Author's Note
Camp NaNoWriMo is officially underway but I still managed to get this done today during some free time. I've been working on it for quite a while. This is the second installment of my Life Versus Living One-Shots and this one is a bit different the rest of this series. It's written in Claire's POV. I wanted to get further inside her head and take the chance to develop some of her background. I have to admit, I had fun with it.
Alright, go onward and enjoy!
Caring
Claire isn't sure when she started to care more. The only person she used to care about was her sister, Karen, but even that was taken away from her.
Karen manifested as a mutant at the age of eight. Claire was six and the only one who witnessed her big sister levitate the T.V. remote from its unreachable falling place between the back of the couch and the wall.
They kept it a secret for two years. Claire didn't understand at the time but Karen said there was a mutant boy in her class who got picked on a lot at school and she didn't want to end up like that. Claire just followed her big sister's lead.
But then Claire fell from a tree. Her leg was broken, she was crying, screaming, in the rain that had started pouring ice cold on their heads. The neighbor who had been watching them, Mrs. Hutchison, needed a cane in order to walk around herself, so there was no way she could get Claire inside.
Karen did the only thing she could do. She used her telekinetic abilities and levitated Claire inside with Mrs. Hutchison watching on in shock.
Claire and Karen were both taken to the hospital, Claire for her leg and slight pneumonia, Karen because she overexerted herself and feinted. While the sisters were preoccupied with getting checked out by the doctors, Mrs. Hutchison pulled their parents aside and told them what she saw.
Mr. and Mrs. Dearing never looked at their oldest daughter the same way ever again.
Professor Xavier's arrival a few months later was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because their parents couldn't handle Karen being a mutant and it kept them from doing something unthinkable. A curse because he took Karen away and Claire couldn't go with her because she isn't a mutant.
Claire missed her sister terribly. Sure, there were phone calls and emails, even visits for the holidays, but their parents made the visits stilted at best and the calls and emails could never be long enough. It felt more like Karen was her best friend who came over for a sleepover every once in a while, not her sister. Claire may as well have been an only child growing up, especially since their parents did all that they could to ignore Karen ever existed at all.
Claire never forgave them. To this day, she hasn't spoken to her parents in years.
So she's learned to depend on herself and no one else. She has a mask that's developed from pretending that everything's okay in front of her parents and a steel will that no one can bend. It's what kept them from completely separating the two sisters, but their relationship was still damaged, never fully returning to the closeness it once was.
Claire promised herself that she wouldn't care about anything or anyone else ever again so no one could take them from her. She's tired of losing things and was determined to never do so again.
The island only made it easier. It's easy to forget that there's anything outside of Isla Nublar. It's practically a self-contained ecosystem with the occasional supplies coming from the mainland, and the tourists have only ever been numbers to her. She has few friends, has had even fewer romantic partners, and even though Karen and Claire are older now, their parents no longer capable of keeping the "perfect" daughter away from the mutant, the island makes it easy for Claire to still keep distance between them, old habits developed over years proving hard to break.
She has nothing to lose if she doesn't have anything to lose, right? She has her career, she prides herself on what she's accomplished, on the ladders she's climbed and the competitors she's squashed down with her high heels, but careers are replaceable. Expendable. It's never been her job she's afraid of losing.
But things are changed now. Claire isn't sure when it started, when her mask began to crack.
If she were to guess, though, she'd say it has something to do with Liv.
Claire tried to keep her distance at first. Children tend to be annoying miscreants in her experience but Liv proved to be…different. She's kind and polite and doesn't get into trouble. Her manners are impeccable and, despite Claire's best efforts, she finds herself liking the girl. Claire always knew there was something special about her, and it's not just because she's a mutant, still believes that even after finding out the truth.
She watched from afar, made sure Liv had everything she needed. She assigned Hamada with the task of keeping Liv's ATV fueled and ready to go each time she returned, a task he happily completed and with far more diligence than was strictly necessary. She made sure Liv was kept safe during her outings out into the Valley that Liv thinks she doesn't know about.
But in the end, she kept her distance too much. In her effort to keep herself from getting hurt for caring, Liv was the one who ended up hurt. Failing to notice what Vic had been doing to her will forever be one of Claire's deepest regrets.
