Claire's Point of View

I waited and waited with Zach and Gray, for Karen and Scott to come and pick the boys up. Gray was asleep on my lap and Zach was looking straight ahead at nothing. I peered out of the corner of my eye, Karen. And following her was Scott. I stood up, waking Gray and snapping Zach out of his dream and brought attention to Karen, who ran over to us. I stood there, watching. Wondering if I would ever have kids to hug and love. Then I spotted Owen. I walked over to an opening in the hall. He walked over to me as well.

I couldn't think of anything to so, so I just asked him a simple question.

"So what do we do now?" I thought on my feet and tried to sound confident. But really, I was nervous about what he was going to say. I had no clue how we would react. Would he push me away and tell me to leave him alone? Would he kiss me again? Or would he just answer with something simple and easy, friend zoning me?

"Probably stick together," then there was a pause. "For survival"

Not the answer I had hoped for. I was waiting for him to reach down and pull me closer to him or interlock his fingers with mine. But I was waiting a long time, because that never happened. We just kept walking out of the hall and into the daylight. I looked up and him and he looked down at me. I was confused. I was scared. I wasn't sure what to think of all this. But before I could think of anything, Owen had his lips on mine yet again. This time the kiss lasted longer and felt softer and more passionate. I was surprised but I went with it. He wrapped his hands around my head and fingered through my red, curly disgusting hair. We both pulled away together. I smiled a small smile.

"Bet you weren't expecting that."

"Nope." And that's all I could think of saying. I was speechless.

"Embarrassed?"

"No, I just... Shocked"

Owen reached down and picked up my hand. We started walking into the sun and towards the docks.

"There is a boat for staff members and their families. Karen and Scott are meeting us there."

"How did you know-" he cut me off.

"I messaged them before they got here. They know everything Claire. So don't worry. But they don't know about the kiss." I laughed.

Owen walked me to the docks and up the ramps leading to the boats. We presented our ID cards and Owen told the guard that Karen and Scott and the kids were joining us. The guard gestured us on the boat and we walked down the large aisles. Owen found some isolated seats next to a window. On the seats were cushions, blankets, and headphones. The windows even had dimming functions. I was so used to spending all my time at my hotel room on the island, I hadn't been on one of the boats in such a long time.

Owen gestured for me to sit down and I did. He followed. We were the first on board and two of the only few. All the other staff had left earlier when they shut down the control centre. I was wondering if Lowery knew about the boat, when I saw him walk down the aisle. He noticed me and winked. I giggled a bit and sensed Owen look at me.

"It's Lowery" Owen looked away from me and towards Lowery. He giggled too.

Owen gestured for Lowery to come sit with us, but Lowery sat at the front with Vivian who turned up a couple of seconds after Lowery. I could see Lowery's lips moving. He asked Vivian what she was doing here. Vivian said she couldn't leave Lowery at the control centre. I stopped watching when I felt Owen's arm wrap around my shoulder. I smiled. I placed my head gently on his shoulder. I closed my eyes slightly and felt Owen kiss me on the head. I thought about what could happen between Owen and myself but all I thought was good things. I didn't think about what could go wrong. I knew something would go wrong. Murphy's law.

I woke up about two hours into the boat trip and felt my stomach turn over. I could feel something coming up my throat. I covered my mouth and ran out to the side of the boat and lost my breakfast into the water below. I closed my eyes and felt the wind through my hair. The next thing i felt was someone's hand on my back and my hair pulled to the side. I looked up to see Owen smiling sympathetically at me. Then it happened again. And again. And again.