Arabella looked over at him, stunned for a moment. She didn't know how she should respond to him. He threw her off her game. She wondered if Hunter could see the way that her face fell a little when he asked her that. She wondered if he could hear her heart stop beating for a moment. Arabella hadn't thought about the trip back to New York. She didn't want to think about it. Waking up in the morning was hard enough for her; she couldn't think of the future too. Arabella was focusing on just getting to California. She knew that he was right. Flying back to New York would probably make things a lot easier for them and they could avoid a lot of heart ache. Hearing it like that hurt though. It felt so blunt and honest and it made her feel horrible.
Arabella pulled her legs up on the seat and she hugged her knees close to her chest. She placed her chin on her knees and looked out the window. "Yeah, okay" She said in a small voice, not wanting to look at Hunter. When she woke up that morning, she woke up to see Hunter's sleeping face. Arabella had stayed awake for a while, just looking at him. Seeing his face in the morning made her happy. It had been easy to wake up and see him. However, she reminded herself that they had broken up. They weren't together anymore and she wasn't supposed to be sleeping next to him like that. Hoping that he didn't know she had been there, Arabella had crawled back into the bed and closed her eyes, falling back to sleep quickly.
Now, she was in the car and doing everything she possibly could to not start crying. Arabella didn't want to have to make this 8 hour drive even more difficult than it already was. She just wanted him to think that she was fine. That there was nothing wrong. But it was a lie. Her heart was hurting and she just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to let everything go, let all of her walls down and sob.
Hunter drove in silence. It was almost unbearable. Arabella was going to be flying back to New York by herself and when she got there, she was going to be packing up her things and trying to find a place to live. by herself. Arabella kept her head turned away from Hunter. Tears were building up in her eyes too easily. She didn't know what he was feeling or how he was holding himself. She couldn't tell if he was upset or angry or if there was no emotion on his face. Arabella didn't think that she could deal with looking at him. After about an hour of driving in silence, Arabella couldn't take it anymore, so she turned on the music and she leaned back in her seat, keeping her eyes on the window. With the calming music playing, Arabella decided to close her eyes and try to fall asleep. If she slept than driving for 8 hours would seem a lot shorter and she would be able to go to her hotel room a lot faster.
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When Arabella woke up again, she was shocked to see that she had been asleep for almost the entire trip. She remembered waking up a little bit to shift positions, grab her teddy bear and fall back to sleep again. Arabella didn't know why she had slept for so long. Or why she still felt tired. Maybe it was sadness. A deep hurt and sadness that was making her whole body tired. Arabella yawned and she rubbed her eyes before finally turning her head to look at Hunter. He seemed lost in his own little world. He was thinking about a million things and Arabella could tell. He couldn't hide these sort of things from her. "Sorry that I fell asleep. I didn't mean to sleep for that long" She said softly. Hunter looked over at her for a moment before turning the car and heading into Salt Lake City.
"It's okay" Hunter told her quietly after a moment of silence. She hoped that he wasn't mad at her for falling asleep. She didn't want him to be mad at her ontop of everything else that was going on between them. Arabella let out a soft sigh and she looked out the window. She was happy that they were finally getting into Salt Lake City. With any luck, they would have a calm night. Nothing would happen and they would have different bedrooms. Arabella knew that she would never get a good sleep without Hunter by her side but at least they didn't have to share a room and be forced to spend a lot of time close together.
"There" Arabella said, pointing out a hotel. It seemed like a pretty good place but Arabella liked it because it was close. Hunter nodded and he pulled into the parking lot. Together, they got out of the car and started to pull out their bags. It was rountine that they had gotten into but Arabella didn't like it. She would give anything at this point to go back in time. Go back to their home in New York and decide to fly to California instead. they would be getting packed up now and getting ready to catch a plane. They would be happy. They would be together. Arabella shook the thought out of her head and she followed Hunter into the hotel. they quickly got a room with two bedrooms set up for them and they walked towards their room. Both of them were pretty eager to get to their hotel room. She was dying to lay down on her bed.
