"You never mentioned how Seattle never met the sun." I announced, walking in the attending lounge to find Cristina and Owen glaring at each other. "Oh… I'm sorry, someone told me Derek was in here an-"
"It's fine," Owen brushed it off, putting some distance between him and Cristina. He started brewing some coffee before looking up, "Do you want some?"
"Stop changing the subject," Cristina spat, her face turning red all over again. I was staring at them both with my mouth agape, frozen in place. Owen shook his head and started humming to a beat of a song I heard him play in the OR last week. "You're such a child, do you know that? I carried this… this thing of yours and-and all of you have to say-"
"Not now, Cristina." Owen hissed, throwing her a look over his shoulder.
I put my hands up in the air nervously, "I should go." Before I made my move to leave, Cristina threw her cup across the room and it slammed a meter away from my face. I exhaled sharply and stood, afraid that if I even consider moving, she'll cut me with a piece of glass. She stormed out of the room and made sure to slam the door hard, making most of the frames shake in place. I remained in my place with my eyebrows glued to my hairline, still confused as to what just happened. Fights were messy and I knew that Owen and Cristina weren't the smoothest couple out there from all I heard but it was normal.
He slammed his cup on the table and shook his head angrily, not knowing what to say. "I'm sorry, I'll clean that up in a second," he silently muttered, walking towards me and examining me. "Are you okay? Did you get hit-"
"I'm fine, Owen. Don't worry about it," He seemed to do the exact opposite of what I advised him to do. He started picking each piece of glass one by one and crushing it in his hand, like the harder he held it, the faster it would disappear. I heard a lot about these two, individually and together, but I never knew how intense their relationship got. I didn't know much about either of them since you never had the chance to even communicate with them. It was truly like they lived in their own world, unaware of anyone else's existence. Cristina had always been like that, which is why Meredith was close friends with her. They were both royally messed up friends. I slowly walked towards Owen, placing my hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "Owen, I can clean everything up."
"It's not your mess to clean up." He spat, picking the pieces even faster than before.
"And it's not yours either," I clarified, sitting down next to him and grabbing his arm to stop him. I grabbed his face and made him look at me. "Listen to me, your hand is bleeding. Go wash it up, let me finish this and then I'll help you stitch it back together. Okay?" his blue eyes were forlorn and filled with hurt. I wasn't used to seeing him so upset over something as dumb as a shattered mug but I knew that it dug deep in his heart. I seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. After a couple of seconds, he nodded his head and walked to the sink, cleaning his hand and wrapping a towel around it to temporarily stop the bleed.
He closed the faucet and spoke quietly, "We weren't always like this, you know? I don't blame her for being so angry. I mean, I would be too if I were in her shoes but she just doesn't understand how frustrated I am with everything! She doesn't understand what it feels like to see everything happen right in front of your eyes and not be capable of stopping it or helping it become any easier. Do you know what's it like to see the person you love most hurt and be powerless?" He whispered as he shuffled across the room, sitting on the couch with his hands on his knees. "She wanted to do something for a while now and I couldn't seem to let her do it. I couldn't let her leave me here, stranded in my emotions without asking about my opinion on it or seeing how I felt about it. i… I gave her the world, Amelia. I gave her the world and more, I gave her as much as I could give and I got nothing in return. We made a life together and… she threw it away so easily. She didn't even bat an eyelash. Do I mean that little to her?"
"Owen…" I said, sitting next to him and holding his hand. "Something must've happened between the two of you and from the looks of it, it seemed pretty big but that doesn't mean she doesn't give a shit about you." He continued looking at the ground, clenching and unclenching his injured hand repeatedly as he got lost in his thoughts. I chuckled lightly and continued, "Us girls, we're known for being complicated and hard. It's true, you know. We expect others to understand how we're feeling without sharing our concerns. Have you voiced your concerns, Owen? Does she know how you feel?"
