you. I hope that you and Chad are really happy together. As Arabella read on, she started shaking more. A lot of it was scratched out, but she could read all of it. Her eyes landed on the words at the bottom. Three little words that meant everything. I love you. Arabella looked at the words again, reading them over and over and over again. I love you. I love you. I love you. Chad kept this from her. He found it and hid it. If Arabella had known, if she knew that he wasn't leaving her...if she knew that he loved her. Well, it wasn't a question about what she would have done. She would have ran down to meet him in the coffee shop and everything would be wonderful and easy. She wouldn't have a bruises forming on her face and neck. She wouldn't be alone.
Sobs rocked through her and Arabella leaned down, resting her forehead on her knees. Her whole body was shaking with sobs, tears pouring down her face. Arabella was so angry at herself. How could she think that Hunter actually left her? He would never have done anything like that. How could she have gone back to Chad? It was the same thing that he said every time that she broke up with him. He was sorry, he wasn't going to hurt her again...blah, blah, blah..lie, lie, lie. Arabella needed to stand up. There were too many thoughts in her head and she couldn't sit still anymore. With tears still pouring down her face, Arabella stood up and started pacing around her living room. Hunter said that he loved her. Arabella kicked him out. He would never forgive her, ever. Arabella folded her arms across her chest tightly as she paced, trying to steady her breathing but nothing was working. She just kept sobbing. Arabella felt a sharp pain in her toe and she looked down to see a chair in her way. Arabella let out a frustrated sigh and tried to kick it out of her way, but it wouldn't budge. Arabella looked down at the chair and kicked it again. It still didn't move. Anger and guilt and sadness coursed through her body and Arabella started kicking and hitting the chair over and over and over again. She sobbed and kept hitting the chair with balled up fists. Why did this have to happen? Why didn't she just say something to Hunter when she had the chance? Why did she go back to Chad? It was all such a blur of tears and hitting and kicking. Arabella then lifted the chair, not sure why she was doing it, then threw it out of the window. It smashed the glass and fell 15 stories to the street below. Arabella stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths. But then she heard the screams and what could possibly be the worst thing...cameras. She stumbled to the balcony, ignoring the glass on the ground and looked over the edge. All she saw were paparazzi camera's pointed up at her. With a sob, Arabella ran back into her apartment and she collapsed on the couch, sobbing until she fell asleep.