"Awesome?! You almost broke your neck! How is that awesome?!" Claire questioned. Owen was still holding onto the branches and breathing heavy.
"You do realize you just climbed down a tree, by yourself, faster than I ever could, right?" Owen questioned, a smirk plastered on his face.
As Claire's breathing slowed down, she realized that Owen had a point. She couldn't even climb up the tree less than twenty minutes ago, and now she made it down in about three minutes? She supposed she should feel proud, but she was too busy worrying about Owen.
"I'm sorry Owen." Said Claire, trying to blink away the tears starting to fill her eyes. She finally met someone who was nice to her, and in a day of meeting him, she almost killed him.
"For what?" He asked, starting to carefully make his way down the rest of the tree.
"For almost killing you! How are you not mad?!" She demanded, the hot tears trickling down her face.
"It was an accident. You didn't mean- wait are you crying?" Owen asked landing his feet firmly on the ground. Claire nodded, hiding her head in shame.
"Hey, dry those tears. I'm fine, you're fine, everyone's fine." Said Owen, using his thumb to wipe away her tears.
They spent the next hour in Owen's backyard, silent. Claire had stopped crying a little over half an hour ago, but didn't feel like moving.
"So you like Velociraptors, huh?" Claire asked, breaking the silence.
"Hm?" Asked Owen, clearly lost in his own little world.
"Do you like Velociraptors?"
"Yeah I love em'. I love dinosaurs and raptors are my favorite."
"I always thought they were awful."
"I think they're just misunderstood. You know, I've never told anyone, but, I pretend to train them. We have a respect for one another, we kinda have a bond."
"What were their names?" Claire asked.
"Oh, Charlie, Delta, Echo, and my favorite, Blue."
"That's so cute! I wish I had an imagination like you!"
"Thanks. You wanna come with me?"
"Come with you where?" Claire asked.
"Come and see my raptors."
"Owen they're not real…"
"No, I mean imagine them with me."
"Owen my imagination stinks. I'll probably just screw your raptor world up."
Owen laughed. "Claire you can't do that, it's my world and we can make it your world to."
Claire pondered this for a moment. "Really? Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm su-" Owen was interrupted by Claire's mother.
"Claire! Where are you?" Claire mother called.
"Over here mom!" Said Claire standing up. Owen followed Claire to her backyard.
"Hello Owen. What happened to your face?" Mrs. Dearing asked.
"Nothing. Just bumped into a branch, that's all." Owen answered.
"Oh well as long as you're ok. And Claire, I just got home from work and your sister was with some friends, were you at Owen's house unsupervised?" Mrs. Dearing asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"We, um, we, uh, you see…" Claire began, looking for an excuse.
"My mom is downstairs cleaning. She checked on us every half hour." Owen replied, lying quite well for an eleven year old.
"Oh, well come on Claire, it's time for dinner."
Claire waved a quick goodbye and walked into her house.
Owen's heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest. Their was just something about Claire…
AU: Claire's mom is married, its just that he's always on business trips. Thanks for everything!