Camp Half Blood: One "Salty" Adventure

Camp Half Blood: A Salty Sequel//Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ben's POV:

I fell asleep, my dreams surrounding the moment I hurt Rose. But it seemed... a lot more explicit. I was watching our conversation as an outsider, yet I was fully invested in each moment. I watched myself talk to her and then, when I laid my hand on her soft cheek. I felt an urge to keep going. I couldn't stop. As an outsider watching this, I yelled at myself to stop. Tears streaming down my face, I screamed at the top of my lungs for me to stop. After a while, I realized my efforts weren't doing anything. I began to try and get Rose's attention instead in order to try to explain. I yelled her name what seemed like hundreds of times. Once I got her attention, she turned her head to me. Bloodshot eyes, blood streaming down her face with bruises starting to form everywhere. The Ben that did this to her was gone and replaced with me, firsthand. I stared into her blue eyes, usually bright and happy, but, were now, dark and gloomy with sadness and fear. The only word I could muster at this sight was her name as tears began to start up again. Before I could do anything, she touched my face and said why, her voice cracking with this simple word. Right then, I woke up, startled. There was a hand on my face and my first reflex was to grab it and once I saw who it was, I'd deal with them how I wanted to. Once I opened my eyes, I immediately became fearful. I saw Rose's face and let go of her hand quickly, scooting away, afraid I had hurt her again, or that I would hurt her again. "R-Rose no no no I'm so sorry I didn't mean to scare you... y-you scared m-me I'm so... shit I'm so sorry, Rose." I stuttered out rapidly. She simply took a deep breath and then sat down in front of me.

"B-Ben... I thought we could talk. And it's alright, I shouldn't have woken you up like that..." She replied with a small smile. I was still shocked when I replied to her.

"R-really? Y-you wanted to talk?" I tensed up, not sure if I should be afraid or happy that she wanted to even talk to me after what happened. She's been ignoring me for a while now and that's what confused me now.

"Yeah... but you've already tried to say you're apologies more times than I can count. It's my turn to talk." I nodded, waiting for her to start since I wasn't exactly sure how to reply to her.. "Ben... I've been thinking about what happened that night. What you did was wrong, without a doubt. But... I kinda started it. I know how you get when you're angry and I called you an ass and you were just trying to... I don't know, protect me I guess? Before you... y-you hit me, it seemed like you cared about me too much to let someone take me away from you. But your jealousy got the best of you and... you just let yourself go. I don't know if there was a different reason or not... but I'd like to give you a chance to explain yourself..." Once she finished, she sucked in breath and looked at me, waiting for my reply. For a few moments, I thought about what she had said and how I was going to reply to her. I could've easily used charmspeak on her, which I thought about doing, but I remembered what she had made me promise to her. I told her I wouldn't use it on her, and I wasn't planning on breaking that promise. Not this time.

"Rose, what I did has no excuse. I can't take it back, I know that. If I could, I'd take it back in a heartbeat. I'd do anything to make amends with you. You mean more than life itself to me... and there really is no legitimate reason for why I did what I did. There was this... force I guess you could call it. I got jealous, you're right, and I got angry. I mean, he's so much better than me. He can give you so much more and it was only a matter of time before you realized that yourself..." I let out a small, sad laugh. "I guess I just ended up making that a lot more clear for you in the end, huh?..." I started to trail off and then I looked at her. She didn't make any eye contact with me, she just looked down at her lap, waiting for me to continue. I told her the truth, but that, obviously, wasn't enough. I knew, maybe, one other way to gain her trust. I knew what I would be risking if I said this right now... but I am deeply, madly in love with Rose. With her, it's all or nothing. And she should know that. "Rose, I am so sorry for hitting you. I swear I will never do it again, Rose... I swear it..." I trailed off, still thinking of how to word this. This was a big deal and I knew it.

"What was that?" She asked me, curious. I took a deep breath and then I looked Rose directly in the eye. Confident about my decision.

"I swear it on the Styx that I will never hit you out of rage or jealousy like that ever again, Rose." Rose's jaw dropped, shocked.

"B-Ben. Why would you do that!? Wh-what're you thinking what if y-" Rose started, but I cut her off.

"I'm in love with you, Rose. I would do anything for you. There's no other way for me to show you than to do that. I scared you and that's the last thing I would ever want to do. You may forgive me one day, but I'll never forgive myself..." I looked down at the ground.

"Ben... I do forgive you for what you did... honestly, I do. I mean, I did kinda punch you at that pool party." She laughed lightly, making me connect our gaze. "It goes two ways. You forgave me for that... so I'm forgiving you for this." I smiled at her. She was too amazing for words.

"So... are we okay now?" I asked, hopeful. Rose smiled, but that smile turned into a frown. With that, I became worried.

"We are okay now, Ben... but I don't think we should get back together. N-not now. Yet, I should say. I do love you, Ben. But, I'm thinking... maybe we became a couple too fast... maybe neither of us were ready for this just yet." I smirked at her after I pondered what she said. Maybe she was right, but that wouldn't stop me from winning her heart in the end.

"So what you're saying is... I still have a chance?" Rose laughed. I smiled at her. She looked so beautiful under the light of the moon.

"Yeah, Ben. Of course you do. But for now, I think I'm gonna stick with being single. Just until the end of the quest. Then... I'll let you know." I smiled at her, but then a dark thought crossed my mind, forcing happiness to sadness. Smile into a frown.

"Rose?... d-do you feel something for Nathan too?" I asked hesitantly. I waited for her to answer.

"I... I don't know to be honest with you. He's a great guy, but I don't want to be in a relationship right now."

"Does he have a chance when we get back too?" I asked, still sad. Even more so with that reply.

"I don't know, Ben. I just... I don't think I'd feel right. Dating Nathan, I mean. It just doesn't feel real... maybe it's because of the arrow or maybe it's something else... but for now I couldn't really tell you." I nodded and then looked over her shoulder, the sight making me slightly angry, but I refused to let her see that. I decided to be a gentleman, she deserved that. She deserved to be happy.

"I uh... you should get some rest. Go to Nathan... he looks restless over there." She looked over her shoulder to check on Nathan to see what I was talking about.

"Yeah... he can wait a bit longer, Ben. He's a big baby sometimes." She said looking back to me. We fell into a silence. I looked at her and became hesitant.

"Could I maybe... get a hug?" I asked cautiously. She laughed and started nodding.

"Of course, Ben." She said. She crawled over to where I was and I slowly wrapped my arms around her waist. She wrapped hers around my neck as she kinda sat in my lap. I became tense at first, fearful that I would hurt her again, but once her body relaxed into mine, I was able to do the same. I smiled, happy to be in these familiar arms again. Once we pulled away, although neither of us wanted to, I looked into her eyes. I leaned in, getting lost in her bright eyes. They seemed to be happier. More comfortable now, which warmed my heart. I was close to kissing her before she put her head down. I felt embarrassed, but I knew it was wrong of me to do that. Especially after what she had just said.

"I-I'm sorry." I stuttered, beginning to blush.

"It's alright... maybe back at camp." She smiled and winked at me. She left, but not after giving me a small kiss on the cheek. I smiled at her, the both of us blushing. I watched her walk back to Nathan and then lie down with him. That made me a bit angry, but I relaxed after a bit. She was warm, happy, calm, not so confused or stressed anymore. That's all I could ever ask for. Hopefully, it'd stay like this for just a little bit longer. Gods... my deal with Khione. It's a trap... I know. But I have no choice. I must do her bidding now. When everything goes wrong, and it will, I'll fix it. I'll fix it or I'll die trying.