Owen woke with a small start as he tried to remember where he was. He sure as hell wasn't in his bed in his camper van, that was for sure. It looked more like he was in a military style truck. He groaned as it all came back to him and he realized that all of it had been real- the dinosaurs, the volcano erupting, saving Claire and Franklin from drowning in the Gyrosphere, watching Blue get shot. It had all been real and not a nightmare. He looked down and saw a small, pale hand pushed inside his shirt and resting against his chest. His eyes glanced over and saw Claire resting her head against his shoulder, claiming him as her own personal pillow. He smirked. She may seem indifferent to him when she's awake, but she literally couldn't seem to keep her hands off him when she was asleep. He supposed that he should have woken her up, or at the very least tried to move away. They were broken up and on a dangerous mission to try and save dinosaurs, they didn't need old feelings getting in the way. And yet… Owen couldn't help but revel in the feel of her pressed against him, hand over his heart. He'd really missed this about their break-up a year ago. He missed the closeness and the feeling that she was there. Carefully so as not to wake her, he tilted his head closer to her and smelled her hair. He smiled as the familiar scent of vanilla flooded his nose. Only Claire Dearing could spend a day running through a god-forsaken jungle for her life during a volcanic eruption and still smell like vanilla. Owen closed his eyes as a rush of memories flooded his brain at the familiar scent. He remembered their first disastrous date, kissing her in the middle of the Pteradon attack, their first night together, when she moved in with him, and the first time they said those three little words. The last memory lingered as it played in his mind.
They lay together in bed, panting lightly as their hearts raced from the exertion of their activities. Claire was sprawled against him, one of her hands tracing small patterns around his heart. One of his hands was on her bare back, his fingers ghosting up and down her spine while his other hand played with loose strands of her hair. Neither of them said anything, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. It was an easy and comfortable silence that they often fell into.
"That was pretty great." Claire said softly, breaking the comfortable silence as Owen grunted in agreement. Slowly, Claire lifted her head and looked him in the eyes. Owen arched an eyebrow in question but decided not to say anything as her lips enveloped his own. Unlike their last kisses, this one was slow and sweet. It was almost lazy in comparison, but it still sent a warm and fuzzy feeling through Owen as he reciprocated in kind. Pulling away, Claire raised her hand from his chest and gently ran her fingertips over his cheek. She bit her lip as she watched him, making Owen just a little nervous.
"What's up?" He asked softly.
"Nothing. I just-" Claire stopped short and looked down from Owen.
Using a gentle finger, Owen lifted her chin and made her eyes meet his again. Something was on her mind, and he wanted to know what it was.
"Claire. Tell me," he gently probed, his mind starting to conjure up thoughts of her wanting to leave, realizing that he wasn't good enough for her. In truth, Owen didn't know what he'd do if that was what she was going to tell him. Ever since the Incident at Jurassic World, he'd become more and more settled into his new routine and life with her. It was a sort of stability he'd never really had, nor thought that he'd wanted until she'd become part of his life.
"I think I love you," she whispered. It was so quiet that Owen almost thought he'd misheard her. When he realized that he hadn't misheard her, and the gravity of her words sunk into his brain, everything seemed to shut down in shock. He was rendered completely without speech or thought. All he could do was just stare mutely at her.
"Say something," Claire quietly begged as she felt her confidence slipping away. Doubt filled her as the silence wore on between them.
Using the hand that was still in her hair, Owen pulled her down into another passionate kiss. Pulling away before it got too heated, Owen smiled and leaned his forehead against hers.
"I love you too," he replied. They both smiled and shared another slow kiss before Claire laid back down on the mattress, Owens arms wrapped securely around her and her head fitting nicely just below his chin. The comfortable silence they'd had before comes back, and it is only a short while before Owen feels her breaths even out against his chest as she started to crash into sleep. Tired as he was, Owen stayed awake just a little longer. The warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest was burning hotter and fuzzier from Claire's admission. Looking down at her sleeping form, he smelled her vanilla-scented hair and smiled. He would never get tired of that smell.
The memory faded as Owen lifted his nose from Claire's hair. Less than a moment later, she started to stir. Panicking, and not wanting to risk any confrontation with Claire, Owen leaned his head back against the truck, closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. He could still hear and feel every move that Claire made and had to stop himself from protesting when she removed her hand from his chest.
"Hey, we're here," she said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Nevertheless, Owen re-opened his eyes and tried to mentally prepare himself for God-only-knew what would come next. Whatever it was, Owen knew that he would keep Claire safe, or die trying (which, let's be honest, was still an extremely strong possibility at this point).