"I can't tell her, Amelia." His voice shook and he finally met my gaze. His blue eyes were filled with unshed tears, his cheeks had reddened and he bit his lip, as if that small action would prevent the tears from falling. My heart visibly broke for him and for Cristina. For them. "She had an abortion and she was carrying my child. She never wanted children and she told me that so many times but I thought she'd keep our baby. I thought she'd keep our baby and give him away for adoption or let me raise him. I thought she'd give our baby a life but she terminated it so easily. She knew, knows, how much I want children." He roughly wiped a tear that landed on his cheek and exhaled, shaking his head and looking up at the ceiling. "I had it all mapped out, you know? I was born an only child so I always wanted a big family of at least four, didn't matter which sex was a minority and I would make them share bedrooms just to hear them argue all night. I'd be Santa every Christmas, walking around with my big tummy and my long white beard. I'd want to be there for every soccer practice, dance rehearsal, school graduation, date night, prom, marriage, a scrape or a broken hand. My whole life flashed in front of my eyes when she told me. It all came to a screeching halt when she told me that she aborted it two hours ago."
His sobs shook his entire body and he covered his face, embarrassed to be showing so much emotion to some colleague he barely knew. I pulled him towards my embrace and held him for thirty-three minutes. I ran my hands in his hair and it was exactly the way I imagined it would be, his curls instantly wrapped around my finger. My heart broke for him in ways that weren't even explainable and I hated myself for not being capable of healing him and removing his pain. I was a doctor after all, wasn't I? My job was to get rid of pain and to heal people.
He slowly started to pull away after a while, rubbing his eyes and looking at me with the saddest eyes, "I'm sorry, you didn't have to do this. You barely know me and I already burdened you with my problems."
"You did not burden me with anything," I declared, handing him a glass of water. "Hey, are you still up for your offer to take me sightseeing around Seattle? I'm on call so we can't really go anywhere far."
He grinned and stood up, "We'll do just that after you stitch this injured hand of mine."
"Amelia! I found the pretzel place you kept talking about." Owen said as he slammed his tray on the table, earning glares from all the other tired doctors. Derek looked at him and then gave me a look.
"Which one?" After the sightseeing we did of Seattle a few days ago, Owen seemed to warm up to me. He would still avoid or walk away as soon as Cristina was brought up but it was probably because he confessed everything in the midst of being vulnerable and I shouldn't cross the line until he's comfortable enough to talk about it.
"The one downtown. You could've at least told me that it's not entirely a pretzel place and it's more of a pastries place."
"After walking around Seattle for so long, I wanted some pretzels so I had to improvise and say that I read about this pretzel place online! Do you really think I have the time to Yelp things, Owen?" I asked as I gorged my burger, humming happily.
"You wanted to go sightseeing?" Derek asked, bewildered. He turned to Owen and whispered loud enough for me to hear, "You know, when I offered, she turned me down the exact same second."
"That's because you offered to go on a ferry boat ride." I answered, my voice muffled due to the food I was chewing.
"And what's wrong with ferry boat rides?"
"They're no fun! It's exactly like hoping on a plane or driving around town, where's the thrill in that?" Ever since Derek moved to Seattle, all he talked about were those old hideous ferry boats. He developed this odd relationship with them to the extent that even Addison got worried (Addison never worries over Derek's little odd obsessions. You get used to it as time goes on). I mainly declined his offer because I knew that once he gets on that boat, we're never getting off. Meredith once jokingly stated that they spent one of their dates going back and forth on a ferry boat for six hours straight and I've been horrified of getting close to a ferry boat ever since.
"She moaned and whined the entire time! At one point, I seriously wanted to throw her off but being the good friend I am, I was happy to leave you to it." Owen smugly answered, slapping Derek's shoulder with a sly grin on.
"I came here to enjoy my burger and now I feel personally victimized by both of you. I'd hope you'd be on my side, Owen but you're just one of my brother's little whores." I stated, sipping on my juice. Owen shot me a confused look and turned to Derek, hoping to get an explanation out of him. "Oh, you didn't know he had other whores? Sorry to break it to ya."
