Chapter 49 - Arabella

Daniel skipped through the door, a couple people that worked for her following him with a dress bag and cases of make up. Arabella looked around in shock as Daniel skipped over to her and hugged her tightly "Ties that..what?" she asked, totally flustered. She looked up at Hunter.

"What? Oh! Nothing..nothing" Hunter said awkwardly and took a step back, his cheeks slightly pink. Arabella looked up at Daniel as he looked her up and down.

"You are a beautiful girl, Hunnie, but we are going to do a lot of work" Daniel said with a twinkle in his eyes "Come on, let's go to the bathroom. Everyone can set up while we get you clean" he finished, pulling Arabella to her feet and steering her out of the living room. Arabella looked back at Hunter with wide, stunned eyes. She looked at Daniel as he pushed her away from Hunter and into the bathroom. He closed the door and looked through the cupboard for towels for Arabella "What happened to all of your towels?" he muttered to himself

"Danny, I don't know if I can go to this thing. I probably won't even win" Arabella said quietly, nervously covering her wrist with her hand "Can't I just stay home tonight?"

"You're full of crap, Hunnie. You are so going to win this and if you don't go, you're going to regret it. Alexander Wang has nothing on you" Daniel said with a smile "Okay, turn around" he told her and she sighed, turning so that her back was towards him. He unzipped her dress and turned so his back was towards her "Get in the shower, I'll wait"

"You really suck, you know that?" Arabella muttered but she slipped out of her dress and stepped into the shower, pulling the curtain closed. For the first time, she noticed that the bathroom was clean. Hunter must have cleaned it all up. She took a shaky breath and leaned against the wall, turning the shower on. Arabella looked down at the tub and nearly broke down right then and there. She could remember the feeling of her life slowly ebbing away like it was happening to her right then. Arabella closed her eyes, trying to focus on the water hitting her body.

"Are you going to tell me why you have a scar on your wrist?" Daniel asked and Arabella looked at the curtain. He had noticed. Arabella took a breath and she shook her head, even though he couldn't see her.

"No. I'm not talking about it" Arabella said simply, washing her hair. It seemed like it had been so long since she had really taken care of herself. She didn't know how tonight was going to go, but with any luck, everything would be fine.

"What about you and Hunter?" Daniel asked her and Arabella could hear the smirk on his face. She rolled her eyes and saw Daniel's hand in the shower with a bottle of conditioner "Use this. It's a special shampoo for blond hair" he told her. Arabella took the conditioner and squirted some into her hand.

"There is nothing to say" Arabella said eventually and Daniel laughed. She rolled her eyes and stuck her head out of the shower "Pass me a towel, would you? And shut up" she said and grabbed the towel out of his hands. Arabella wrapped it around herself and climbed out of the shower. Daniel smiled at her and took her by the shoulders, pushing her out of the bathroom. Daniel pushed her to her room and closed the door.

"Put some clothes on then meet us in the living room, Missy!" Daniel called to her and walked away. Arabella sighed and pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt. All she really wanted to do that night was stay home with Hunter. Curl up on the couch and try to forget about what happened. She looked down at her wrist and closed her eyes. Arabella pulled a sweater on and tugging the sleeves down so that they almost covered her hands and walked out of her room and down the hall nervously. She looked around the room for Hunter. She felt like she was about to float away but Hunter was the rock that was holding her to the ground. Finally, she found him and she gave him a slightly nervous look. Hunter gave her a reassuring smile as Daniel pushed towards the middle of the room. Luckily, Daniel didn't bring too many people over. Just a few people that worked closely with Arabella. She didn't really want to see people that she wasn't close to. Daniel pushed her into a chair and started working on her hair right away. Daniel looked over at Hunter and smirked at him. "Hunter, are you going to help at all or are you going to sit in the corner and watch?" he asked and Hunter stood up

"I uhh, don't really know anything about this" Hunter said and looked at Arabella who shrugged at him. Daniel sighed and held up a braid of Arabella's hair.

"Just hold this" Daniel said and put the braid in Hunter's hand. Hunter looked down at Arabella and she put a little smile on her face for him. It wasn't long before Arabella's hair was done. Daniel took the dress bag from a woman and held it up for Arabella "I hope that this is everything you wanted it to be" he said to Arabella and he pulled the delicate dress out of the bag. Arabella looked at it and gasped. It was her own design. A dress that had been inspired by her mom and the time that she had spent with her. Arabella let the soft pink fabric run over her fingers and she looked up at Daniel.

"You made my dress" Arabella said softly, in awe of how beautiful it was. Daniel nodded and smiled proudly.

