And here's chapter 14~

weeee~~~~

:D

Chapter 14

Jarred sat at the steps of the Ares cabin. It was free period and his depression always seemed to get worse around this time. Alice had begun to avoid him and spent more time with Jake. Jarred was getting short with his brother and her more and more.

"Hey Warhead. What's the matter?"

He looked up to see who was talking to him.

Standing in front of him was Natalie Jacobs, a daughter of Demeter. For the past two weeks they had become good friends and she had started calling him Warhead. She wore the camp shirt with the sleeves rolled up and jean shorts.

"Oh hey Nate." He gave a small smile.

Nate sat beside him. "Come on. What's on your mind?"

Jarred sighed. "I think Alice is going to dump me for Jake. They keep avoiding me and they're usually always seen together."

Nate kept quiet. "The others tell me that they've seen her around the Hephaestus Cabin too. And when I saw her these past few days, she looked very tired and twitchy."

"Really?" He stared at her confused.

"Yeah."

Jarred sighed. "I'm so confused. I don't get why they won't tell me what's going on! I deserve to know don't I?" He looked at the girl next to him. Her light eyes stood out against her dark skin and hair.

Nate smiled kindly at him. "Yes i know you do." she said. "Calm down Warhead. Throwing a tantrum isn't going to help things."

"I'm not throwing a tantrum." He spat at her. Natalie had learned to live with the boy's short temper, though she didn't approve of him snapping at her.

Nate just raised her eyebrow as she stared at the boy.

Jarred sighed looking away. "I'm just irritated."

"I know." she replied. They were quiet for a while before she spoke again. "Hey, i heard that the Aphrodite is hosting a party in tomorrow night. They got special permission from Chiron and everything. Let's go what do you say?"

He thought for a small moment. "Yeah, why not."

Nate smiled at him. "Great. What do you want to do now?"

He shrugged and stood up. "No clue."

Nate stood up with him and stretched. "Well how's about we-" Nate stopped mid-sentence as she stared at something in front of her.

"What?" He followed her gaze and what he saw made him freeze.

Walking in front of the cabin was Alice. What Nate told him was right. Alice looked exhausted and her hand was twitching every few seconds. She really didn't notice them as she headed towards the Hephaestus cabin.

He trotted over to her. "Alice are you okay?"

Alice jumped and turned to face him. "Uh…yeah. I'm fine. Just tired." she said as she shot a glance towards the Hephaestus cabin. She seemed nervous around him.

He felt sadness wash over him. "You should get some rest. Every time I see you, you look beaten and tired."

"I'm fine." She gave Jarred a small smile. "But I'll get some rest tonight I promise. I gotta go." she said before jogging over to the Hephaestus cabin.

He was about to say something but she was already gone. That's what usually happened, they spent about five minutes together, and it was spent on conversations like that.

Nate walked up behind him and patted his shoulder. "It's alright Jarred."

Jarred let out a heavy sigh. "No, it's really not."

Nate sighed. "Let's go to the arena. Vent your emotions out on the straw dummies."

He shook his head. "No thanks, not right now." With that he walked towards the woods, leaving Nate to watch him walk away, shocked that he didn't want to fight.

"Jarred?" twin voices sounded.

He stopped and turned to the two little boys. His eyes grew soft. "Yeah?"

"Want to go to the lake with us?" the twins said, their eyes showing worry for the older boy.

Jarred hesitated before answering. "Sure."

The twins perked up before pulling Jarred towards the lake. Campers dotted the shore here and there and Jarred could see some Aphrodite kids on blankets.

He felt his face get slightly warm but pushed it away as he followed the twins.

"Daddy? Are you okay?" the twins whispered.

"I'm fine." He gave them a reassuring smile.

The twins exchanged glances as they led Jarred to a blanket in one of the shaded part of the Lake. Jarred realized with a jolt that this was the place where he and Alice fell asleep together with the twins.

