Chapter 10

     I woke up with the worst headache. When I opened my eyes and turned over expecting to see Ariana, she wasn't there. I started to have a little panic attack, and jumped out of bed. I ran out of the room wondering where she went.
     "Bella do you know where Ariana-" I said stumbling upon my words when I realized Bella was sitting there with Ariana having breakfast together.
     I was relieved that she was safe, but she had a light bruise on her cheek from the horrible night before. It was noticeable from where I was standing, and I felt extremely bad.
     Without a word I turned back around and went into the bathroom so I could look for some headache medicine. I found some on the bottom shelf and plopped some of the medicine into my mouth. Then I threw on a shirt and joined the girls in the kitchen.
     "Good morning sleepy head." Bella said not looking up at me but continuing to read her magazine. Ariana avoided eye contact with me because of her bruise and I think she felt embarrassed.
     I could tell she was ashamed of it and didn't want me to see her like this. "Bella said I could stay here for as long as I want until I find a more suitable home, and I am not going back to my house." She said softly.
     Bella got up, "I have to go to work, I'll bring dinner home later." And she left the now silent house. I took a seat where Bella was just sitting and it was across Ariana.
     I stared at her until she looked up at me. She hesitated but eventually made eye contact with me. The bruise was way worse up close. "You can stay here for as long as you want. Anything here, help yourself to." I said reassuringly. Ariana nodded her head and finished her breakfast.
     "If you don't mind me asking, what happened last night?" I asked softly hoping it wasn't too much of a sensitive topic. She hesitated at first but then spoke up.
     "Well when I went home last night after finding out about Mikey, my dad was drinking. And then he told me I was coming home too late recently and I said I was sorry. He told me that wasn't a good enough answer and I should stop talking back. Then before I knew it, he was yelling and hitting me. My mom doesn't do much because she's afraid of getting hurt too."
     She took her hand and rubbed over her bruise. She closed her eyes probably as memories flashed by. By what she told me, I was angered.
     Angry at her mom for being to selfish, her dad for hitting her, Mikey for leaving her, and myself for not stopping this sooner. I couldn't even imagine how long she's suffered from this.
     "It's okay he won't hurt you now. I'm here." She got up and pulled me to the couch and she sat down next to me. "I'll be right back." I said and jogged over to my room. Scrambling through my sheets I tried to find the bear I got Ariana the night before. I couldn't find it at first, but then I spotted it on the ground next to the bed. Picking it up I walked out of the room with it.
     As I walked out, Ariana had her eyes locked on it. "What's that?" she asked. I sat back down and looked at the thing instantly feeling insecure.
     "Well, yesterday after you left the fair, I felt really bad and I thought I should get this. To cheer you up. And I went to go give it to you at your house, and that's when everything went down." I explained to her and waited for a response. But then I thought maybe I should actually give it to her first, so I handed it out to her and she took it for an exchange of a smile.
     "Thanks, it means a lot." And then she gave me a hug. But this hug lasted for awhile. I enjoyed it and I didn't want it to end. The feeling of her in my arms made me so happy.
"I don't know what I would do without you." She told me softly not letting go of me. I smiled and she pulled away. "Hey do you remember much of last night at my house?" I asked.
     She looked at me confused, "Yeah I wasn't drunk." She laughed and I did too. "I am wearing your clothes after all." She added.
     And then I continued to say what I was going to say. "Well when we were in bed, you said you wanted to tell me something." Ariana smiled and then it went away quickly. "Yeah I did say that didn't I."
     Silence took over and I felt like she was regretting telling me that last night. Or that she doesn't want to tell me anymore.
     Ariana played with the bear in her lap and was silent. "Can we have a day to ourselves today?" I think she might have been avoiding the previous subject. I snapped out of the trance when I was thinking what was she going to tell me. "Yes, anything." Was all I said and we headed for my car.

***

     We went to the beach and laid down our towels on the soft sand. Then we sat on them after placing everything in our spot.
     Previous to this, I grabbed my swimming shorts and I bought Ariana a bikini since she wasn't going home to get hers. "Want to go in the water?" I asked her. She looked at me with a little worry, "But isn't it cold?"
     I shrugged my shoulders and stood in front of her. "Yeah it may be, but come on!" I extended my arms and I helped her up.
     I pulled her into the water and once it was up to her knees she froze. She put her arms around her and shivered. "It is so cold!"
     I laughed and splashed her. She trembled. "You're so mean Hunter Bowens!" She yelled laughing. I walked up to her, "Fine don't come out, you're missing out!" I winked and turned away.
     What I wasn't expecting, was when Ariana jumped on my back. "That's the last time you splash me!" She was laughing and so was I. I twirled her around and then we fell into the water when I lost my balance. "
     Oh my god! It is so cold!" I said coming up from the water and shaking my head to get my hair out of my face. Then out of nowhere, Ariana came up and pushed me back down. But before I actually fell, I managed to pull her down with me.
     We were in pretty deep water now, to about our stomachs. When we got up, she was about to fall over because the current was bringing us down, but I carefully placed my hands on her waist to steady her. She looked down and noticed I was doing it and then she made her way back up to making eye contact with me. I wasn't sure she felt it, but every time we touched it was like sparks flying.
     I don't even know when this happened. By the way Ariana was looking at me, it made me think that she felt whatever this is too.
     "Um, you're right it is really cold. Lets go back." I said letting go of her waist and making my way back to shore. When we got back, I picked up the towel and wrapped it around myself, and Ariana did the same to herself. "Wanna go for a walk?" I asked after drying myself off. Ariana nodded her head.
     "Can I borrow your shirt? I don't really want to walk around San Diego half naked." She giggled and I gave it to her. I respected that, she wasn't that kind of girl.