"Yes, we did. It should fit you perfectly" Daniel said then pushed her towards the bedroom, holding the dress in one hand. He quickly had Arabella changed into the dress and it looked almost perfect on her. The only problem was that it was a little loose on her. Daniel and Arabella stepped out of the bedroom and walked down the hall. Everyone from her team was complimenting her but Arabella only cared about Hunter's thoughts. He looked at her with a slightly stunned look on his face and Arabella could really tell what he was thinking.

"You..you look...wow" Hunter stammered and Arabella blushed, looking down at her feet. Everyone in the world could tell her that she was beautiful or stunning but it only really mattered when Hunter said it.

"Yes, yes..she's beautiful, you want to jump her bones..blah, blah, blah. We have work to do!" Daniel said and pushed Arabella to the middle of the room where the rest of her team was waiting. As soon as she stood still, they started working on her, fixing her make up and touching up her hair and taking in her dress. In a flurry of movement, the dress was done and Arabella was standing in the middle of the room, starting to look like herself again. The girls that we working on Arabella each said goodbye and hugged Arabella tightly before walking out to take all of their supplies to the car. They left Arabella alone with Daniel and Hunter.

Arabella looked up at Hunter who was still looking at her like she was made of gold or something. Daniel started to work on Arabella's hair, fixing little things here and there and finishing it up. Arabella looked up at Hunter and took a deep breath "So, Hunter? I uhm, I was thinking about this show and I uh, I don't really want to go alone" Arabella stammered "It's just..you know, big event and all that and I uhm, I was just wondering.."

"She wants you to go to the show with her as her date" Daniel sighed, looking at Hunter with a raised eyebrow. Arabella blushed a deep red but she looked up at Hunter with pleading eyes. She really didn't want to be alone but she would rather go alone then with someone who wasn't Hunter. He looked down at her and their eyes connected for a second.

"Yeah, of course" Hunter told her, keeping his eyes locked with hers. The butterflies in Arabella's stomach went wild. She smiled up at him, a real smile and she felt herself relax a little bit more.

"Now we need to get you a suit, Hunter. Or you could just go naked. I would be okay with that" Daniel said and winked at Hunter. Arabella giggled when she saw Hunter shudder.

The award show went by in a blur. One minute she was leaving her apartment, next minute she was on the red carpet. When they called her name saying that she had won, Arabella thought that she might faint. It felt like it had only been 20 minutes when she was back on the red carpet, walking towards her limo with Hunter's arm around her. She was tired and worn out. Emotionally drained. But she was looking forward to curling up on the couch with Hunter and a cup of noodles. Arabella was happy that she went an entire night without having one person ask her about the chair out the window thing.

Suddenly, they were surrounded and Hunter's arm pulled her closer to him protectively. Cameras were going off everywhere Arabella looked and all she heard were people yelling questions at her. They kept walking, Hunter holding her close to him. But then someone had stood in front of them, blocking their way. He held a video camera and he was right in her face, not letting her get around him to their car. He was shouting questions at her "Arabella? Is it true that you're suicidal?" Arabella looked at him and froze. She wanted to break down right there. Her legs felt weak under her. He kept asking her questions "Have you ever tried to kill yourself before? Would you ever consider it?" he asked. Arabella felt like the world was spinning. Her arm started throbbing and she was overcome with an urge to slice through her skin again. Her breaths were shorter and quicker and her heart sped up. Arabella leaned into Hunter, feeling dizzy. She was having a panic attack. The man with the camera didn't stop though and when they tried to push past him, he grabbed Arabella's arm, the one that she had cut and tried to pull her back to him. Arabella let out a little yell of surprise. Hunter then did something that she would never have expected him to do. Something she wasn't sure about. Something that she didn't know whether to be thankful or angry.

Hunter punched the man. Right in the face. The man stumbled backwards and fell. Before Arabella could respond, Hunter had his arm around her and was pulling her into the limo. Once the doors were closed, Arabella broke down, curling up to Hunter's side and sobbing. His body was tense with anger and he looked livid but when she leaned into him, his expression softened and he wrapped his arms around her. Arabella but her head in her hands and sobbed, her entire body shaking.

"Shh, you're okay" Hunter soothed, rubbing her back gently. Arabella couldn't believe that this was happening to her. She was never that girl. The emotional one that broke down at a single word. She was strong and fierce and confidant in who she was. But now she felt like a total mess.

They parked outside of Arabella's apartment and Hunter helped her into the elevator. She felt so weak and tired and sore. She needed to lean on him the whole way. Once they got inside, Arabella stumbled in and kicked off her shoes. All she could think of was her sweat pants, her Camp Half Blood shirt and Breakfast at Tiffany's. As she walked towards her room, she pressed the button on the answering machine when she saw the flashing number. The voice that came out of it made her freeze in her tracks and look back at Hunter with a shocked look on her face.

"This message is for Hunter Reed. My name is Elliot Benson and I'm a lawyer. I need you to call me back as soon as you can. It's about your parents. Thank you"