And then there's Owen Grady.
She wasn't so sure about him at first. He wasn't someone she hired, his job is entirely managed by Masrani Global and InGen, having nothing to do with the actual park, but she was told he is the best at what he does. Their paths didn't really cross all that much, but she did notice how Liv took to him, spending almost all her spare time with him at the Research Center. Liv never really connected to any of the other park employees before, at least, not like this, so Claire started to pay him a bit more attention.
He's handsome, sure, and he can be charming when he wants to be. Too bad she found him insufferable most of the time though, especially after the failed date. He's cocky and sarcastic and practically the complete opposite of her.
Who in their right mind would wear board shorts to a date? Seriously.
But then the Incident happened. The Indominus got out, leading to so many lives being taken, the possibility of the park getting shut down, and her job is on the line. She almost lost her nephews.
And there was also that kiss.
She's had to rethink things. Like whether or not that date was actually self-sabotage. Like if keeping her sister at arm's-length, and her nephews as well, was actually the right decision or not. Like if striving not to care so that she doesn't lose is really the right way to live.
For once in her life, Claire Dearing admits that she's wrong. She's been so, so wrong about so many things, so she decides to spend the next few months working to make things right.
She starts with taking care of her nephews and reconnecting with her sister. As investigations into the park are taking place, everyone who had been there are forced to stay on the mainland for a few days so that investigators can conduct interviews. Masrani Global puts everyone up in a hotel, all expenses paid, for what turns out to be only a small part of the compensation the company pays the Jurassic World victims. Zach and Gray get a suite with their parents and Claire takes one right next to theirs, spending as much time with them as possible to start to make up for all the time they've lost.
It doesn't seem like enough, doesn't ever seem like it'll be enough, to make up for everything Claire has put her family through. She's the reason those boys were on the island and it's her fault they had even crossed paths with the Indominus, but it is a start.
Because now that she's spent time with her nephews, after being faced with the possibility of never seeing them again, she's afraid to lose them. She's afraid that Karen won't trust her with them ever again. She wants to spend more time with them, time that doesn't involve running for their lives. She wants to get to know them.
She wants to be the kind of person they could be proud to call their aunt.
But her nephews aren't the only people she's afraid of losing. She's afraid that if the park closes, if all the employees are forced to part ways, she'll never see Owen or Liv ever again. Yes, Owen said they should stick together for survival, but that promise seems...fragile to Claire. Their relationship, if that's really where they're headed, is still too new. If they're forced to look for new jobs, who's to say they'll end up in the same city, or even the same state?
The island is the only thing keeping them together, or at least it's the strongest connection they have, and she's afraid of losing it.
Claire is just glad that she manages to help Liv, to get her away from her mother and help Owen adopt her. At least Liv will have Owen.
At least Claire did something right.
But there are so many other fears surrounding her, filling up her chest until it feels like she's drowning, and it all comes from caring again. Why does caring have to hurt so much? She feels like it'll kill her, and yet not caring would kill her, too. In any case, it's too late to go back now, so the only thing left to her is to try and hold on to what she can, starting with Isla Nublar and Jurassic World.
Beating down InGen is simple enough, especially with the Indominus Rex file. Masrani Global is more than happy to cut ties after finding out just how much their fault the Incident really is.
It's getting permission to reopen the park that's proving to be the hard part.
People are scared. Claire can understand that, but they're scared of what ifs and could bes, things that are very unlikely of ever happening. They're afraid of more dinosaurs getting out, but what happened with the Indominus was an isolated incident. None of the other dinosaurs have ever actively tried to get out before, they've never shown a desire to, not even the T-Rex. The public is afraid that other freak accidents could cause them to break loose while Masrani Global is afraid that what happened with the Indominus isn't as isolated as the workers of Jurassic World believe it to be.
Claire does all that she can to convince them that they're wrong, and Claire Dearing has always been very convincing.