"Shut it, Amelia." Derek hissed, already mad at the fact that I brought it up. It was a game Mark and I created a long time back and it was the easiest way to scare Derek's annoying girlfriends away. It was also a great method to get Derek slapped hard.
"Amelia? Oh so now we're on a full name basis. What's wrong, brother? Have they stopped paying attention to you?"
Owen, on the other hard, seemed to interpret the situation in a totally different way. "You're cheating on Meredith?" He asked, the shock evident on his face. I choked on my drink and started coughing roughly, not knowing how to react. Maybe this time Derek would get a slap from someone slightly stronger than all his other whores.
"What? No-no! Of course I'm not!" Derek replied, shaking his head furiously and shooting me a glare that could melt brains. "You're only good at ruining things, aren't you?"
"You see," I started, pointing my fork towards Owen to catch his attention. "I don't know what Derek tells his other whores but I'm pretty sure no one's ever stroked his ego as much as you have. Hey Rick, he's a keeper."
Owen immediately understood and chuckled, knowing that this was just a little banter that went on constantly between the two siblings. Derek didn't seem too happy about it though; he quietly continued eating his salad, anger almost pouring out of his ears. It must've been a soft spot that Amelia enjoyed hitting every once in a while. Owen shifted in his seat uncomfortably, wishing he was anywhere but near these two. They were bound to burst any second now but Amelia remained quiet, contently eating her burger and smiling at everyone who passed by. Derek suddenly stood up and looked at Amelia, hissing his next words before storming off, "No wonder why they call you hurricane Amelia."
"Uff, that was rough," I joked, placing my hand on my heart. Owen seemed to ignore what just happened. People were still frozen in their place, shocked to have witnessed precious kind Derek Shepherd's little scene. A doctor, Karev, shouted at the queue to continue moving and that made everyone forget. The cafeteria was filled with noise once again and I exhaled silently.
"Rick?" Owen asked, staring at me. He was trying to get me out of my daze and I appreciated it. Derek probably never introduced me but he might've mentioned that he had a troubled sister with issues yet nobody put it together yet. They didn't call me hurricane Amelia for no reason.
"My niece used to call him that and he absolutely hated it," I answered, playing with the flavored yogurt in my cup. "He said something about it being a cheating businessman name."
"Well then, that definitely changes my view on that name. I'll never call my son Rick anymore."
"Did you like the name?" I asked curiously, taking a mouthful of the yogurt. I made a face the second after I put it in my mouth and shook my head. "This is horrible, how do people eat this?" I asked after swallowing it.
"My grandfather's name was Rick, actually. Hated the guy so it gave me more of a reason to hate the name too." Owen said, pulling the flavored yogurt off of my tray. "Don't insult it, it's too good to be in the hands of someone who looks like she's about to spit it out."
"People turn down fat greasy burgers for that? I'm losing faith in humanity." I smiled, suddenly appreciating his presence a lot more than I did five minutes ago. I didn't like admitting it to anyone but Seattle was a lonely place. I knew people, many people, but I didn't want to bother them and guilt them into hanging out with the new girl who goes home and binge watches tv shows instead of going out and mingling like the rest of them. Owen didn't strike me as the annoying friend who stuck his ass everywhere and always wanted to do something. He constantly pulled me to new restaurants he wanted to try, a movie premiere or even something as silly as a sale at his favorite store. I appreciated it.
"The words fat and greasy threw me off. No wonder why you get so tired after roaming around for fifteen minutes only." He answered nonchalantly, still too busy devouring his beloved flavored yogurt.
"Are you calling me unfit?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him.
He studied my form; "Lazy is a better adjective then."
"Hm, thought so," I winked at him and he chuckled, shaking his head at my idiocy. "When's your shift ending?"