Pain came to his eyes. He kept thinking how much she avoided him and spent time with his older brother. 'Does she really want to leave me for Jake? Why can't she just tell me instead of letting me suffer?'

"Daddy? Are you okay?" The twins asked again, seeing the emotion in Jarred's eyes.

"Guys trust me I'm fine, don't worry about me." He ruffled their hair. "Go on and swim okay?"

The twins nodded reluctantly as they took off their shirts and headgear. After one last glance at Jarred, they jumped in the lake.

Jarred sat criss-cross on the blanket watching them. His mind kept falling to Alice. It was a mix of happiness and pain to think about her at the moment.

"I knew I'd find you here."

"I came here to watch the twins." He said flatly, not looking up at Arcus.

The older boy sighed as he sat down beside Jarred. The two were silent for a while as they watched the twins splashing in the water. "She loves you you know." Arcus suddenly said.

He didn't meet Arcus' eyes as he looked down. His raven colored hair falling in his eyes. "Then why is she acting as if I don't exist? She never talks to me, I have to talk to her and they're just a simple conversation, as soon as it's done she's off again somewhere."

"I know Alice. If she's doing that then there's a good reason." Arcus said. "Alice is known for her loyalty despite being a daughter of Apollo. She's the most loyal Apollo kid anyone's ever met."

Jarred sighed. "I wish I knew that reason!" He could feel his patience growing shorter.

"Calm down Jarred." The older boy said. "Knowing she, she'll tell you soon. If only you could see her at the cabin. She's all twitchy and she keeps looking towards your cabin."

He looked up out towards the lake but said nothing, processing everything Arcus had said.

"I better go. The Apollo cabin is the one who's going to play at the party tomorrow night. You are coming aren't you?" Arcus said as he stood up.

"Yeah, Natalie invited me."

"Natalie? Oh that Demeter kid."

"What's that suppose to mean?" He snapped but then calmed himself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap."

"It's alright and I meant nothing. Natalie's brother is a great friend of mine." Arcus said calmly. "I better go." he then turned around and walked away.

Jarred groaned and laid down on his back. This is so confusing... For once, he wished for his conscience to come bug him, telling him it wasn't as confusing as he thought.

"Jarred." two identical voices whispered.

He sat up. "What is it?" He looked at the two twins.

The twins put their fingers to their mouths indicating him to be quiet. They were still a bit wet so water dripped down their hair.

Jarred furrowed his eye brows together, showing his confusion.

The twins then pointed to something a few feet away from them. A small figure was sleeping soundly in a sun patch to Jarred's far right. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that it was Alice.

He gave them a smile. "Thanks guys." He ruffled their hair. "Go on and play some more 'kay?"

When the twins had gone he went over to Alice and sat down next to her.

Alice was sound asleep as she curled up on the blanket. Jarred could see traces of exhaustion on her face and her hands were wrapped in bandages. There was a strip of white band-aid across her cheek indicating that there was a cut underneath it.

He gently touched her cheek, hoping he wouldn't wake her up. Alice murmured in her sleep but otherwise, didn't awake.

Jarred smiled to himself softly, but soon sadness swept over him again as he carefully pulled her into his lap. As if sensing him, Alice automatically curled up against him murmuring quietly.

He took one of her bandaged hands carefully. 'Alice, what have you been doing?'

"Jarred..." Alice murmured in her sleep. She curled up tighter against Jarred, resting her head in the crook of his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. 'Now's not the time to ask her.'

They stayed in that position for a while before Alice shifted, signalling that she was waking up.

"Jarred!" The twins whispered as they waved him over.

He sighed not wanting to go over to the twins. He gave them a look that said 'can it wait?'.

The twins frantically shook their heads then gave a glance at Alice. They gave him a look that said 'It's not time yet.'

Jarred set Alice back onto her blanket gently and went over to the twins, anger clearly showing in his eyes. Seeing the expression in his eyes, the twins squeaked in fear.

He glared at them as he passed by, then his head snapped forward as headed into the woods. I could've actually spent time with her this time, but I guess that's not going to happen.