It takes a lot of reassurances, a lot of hand holding and promises of better security and contaminants. Promising to never make anymore hybrids, which is something she wasn't planning on ever encouraging the scientists to do ever again. Maybe Masrani Global will change their stance on hybrids one day, maybe they'll want to try again but do it better, safer, not make the same mistakes. However, Claire will always be there to step in their way, even if it is the new head of Masrani Global himself.
She'll make the park safe again. There are other ways to wow people and draw them to the park, less dangerous ways.
And after meeting after interview after phone call after email, she finally gets the go-ahead to set things in motion. The very first thing she does is call for a press conference before anyone can change their minds, setting it up to be held on the mainland in three days.
Jurassic World will reopen by the end of the year, stronger and better than ever.
There are a million and one things that need to be done in the meantime. They have to get their new security teams ready, upgrade all the containment facilities, repopulate the Pterosaur cage, not to mention come up with a new attraction and new, lower ticket prices in order to entice people to come back.
But that's all for later. Right now, Claire just wants to go home.
Claire shuts down her computer, slips her phone and tablet into her purse, and then leaves her office with a tired sigh. It's been a long couple of weeks. Month? Months? Has it really been long enough to say months? It seems like it's always been like this, fighting for the park to reopen, and now that she's won, now that the masses and the corporate big heads have declared her the victor, it feels like she's waiting for the other shoe to drop and she'll get shoved right back into the fight again.
Not everyone is going to be happy that the park is reopening. Claire just hopes she can prove them wrong.
Claire exits the building, slips into her car, and drives off down the service road almost on autopilot. It's hard to shut her brain off after a day like today, but a part of her actually wants to unwind, too. Today was a good day. She got what she's been working towards for a long time. A night like this deserves a reward, a celebration, so she takes a turn-off and goes to The Watering Hole to grab herself a nice, juicy burger, something she doesn't allow herself to indulge in very often.
As she's waiting in line, looking over the menu displayed on the upper wall behind the register, she starts wondering what she should pick up for Owen and Liv. She blinks at herself in surprise. The thought didn't even consciously enter her mind. She never even decided that she was going to see them tonight. They don't have plans or anything. Her mind just automatically went there, like it's natural.
Since when has thinking of Owen and Liv, along with herself, been natural?
She steps up to the counter and orders herself a hamburger, Owen a double burger with bacon, and Liv some chicken strips with BBQ sauce.
It doesn't matter. None of it matters anymore. When she started caring, when she started considering them in her everyday life, it just doesn't matter. Things are different now. They matter to her. And she decides that that's okay.
She cares about them and that's okay.
She wants them to be a part of her life. Yes, it's a risk, but having them doesn't mean she's going to lose them. That's not a certainty. And even if it does happen? That'll be okay, too, because if she's learned anything from the Incident, it's that she has no real control over life, her own or anyone else's. Another Incident could happen. The raptors could turn on them one day while they're in the paddock, since keeping Liv and Owen out of that paddock is almost an impossibility now. They could die in a car crash. They could be taken at any time and there's no way of knowing when.
She thought the Indominus was going to kill her nephews without her spending hardly any time with them, without getting to know them.
She would have regretted it for the rest of her life.
With that realization came another. There are worse things than losing. Keeping something from herself because she's afraid of losing it only to miss any and all opportunity of ever having it, that is worse. She almost missed her chance with her nephews.
She's not making the same mistake with Owen and Liv.
By the time she parks her car in front of the bungalow the sun has drifted below the trees, casting the forest in dreamy shadow. The bungalow has come a long way, almost doubling in size with the new additions of Liv's bedroom and the additional bathroom. Owen had no shortage of people to help with the renovations, everyone wanting to give a hand in making Liv's new home safe and comfortable. So many people on this island care about that girl and are now able to show it without Vic looming over everyone. There's also probably no small amount of guilt, guilt at never realizing what Vic had been doing to her all that time, but that guilt is overshadowed by the love and affection poured into this house.
Though Claire has often wondered why they've bothered in the first place. There was never any guarantee that they'd all get to stay on Isla Nublar. Sure, having a stable home for Liv was one of the conditions for Owen to adopt her, but they could have stayed in the hotel just like Liv was doing with Vic before, at least until they knew for sure the island was saved. But they still went ahead with the reconstruction.