We walked on the board walk and had a few nice conversations. Literally out of the blue, a few kids came up to us with a CD.

     "Hey Hunter! Can you sign this please?" A boy asked excitedly. I glanced at Ariana and then she shrugged her shoulders. What was all this about?

     "Yeah, I can." I said and took the CD and pen from him to sign. After signing the other person's CD, they jumped up and down and ran away. "Hunter and Ariana are right here everybody!" The kids yelled while running away.

     A couple people were glancing our way and a few of them snapped a few photos. Wait, were people recognizing us? I shook my head and kept walking. After a good 15 minutes, we reached a food place and had some hot dogs. "Today is going very well!" Ariana said. We sat on the nearest bench and talked some more.

     The day went by really fast. We went to the movie theater and watched a movie. Then we went to the beach obviously, had some food and now making our way back to my house. The sun was about to set soon and I thought it would be a good way to end her day.

     We walked home and on our way home a car started slowing down next to us. We tried ignoring it at first but then it was scaring us because it wouldn't leave. The car stopped and I looked over to see Ariana's dad get out and make his way toward us.

Instantly my protective instinct took over and I hid Ariana behind me. He came over looking a little normal, and by normal I mean sober.

     "I just want my daughter back, now step out of the way." He demanded but I didn't move. Ariana squeezed my arm and I knew she was scared. I also felt her pull herself toward me so that we were really close and touching. I tried to hide a smile because now wasn't the time for that. She was looking over my shoulder at her father.

     "We don't want any trouble, please leave. She doesn't want to go with you. You're lucky I haven't called the cops yet." I said angry at the fact that he wasn't leaving. He took a daring step closer and I backed up slowly not releasing my grip on Ariana any time soon. "Leave. I'm not giving you another warning." I said through gritted teeth.

     Her dad just glared at me for a few seconds. Neither of us were dropping our gaze, then he turned around to walk away. Well, I thought he did until he turned back around right away and threw a punch at me.

     Luckily for my fast reflexes, I dodged it and I moved Ariana just in time too. I nudged her back and threw a punch square in his face. It knocked him back and I took that opportunity to grab Ariana's hand and lead her to safety.

     We ran down the sidewalk trying to avoid as many people as possible but saying our sorry when we did bump into people. Finally we got to my street and we stopped running. We still had a few minutes walk but we thought we lost him so we stopped. "Would you ever go back to him?" I questioned slightly out of breath. She shook her head lightly. "No, never."

     I grabbed her hand and we continued to walk to my house. A few minutes later we reached our destination and I let go of her hand before we went inside. "I know a good way to end your day." I said as she followed me to the balcony. She smiled because she knew why I had brought her out here.

     "You always know how to make me feel better." Ariana said walking closer to the railing. I leaned over and watched as the sun as it dripped down in the sky. She moved closer to me and we watched together.

     "Hey Hunter..." She started and I looked at her waiting for her to continue. "I did say I was going to tell you something earlier, and I think now is the best time."

     I stood up and faced her, what did she want to tell me? Oh no, I hope it wasn't bad.

"Well it's taken me awhile to say this," Ariana said playing with her hands. I took her hands to stop her from distracting herself. "You can tell me." I stated and smiled to let her know it was okay.

     She sighed and then opened her mouth to speak. "I like you, Hunter." She said softly looking down. Did I just hear correctly? "What?" I asked hoping I heard the right thing. "I really, like you." She repeated but with sincerity in her eyes. They were so beautiful, how could someone resist them?

     My heart started pounding. She liked me? I didn't think that was even possible! "I thought you said we were just friends?" I asked not knowing why I was shooting her down. "Yeah, and friends at first makes the best relationship later." She smiled weakly.

Was her smile contagious? I know for sure it wasn't wiping off of my face anytime soon.

"Guess what?" I said. She looked at me with confusion. "I really really like you too, Ariana." If it were possible, her smile grew wider and I did what I thought I'd never have the guts to do. I moved in ever so slightly and pulled her close to me. I leaned my head down, caressed her cheek with my hand and kissed her.

     Amazingly enough, she kissed me back just as passionate. By far the best kiss I've ever received. She placed her arms around the back of my neck and I moved mine down by her waist.
     I pulled away after a few moments when breathing became necessary.

     Oh I did not want to, but I thought I should. "You have no idea how long I have been waiting to do that." I said breathless and she laughed. I kissed her one last time before going inside after the sun had settled down underneath the horizon.

     We laid down in my bed and faced each other. "It must have slipped my mind, and this may seem a bit cliché, but would you be my girlfriend?" I asked winking.

     She laughed and looked down and then back up at me. "Yes" she said softly. I kissed her forehead and closed my eyes. "Goodnight Ariana." She did the same, and whispered "Goodnight."

     And let me tell you, this night beats any other good night I have ever had in my life.