Once they got into their room, Arabella was happy to see that they had a suite with two bedrooms. Last night had been difficult for her and she didn't think that she could handle another night like the last one. After he had asked her if she was going to fly back to New York, it all made it seem so real. She had been trying so hard to be happy and to be okay with it all but she was tired of doing that. Arabella let out a sigh and she carried her bags back to her room. As she was walking back into the sitting area, she looked up at Hunter, who already put his bags away and was standing by the door.
"I'm going to go for a walk around the hotel, stretch my legs out a little bit" Hunter told her and Arabella nodded softly, looking down at the ground. Maybe she would take that time to do some knitting or reading. Something that would get her mind off of what was going on in her real life.
"Okay, see you later" Arabella said and she gave him a small wave as he turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. "Bye, Hunter" She said softly, even though he had gone. After a moment of standing there, Arabella turned and sat down in the chair by the TV, pulling her legs up underneath her. She would have a good night. She was determined to get herself into a better mood and pick herself up out of this funk. Arabella reached over and she grabbed the remote, turning on the TV and flipping through the channels. Nothing was really on but at least she could stare at the TV and not think of anything at all. She could let her mind wander.
It was at that point, she heard it. The window was being pushed open. Arabella's heart nearly stopped. Why would the window be opening? Hunter would walk back in through the door, so he wouldn't have to come in through the window. Besides, if he lost his room key, he could just knock on the door. She remembered that they were on the first floor. The blacony of their room could easily be accessed from the street. With shaking hands and a racing heart, Arabella slid out of her chair and she turned the corner so that she could see the balcony.
He was wearing all black and he was stepping into the room. His face was covered in a ski mask and when Arabella closed her eyes, she could remember the man that had come at them in Chicago. Hunter had been with her then. Hunter had been there to protect her. She didn't have him anymore. She didn't have anyone to protect her. She had to protect herself. Arabella was sure that her heart was about to beat out of her chest. It was taking Arabella everything she had not to fall to the ground. She had to do something. She's a demigod. She's not just a pretty face. From behind the wall, Arabella could hear him shuffling around, tossing a few things into bags.
Without thinking about what she was doing, Arabella walked into the same room as him. She knew that what she was doing was probably stupid but she had to learn how to defend herself now. She was terrified and when the man looked at her, she wanted to curl up into a little ball. But she stood her ground, looking at him with a glare on her face that looked a hell of a lot braver than she felt. The man looked at her and although she couldn't see his face, she could tell from his eyes that he was smirking.
"Well, well, well..what do we have here?" He jeered and his eyes raked over her body in a way that made her sick. For a moment, Arabella had forgotten what she was about to do. She was frozen in fear. She was aware of the man taking a few steps towards her and she was wonderfing vaguely why she didn't turn and run away yet. But then she closed her eyes for a moment and she heard a voice in head. She knew that she was probably just imagining it but she heard Hunter's voice. Be brave. His voice told her to be brave.
Arabella opened her eyes, knowing what she had to do. She glared at the man with a new bravery. She cleared her throat and she took a breath. "Drop what you're holding. Turn around. Leave this hotel and never, ever come back here" She said, her charmspeak flowing easily and naturally. She watched as the man's eyes glazed over and he dropped what he was holding, everything that he had been stealing. He turned around and he walked back to the window. He stepped out and walked away like nothing had happened.
As soon as he was gone, Arabella ran to the window. She slammed it shut and locked it. Her hands were shaking and she felt like she was about to collapse. At that moment, the door opened and Hunter walked into the room. He looked tired and a little worn out but seeing his face made her feel so much better. Arabella didn't think about it. She ran over to him, throwing herself into his arms and hiding her face into his neck. Her heart was racing, she was having trouble breathing, she felt sick and she was shaking like a leaf. She was having a panic attack and she knew that she needed Hunter. She didn't care about anything else that had happened between them in that moment. She just needed to be close to him.