Was there ever any doubt in their minds that the island wouldn't be saved?
Claire hooks her purse on one shoulder, gathers up the bags of food, and climbs out of her car, closing it with her hip. She looks down at her full hands uncertainly as she approaches the door of the trailer, wondering how she's going to knock, but then the door opens without prompting, Liv filling the doorway.
"Hey, Claire," Liv says with a smile, wearing one of the new shirts Claire bought her. Liv didn't have that many clothes, neither of her parents took to time to take her shopping very often. Claire helped Owen make sure that changed. "I thought that was you I felt coming. What are you doing here?"
Claire holds up the bags. "I come bearing food from The Watering Hole. You hungry?"
Liv grins, backing away to hold the door open for her to enter. "Always."
Claire smiles back, stepping inside to the dining area and heading left towards the kitchen. She sets the bags down on the counter and reaches up into the cupboards, pulling out three plates without thinking about it. This feels normal to her. Comfortable. Natural. She didn't even need to ask where the plates were; she already knew. She knows where the drinks are, too, pulling out two bottles of soda and one bottle of water from the fridge where she knew they'd be. Liv steps up beside her, helping to unload the food from the bags onto the plates and together they set the table.
It's almost like a family. She told her sister not so long ago that she wasn't interested in having a family of her own, but Claire is starting to feel a contentment in this place, with these people, that she never thought she'd ever experience, at least, not from something like family. She thought her job would be enough to satisfy her, but having Owen and Liv in her life is filling a void she never even knew was there.
"Claire, hi," Owen says behind her, pleasant surprise coloring his voice. Fighting a smile off her face, Claire turns to face him, her hands gripping the back of the chair behind her to steady them. He's wearing a close-fitting t-shirt and yet another pair of shorts, his hair wet from his shower. Her stomach twists in knots and he smirks, like he knows somehow, and she knows his mind is going to certain places as his eyes travel up and down her body. Her stomach twists even tighter.
She does not deserve this, not after everything that's happened, not after everything she's done. But she doesn't want to be anywhere else. She can't deny herself this and she doesn't want to.
"Please stop the weird flirting with your eyes thing," Liv says with a roll of her eyes, half whining, half joking. "It's creepy."
"Aww, don't be jealous, Liv," Owen says, walking over to wrap his arm around Liv's shoulders, throwing Claire a wink. "You know you're still my best girl."
Liv laughs, shoving him away playfully and taking a seat in front of her food at the table. "Even better than Blue?"
"Of course," Owen says, sitting next to her.
Claire takes the seat on his other side. "You better not let Blue hear you say that. Wouldn't want you to lose a hand the next time you set foot in the paddock."
"I'll keep that in mind," Owen chuckles, but then his eyes search hers questioningly.
Claire takes his hand beneath the table and squeezes. She knows they're only joking, but she also knows they're only partially joking. Liv will always be first in Owen's life now. Any decision he makes, especially when it comes to relationships, will be made with her in mind. That includes his relationship with Claire.
She's not jealous of it, or offended, or threatened. How he takes care of Liv, how he puts her first, how he loves her so completely like she really is his own daughter, it's one of the things Claire loves about him.
"So," Claire says, letting go of Owen's hand to unwrap her burger, "the reason I came over is-"
"You mean there's another reason besides food?" Owen asks, already taking a big bite out of his burger monstrosity.
She shakes her head. "Yes, Owen, there's another reason besides feeding that unfillable stomach of yours. I came over because I have some news."
"What kind of news?" Liv asks, chewing a fry with trepidation. She's already guessing what Claire has to talk about.
But it isn't the bad news she's fearing.
"Today I got the final answer on whether or not we're reopening the park," Claire begins, using her mask to school her features as she pauses, taking a drink from her water bottle.
"Well?" Owen asks expectantly. "What did they say?"
She smirks triumphantly. "Jurassic World is back in business."
"Yes!" Liv cheers, relief and happiness almost propelling her out of her seat. "The island is saved! We don't have to leave!"
"That is definitely some good news," Owen says with a relieved sigh of his own. "I'm not sure what Social Services would have thought of me losing my job so soon into this."