"Around 7. I was thinking we go somewhere a bit different tonight, what do you say?" he asked, placing both elbows on the table as he smiled at me. His eyes had a little twinkle to them and I was oblivious as to what he had planned.
"I finish at 5 so you could tell me where we're going and I could meet you there." I sneakily tried to pull the answer out of his mouth but he only smiled at me, knowing my tactics already.
We walked out of the cafeteria and I looked at Owen, still waiting for an answer. "I'll come and pick you up from Derek's, don't worry about it."
"What if I wasn't going home after my shift?" I stood in front of my patient's room, smiling at him.
"See you later, Amelia!" He shouted as he continued walking towards the ER. Sneaky little bastard had something planned and I knew nothing about it. It occupied my thoughts for the next three hours.
"I need to know what to wear. Where are we going?" I texted Owen as I stood in front of my closet, biting my lip. I had less than an hour to get ready and I didn't have enough time for him to mess with me.
"Just wear something ull be comfortable in" He replied back in less than a minute. Comfortable? That meant we could be going anywhere.
I huffed in annoyance and walked to Meredith's room, knocking twice before barging in. "Mer, Owen said we're going somewhere and he told me to wear something comfortable but I don't know if that meant leggings comfortable or sexy comfortable."
Meredith eyed me suspiciously, "You're going out on a date?"
"Oh no-no, he's been taking me around Seattle and we're going somewhere today but he wouldn't crack and now I don't know what to wear." Meredith was close friends with Cristina and I should've known better than to mention that I was going out with Owen. "Mer-"
"Wear something casual with heels, I guess that'll suffice." She continued reading her book and I decided not to say anything, she was still coping with the death of her sister and the last thing she needed was an angry sister in law. I nodded my head and left the room, preparing myself for the evening.
"A bar?" I asked, shooting Owen a look. It was filled with people and you could feel the good vibes vibrating from the place, I gripped my cardigan and pulled on it, hoping the temptation would subside. Owen knew nothing of my past and he wouldn't have known that it was better if you put me as far away from a bar as possible.
"You don't like it?" His face dropped and he studied the place, trying to see why I didn't want to be here. "We can go, I had a movie I wanted to watch-"
I didn't hear a word he said, temptation was coursing through my veins. Drinks were passed around and stoned people sat in the corner, already in their own happy bubble. I gripped my cardigan so hard; my knuckles were slowly losing color and were turning white. Owen gripped my arm and pulled me outside, he continued asking me questions and I tried to listen but my mind was not with me. I remembered what it felt like to drink, to swallow the bitter alcohol and give it five minutes to boil in my blood and awaken me. I don't know how long we stood there but the first thing I remember hearing is Derek's voice, calling out my name repeatedly and dragging me to the car.
"Did you give her anything to drink?" Derek asked, his voice filled with worry and anger. Why was he worried?
"No! Everything was going great, I just took her in the bar and it's like she went away. I swear to you, Derek we didn't even approach the bar. I pulled her out as soon as I sensed something was wrong and I called you immediately. What's going on?"
"You shouldn't have gotten her here," Derek hissed and turned around, studying me with eyes of pity. Once we arrived home, Derek called Meredith and asked her to watch me closely while he stood outside the house and argued with Owen. Their words were laced with venom and hatred, to think that I was capable of doing all that. I could've ruined a potentially great friendship because I was a hurricane of everything that's bad in the world. Meredith seemed to care less about what happened and continued reading that book of hers, looking at me every once in a while. Derek walked in and guided me back to my room, informing me that he was there and he would always be here. He voiced his concerns and told me to avoid Owen, he told me he'd take me to a meeting tomorrow as soon as possible and he would stand outside and wait for me since it was his day off. I only remember nodding my head and lying down on the bed, not sure how to feel about what happened in the past hour.
This chapter is slightly longer than the others and it's my way of saying thank you to everyone who reads the story and takes the time out of their day to write a review. Thank you very much. Reviews are very much appreciated and i'd love to know what you guys think about this chapter so drop one by!