It had been the best sleep that Arabella had in what felt like a horribly long time. Hunter's arms were around her and everything was right in the world. The only reason she had been able to fall asleep was the fact that Hunter was holding her and telling her that everything was going to be okay. Her mind was telling her that it was a bad idea to let him hold her like that but she needed him. She needed him to hold her. She needed to hear him tell her that he was proud of her.
But when the morning came, everything changed. Arabella realized what a mistake the previous night had been. It had been a mistake to fall asleep with Hunter. It had been a mistake to let him kiss her head. Hunter woke up with a smile on his face and as much as she wanted to smile back at him and kiss him and tell him that she loved him, she knew that she shouldn't. He had hurt her, badly and she knew that he would probably hurt her again.
Arabella hated the way his face fell when she pulled away from him and away from his kiss. He said that he loved her. With her whole heart, all she wanted to do was fall into his arms and tell him that she loved him too. That she would always love him, no matter how hurt she was. But she knew that they could never go back to that. He had hurt her and she could see in his face that he was hurting too. Whatever they had was gone.
The drive towards San Fransisco had been horrid. Arabella tried to sleep but she couldn't. After spending another night in Hunter's arms, she knew that there was no way she was going to be able to sleep without his arms around her. So she spent the drive with her head on the window and her arms wrapped tightly around her teddy bear. As it always did, her mind fell back to Hunter. She hoped that he would be able to live a happy life. She hoped that he would be able to fall in love again and grow old with whoever was lucky enough to hold his heart. Arabella was coming to realize that she wanted him to be happy, even if that happiness didn't include her. Maybe Tiffany was the one for him. Arabella loved Hunter and they had been through a lot together. She had done everything that she could for him and maybe that was all they were supposed to have. They grew together and loved together and now he had to move on. That thought left a horrible, empty feeling in Arabella but she knew that she would be able to deal with the pain if she knew that Hunter was happy.
Suddenly, they were pulling into a gas station and Arabella sat up a little bit straighter, adjusting herself. She needed to go to the bathroom and she wanted to get some coffee or something, anything to keep her busy for the next two hours.
"How did you sleep?" Arabella looked over at Hunter when he asked her how she slept and she paused for a moment, trying to think of the right answer to say. I had a wonderful sleep because I was in your arms but when I woke up, everything changed because I knew that you had hurt me and we can never go back to the way we used to be..no matter how badly I want that.
"When I calmed down I slept fine, I suppose" Arabella finally decided to say to him. It felt like a lie to say that but she didn't know what else to say to him. She didn't want to have to make it more difficult than it already was by bringing up all kinds of emotions.
"That's the difference" Hunter sighed and when he shut the door behind him, Arabella was sure that she could hear her heart break. She closed her eyes for a moment, like she didn't want to see anything anymore. The world and the reality that she was linving in hurt too much and she didn't want to see it anymore. After what felt like hours but was only a few seconds, Arabella dragged herself out of the car and she walked past Hunter, trying not to look at him. She walked into the gas station and did everything that she needed to do. She bought her things and she headed out to the car where Hunter had already paid for the gas and was waiting for her in the car. Nervously, Arabella slid into her seat and she placed her stuff down. Arabella wasn't sure how the next two hours were going to go but she knew that it wasn't going to be good.
Hunter didn't speak to her when she slid back into the car. He just started the car and started to drive towards San Fransisco. Arabella looked at him for a moment before she pulled out her magazine and placed it in her lap. She started to flip through the pages, not really taking anything in. But she was distracted by the magazine and that was the whole point. She couldn't think of him. It hurt too much. They drove in silence. The only sounds were the flipping of Arabella's magazine pages as she read her way through a few fashion magazines.
They were finally made it into San Fansisco and when they entered the city, Arabella and Hunter spoke for the first time. "Which hotel is it?" Hunter asked her in a quite voice and Arabella pulled out ehr phone so that she could look at the name of the hotel.
"It's The Fairmont San Fansisco Hotel" Arabella told him softly and she quickly told him how to get there before she turned back to her magazine. She was hoping that once they got to the hotel, they would be able to get seperate rooms. As much as she wanted to be with Hunter and she wanted to be by his side, she knew that spending a night with him in a hotel room would be bad. She was also fully aware of the fact that she wouldn't sleep at all without him but she was okay with that. Not sleeping at all would be better than having to face Hunter and be close to him. It was getting harder and harder for Arabella to be around him.
When they parked at the hotel, Arabella slid out of the car, grabbed her bags and headed in without saying a word to Hunter. She didn't know if she would be able to Hunter without breaking down. Arabella walked towards the counter on tired legs, Hunter following behind her. She stepped up and tried to give the man sitting down the warmest smile she could. "Hi..Arabella Foster and Hunter Reed checking in.." she said to him and he smiled up at her.
"Ah, yes..we've been expecting you. Ms. Foster and Mr. Reed in room 113. One king sized bed" The man said, placing one key card on the counter. As soon as he said that, Arabella's heart dropped. There was no way they were going to be able to deal with sharing a room like that again. Not after last night. She knew that Hunter felt the same way. There was too much going on between them.
"Is there any way that Hunter and I can get seperate rooms?" Arabella asked him, leaning on the counter slightly. The man looked at her then he turned to his computer.
"Let me see what I can do for you" He said and he typed some things up on the computer. His smile fell a little bit and he turned to Arabella. "We're actually all booked up right now. There aren't any other rooms that are open" He told her in a slightly worried tone, like he was nervous that she would blow up at him and start yelling. Arabella could feel Hunter freeze behind her and she took a small breath. There had to be something that they could do. Anything. She needed to be in a different room.
"Please, there has to be something that we can do.." She asked desperately.
"Arabella! Hunter!"
Arabella turned around when she heard her voice and she saw Addie walking down the stairs with a smile on her face. She tried to be a smile on her face but it was difficult. She didn't look at Hunter to see if he was smiling. She was happy to see Addie again. Addie had been a good friend. Arabella needed to see friends at this point, she need to see people that she knew. She needed to be with some girls. "Hi, Addie" She said, trying to sound happy but it just came out in a tired voice. Addie walked over to them and she hugged Arabella before hugging Hunter.
"How are you guys?" Addie asked, pulling away and smiling at them.
"Tired" Arabella and Hunter said at the same time. There was a horrible silence between them that lasted for a few moments, but it felt like hours.
"I was just trying to figure out our rooms. Hunter and I were put into the same room but we need different rooms" she explained to Addie and she looked back at the man behind the counter. "Please, sir, that has to be something that we can do.." She asked and the man opened his mouth to speak.
"I've got an extra bed in my room" Addie said suddenly, looking from Hunter to Arabella with a slightly confused look on her face. "You can just stay with me in my room, Arabella" She said. Arabella looked at her and thanked the gods that she was a daughter of Athena. She didn't know what was going on but she could tell that Arabella and Hunter needed to be in different rooms. She knew not to ask them about it at that moment but she knew that they could talk about it later if they needed to.
"Thanks, Addie..that would be fantastic" Arabella said with a sigh. She turned her eyes back to Hunter and she saw him standing with the room key to the room that they were supposed to be sharing together. The room that they were supposed to be sleeping in together. They should have been falling into the elevator with their arms wrapped around each other and going up to their room. The should have been planning a perfect night together, not going their different ways. Arabella took a deep breath as she tried desperately not to cry. "Bye, Hunter.." She whispered before turning around and following Addie up the stairs towards her new room.