None of them know what to say to that. Really, they were very lucky Social Services agreed to allow Owen to adopt Liv, especially considering where he lives. It was certainly difficult convincing them to allow her to live on an island full of dinosaurs after the Incident. The only reason they agreed to it at all is because she had already been doing it for years and the familiar setting is a nice stabilizer for the transition.
Not that Liv needed it, but still. It was nice that they had that little bit on their side at least. But if Owen had lost his job, Social Services could very well have taken Liv from him.
They don't need to worry about that anymore, though. The park is saved, along with the dinosaurs. Right now, they just need to focus on moving forward.
Claire stays far later than she originally planned on, curling up with Liv and Owen on the couch for a movie. It's nice to just unwind for once. She usually doesn't have the time for it, bringing work home with her to her suite at the hotel. But Owen declares this a work-free night and forces her to stay. Claire tries to protest but then Liv pivots herself where she sits between them on the couch, lying down with her feet in Owen's lap and her head in Claire's lap.
Claire freezes for a second but then just lets go, sagging against the couch cushions and running her fingers through Liv's long brown hair. She uses her fingernails against Liv's scalp, scratching gently, and Liv practically purrs in her lap. She can't help but smile at that. Liv used to shy away from physical touch, it used to scare her, but really she must be touched starved by the way she's acting now.
Happy to oblige, Claire never stops moving her fingers through Liv's hair all throughout the movie.
"Is Liv asleep?" Owen whispers when the credits begin to roll across the screen.
Claire looks down at her lap and, sure enough, Liv's eyes are closed and she's breathing deep and even, her mouth slightly open. "Yeah, she is," she answers just as quietly.
"How long has she been asleep for?" Owen asks, slowly easing Liv's feet off his lap so he can stand.
"I don't know. I didn't even notice she was asleep until you said something."
"Let's try not to wake her." Owen gently picks Liv up in his arms, jostling her as little as possible so as not to wake her. Claire supports Liv's head, following until it can roll against Owen's shoulder. "It's been a rough couple of nights."
Brow furrowed in worry, she silently follows Owen to the new room attached to the wooden structure that makes up his living room, opening the door for him. Liv's bedroom is fairly plain right now, the walls are wooden like the living room without anything covering them and there's just a simple queen sized bed, a dresser, and desk, but there are a few personal touches of Liv. There's the blue bedding with white swirls, dark blue curtains covering the two windows, a framed picture of Liv and Owen together up on the catwalk of the raptor paddock, a couple of books sitting on the desk. Nothing much beyond that, Liv brought a depressing number of personal things back from her mother's apartment, but it'll get there.
One day.
Claire pulls back the covers and Owen carefully places Liv on the bed, the both of them tucking her in together. Thankfully, Liv was already wearing a pair of yoga pants and tank top so she should be fairly comfortable. Owen bends over, pressing a loving kiss on Liv's forehead, and then they leave her to sleep.
"Is she having nightmares again?" Claire asks once the door is softly closed.
Owen drags a tired hand over his face, plopping down on the couch again. "Yeah, she is."
Claire sits down next to him, concern tightening her chest. "I thought she was getting better?"
"She was, but then we were watching T.V. the other day. She was channel surfing and then stopped on a news station that caught her eye. They were doing another story on the Incident, talking about all the people lost, the tourists, but then they talked about the employees who were killed."
Claire's frown deepens. "They talked about Vic, didn't they."
"Yeah, they did," Owen says, a dark edge to his voice, hands clenching into fists on this lap. "They talked about how he was such a loss for InGen, how he was a good man, a hard worker, and would be missed. They painted him as a freaking martyr!"
Clair places a calming hand on his forearm, reminding him with her eyes that he needs to keep it down.
"Sorry," he mumbles quietly, hands loosening enough so she can weave her fingers together with his.
"It's okay. But the things they said on the news really aren't all that surprising." He opens his mouth to retort, probably loudly again by the looks of it, but she holds up her other hand to cut him off. "No, listen. We never got the chance to file the child abuse charges. As far as anyone else is aware besides the three of us and Liv's social worker, Vic Hoskins never did anything wrong."
Owen glares at her for a solid minute but eventually deflates with a heavy sigh. "You're right. I know that. But you should have seen her, Claire. They showed pictures and video clips of him and it tore her up, seeing and hearing him again. She won't talk about her nightmares much but as far as I can tell she keeps dreaming of Vic coming back and taking her away."
Claire feels herself coil up like a snake on the inside at the thought. If Vic were still alive, he could have tried to take Liv away but he would have failed. She would have made sure of it. But Vic isn't alive, he's gone now, but he's still terrorizing Liv in her dreams. There's nothing Claire can do about that, nothing her stubbornness or corporate skills will be able to fix. But perhaps there's something else she can fix. She leans over to her purse sitting on the floor at the end of the couch and pulls out her phone, making a note in her calendar.
"I'll make some calls tomorrow," she says, partly distracted as she's already formulating a battle plan in her head. "Both to InGen and to the media. It shouldn't take much to convince them not to run any more stories on Vic. There are surely more than enough people for them to immortalize in the news."
She won't let them make that girl suffer any more than she already has.
Owen suddenly puts his hand over hers, covering her phone, and she looks up in time for his lips to press against hers. She doesn't react immediately, too startled to move. It's the first kiss they've shared since coming back to the island, but it doesn't take her long to catch up, grabbing a fistfull of Owen's shirt and tugging him closer, losing herself in him.
And to think she almost let herself miss this because of a pair of boardshorts.
"You're amazing, you know that?" Owen says when he finally pulls away, breathing the words against her skin.
She smirks, brushing her lips against his. "I've been told that a time or two, yes."
He kisses her again, slow and deep. "Thank you."
She tilts her head curiously. "For what?"
"For helping to take care of Liv."
She grins. "You don't need to thank me for that."
They make out on the couch like a couple of teenagers for a long time but Claire can't seem to make herself care. It's been a long time since she's felt like this, this light, this happy. Like she doesn't have to take on the world alone. A part of her wonders if she's ever actually felt like this before at all, but then Owen slips his tongue in her mouth and her ability to think goes right out the window.
"Stay the night," Owen says sometime later, when they're breathing has turned heavy, limbs tangled together, and they fell sideways on the couch at some point. His tone and smile are all playful cockiness but there's a vulnerability in his eyes that Claire has only ever seen when he was worried he wouldn't be able to get Liv away from Vic.
"Owen, I don't want to take this too fast," Claire says, knowing her own vulnerability is leaking out but there's nothing she can do to stop it. "You and Liv are too important to me. I don't want to mess this up like..."
Like how she always messes her relationships up. Every time, without fail, she always does something to push the guy away, but she doesn't want to do that this time. Especially not this time.
"No, I know," Owen says, brushing her hair away from her face. "I don't want to go too fast and mess this up either, especially with Liv in the picture now. I'm not asking you to sleep with me, Claire." She arches a disbelieving brow at him and he corrects himself quickly. "Not like that. At least, not yet anyway. Look, I'm just asking you to sleep with me in the most innocent sense of the word." He rubs his thumb under one of her eyes, no doubt wiping away some of the remaining makeup covering the dark shadows there. "I know you're not sleeping very well either."
She plays with the collar of his shirt, unable to meet his eyes. "You too?"
"Yeah, me too." He brushes a kiss to her forehead. "You don't have to do this alone, you know. It's okay to ask for help."
Yeah, she does know that, but asking for help has never been one of Claire's strong suits, neither has admitting to a weakness. This time, though, she is too tired to fight. She is so, so tired. The last good night sleep she's had was probably back at the hotel on the mainland, the last time she spent the night in Owen's and Liv's room. She's tried to face the nightmares on her own since coming back to the island, but maybe Owen is right. Maybe asking for help isn't such a bad thing.
That's one of the things people do in a relationship, after all. They lean on each other, support each other, and it's something Claire is going to have to learn to do if she wants this thing with Owen to work.
"Okay," she says softly. "I'll stay."
He lets out a relieved sigh, like he had been truly fearing she would say no, and she knows she made the right decision. He then pulls her from the couch, leading her through the trailer back to his bedroom. He rifles through his drawers, handing her a t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts for her to wear to bed, and she changes in the bathroom. By the time she reenters the bedroom he's wearing just a t-shirt and boxer shorts himself, turning down the covers of the bed. He smiles when he sees her, eyes roaming over her in a way that makes her blush.
"You look really good in my clothes," he says, voice full of appreciation.
Claire tugs at the neck of her shirt self-consciously, where its hanging off of hers shoulder slightly. She never quite realized how broad Owen's shoulders are until now. "Thank you."
They climb into bed, Owen yanking the covers over them, and there's a few minutes of awkward shifting until they find something that's comfortable for them both, Claire laying on her left side, Owen spooning her from behind with his arms wrapped around her. She lets out a contented sigh, her eyelids slipping shut, feeling safe and warm.
She falls asleep faster than she has in a long time.
Too bad it doesn't last.
Teeth and roars are just starting to surround her when Claire is awakened by a piercing scream. Her eyes fly open, heart racing as it takes her a second to remember where she is. That's right. Owen's bungalow. She's safe here. Nothing is going to get her here.
But then she hears that scream again, a scream she thought had been a part of her dream, and Owen jerks awake behind her, not even hesitating before he's darting out of the room. She scrambles to get up, the covers twisting in her legs, and she rushes after him, finding him in Liv's room.
Liv is shaking and sobbing on her bed, Owen holding her tightly in his arms making soothing sounds in her ear, and it's obvious what happened.
Claire climbs on the bed behind Liv, stroking the girl's hair gently, wanting to help but unsure what else to do.
Liv startles a little, looking back at Claire over her shoulder. The room is dark, none of them bothered to turn on the lights, but there is still enough moonlight peeking through the crack in the curtains to make out Liv's tear-stained face. "C-Claire?" Liv asks quietly, sounding far more frightened than she ever did during the Incident.
"Yeah, sweety, it's me," Claire says, shooting her a reassuring smile. "It's alright. You're safe here."
The words don't seem to calm her like Claire hoped they would. Instead, Liv just cries harder, letting out on broken sobs, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," over and over again.
"Oh, no, no, sweety," Claire soothes, understanding what Liv must assume, that Claire had stayed the night, probably for not-so-innocent reasons, and Liv disturbed them with her nightmare. Claire meets Owen's eye over Liv's head, holding out her hands and asking a question silently. After a moment of hesitation he nods, passing Liv over to Claire. Clare gathers the girl up in her arms, using a hand on the back of her head to tuck Liv's face into the crook of her neck. "It's alright, Liv, you didn't do anything wrong. There's nothing for you to apologize for. If anything, I should be thanking you. You woke me up from my own nightmare."
Liv sniffles loudly, wiping at her face with the side of her hand so she can look up at Claire. "R-Really?"
Something inside Claire breaks a little at the sound of her voice, and at her question. How many times did her birth parents make her feel this small? How many times did they lie to her? Claire holds her closer. "Yeah. Yeah, you did, so thank you."
Liv doesn't say anything to that, just wraps her arms around Claire's waist and holds on with a death grip, burying her face in Claire's shoulder. Claire grabs Owens' arm, tugging him closer until he wraps his arms around both of them, surrounding Liv in a cocoon of warmth and comfort.
When Liv's crying finally settles down, Claire and Owen both lead Liv back to Owen's bedroom, tucking Liv in between the two of them on the bed. Owen lies on his back, Liv pressed to his side with her head on his chest, and Claire spoons her from behind, scooting up so she can rest her head on Owen's shoulder. Claire wraps herself around Liv and Owen wraps his arm around them both.
Liv lays her hand on Owen's chest, fingers clutching at his shirt like she's afraid he'll disappear. Claire rests her hand on Liv's, determined to make sure Liv knows that she is here for her if she needs her. Claire won't let go. She won't let go of either of them.
Author's Note
So, how do you like my Claire? I hope I did her justice. I definitely liked showing she has a fluffy side. :)
The next one-shot will be back to Liv's POV and will probably feature the return of Zach and Gray.
Hope you enjoyed, PLEASE REVIEW, and see you all next time!