Claire Dearing was a strong independent woman, she never needed the help of a man to get things done. She'd put herself out there and have competed in the big leagues against the opposite sex since she could remember, she would not only impress those watching but also beat them all and come on top — and she'd do this while wearing heels.

She didn't need a man to change a burnt lightbulb or a flat tire. She didn't need anyone's help to open a jar or kill a cockroach. At least not until she met Owen and saw how good he looked doing these things for her; how his muscles stretched while working on fixing a new frame for her against the wall, how his ass look the best when bent down while checking the oil level of her car, and how his shirtless chest would sweat when helping her move furniture around the house.

Claire's deep feelings for Owen grew from an intense sexual attraction she had felt for him since the moment they met, and she was positive this one would never fade. The redhead was in love with him for many reasons that sometimes she even questioned; he was a jerk and a clueless punk. She could have been mad at him and hurt by his way of thinking, but that abdomen would never be blamed for his actions and will always have her affection.

She was resting her elbow on her desk, her head tilted over her fist while her green eyes were lost watching that man standing on a ladder fix those rusty doors for her. Claire was smiling from her place, observing how he would scratch the back of his head and work around.

The elevator was always giving them that insufferable malfunction. Since the day she had let the landlord show her the place, the door had gotten stuck not even half way into opening. It was the only place Claire had thought she could afford and Owen had quickly jumped in and offered to fix it. This was something he didn't know he would have to be doing every few weeks, but he didn't complain.

Each time he did, that beautiful redhead would find herself lost in his presence. He loved the way her eyes sparkled letting him know she was not only enjoying watching him do some physical work but also loving the fact that he made sure she got all she needed.

The last time he had fixed them was before their infamous road trip. He had driven to San Francisco to see her and surprise her. It had been a couple of days since their phone call and the urge to take in her beauty and just see her was unbearable to him, so he had found himself driving for almost four hours to ease it.

He had gotten into that elevator just to have the doors getting stuck on him once he reached her floor. It had been fifteen minutes since he had made it and slowly was working on having them fixed.

They had the elevator out of service while Owen worked on it. The man had been humming a melody that was too familiar for Claire, he did it unconsciously but the redhead loved it and it had even become a thing between them. It was the same melody he hummed and sang to himself each time he was fixing or building something for her. It was the same melody in the music box he had carved for her birthday. He stepped inside the elevator and positioned his ladder right in the middle so he could reach both doors. His hazel eyes looked up and he immediately smiled back at the woman observing him from a far.

Claire caught him smiling and blushed lightly. She sighed, her other hand playing with a pen over her desk. They exchanged a smile that lasted a couple of seconds before he stepped onto the ladder and went back to work.

The place was busy, people were walking around holding posters and all sorts of material while they kept getting ready for those rally they had scheduled for the next couple of days.

Many voices were speaking at the same time, each person engaging in different conversations simultaneously. But for the couple, nothing but their eyes and the flirty smile they shared existed.

Owen didn't fully manage to concentrate on his task until Claire had been pulled away from her day dream so she could approve some of the finished material and an update on their website. It took him five more minutes to have the doors finally open and close smoothly without getting stuck.

He cleaned the elevator so it could go back on service. He cleaned the grease off his fingers and started to put every tool he used back into the toolbox Claire had there. He knew things had their own place and an specific order so it took him a few minutes to leave it the way he had found it.

The elevator had been called down and was now back up, the doors perfectly sliding open. Owen had turned around to watch them perform, a proud smile in his face seeing them go all the way. He nodded to the young brunette man stepping off of it.

Blue eyes immediately smiled at the sight of Claire who was standing in the other side of the room. Owen tilted his head, hazel eyes following the guy's. It didn't take him long to realize who that was. He was way too familiar with the way those curves made a man stare a little longer for it to go unnoticed.

Owen wouldn't be able to tell what had possessed him and in that moment he didn't care. He just knew that man had almost taken what belong to him and for that, his fist was acting faster than his brain or any other muscle in him.

It was the noice of things being knocked down onto the floor along with the sound of the guy's weight stumbling backwards against the wall what made that room finally go dead silence. All eyes on Owen while he shook his hand and checked his knuckles.

Two of the guys and Claire rushed over. The men to help Jackson and make sure he was okay, the redhead over to Owen to stop him from jumping on the guy and end up killing him if possible.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Claire was upset and it was taking a lot of her strength to hold Owen back. It seemed one punch in the face was not enough.

"He touched you and I'll break his nose for that!" He said pushing against her, his hazel eyes terrifying her.

"I TOLD YOU, nothing happened." She insisted before taking his hand and calling the elevator to open. "I'll be right back." She let the two other guys know before she stepped in with Owen and headed down.


Claire's legs were gently tangled with Owen's, her arms holding him close, and her head hidden in the crook of his neck while he lied beside her, smiling down watching her sleep, his fingers brushing her long red hair. They were on his bed inside his van. They had gotten in it after leaving the building and gotten comfortable on the bed to cuddle and just calm down before they could talk.

They hadn't had time to say a word, the redhead had slowly faded out once his arms wrapped her in a warm embrace. She hadn't been able to sleep in weeks and her body had just given in.

It wasn't until an hour and a half later when Claire slowly opened her eyes, her ears taking on that tender melody. She frowned, for the first time it sounded sad. He always made up lyrics to it, sometimes he murmured them too quietly for her to make out what he was singing but she knew he was saying something.

She adjusted announcing she was up, he pushed her bangs back to see her face. Claire shifted and brushed her eyes with her fingers before resting her head back on his chest.

Owen was quiet, a soft smile letting her know he was happy to have her in his arms again. Once again they were in an opposite side of the situation; he was happy that his fingers could feel the softness of her hair and he could take in the scent of her vanilla lotion, she was feeling how her heart was breaking while feeling his warmth around her ...already dreading the cold that it would hit her that night once she was back to living without it.

"You look beautiful." He offered, feeling her silent tears leaving a small puddle in his shirt.

"I can't believe you came." She sniffed, nosing into the wet spot in his shirt.

"I needed to see you~and..." He carefully reached out, trying not to disturb her. He fetched for the carved penguin he had finally finished. "I needed to give you this." He gently brought it to her.

Her freckled fingers softly reached out and curved around it. She smiled and hugged it, keeping it close while still resting against his chest. "I love it." She sniffed.

"Did you manage to rest, babe?" He tilted his head, his fingers gently brushing up and down her freckled arm.

She nodded softly against his chest, closing her eyes feeling his thumb gently drying the little tears on her cheek, "He can press charges you know?" She murmured, finally bringing up the subject about his stupid decision to punch that guy in the face.

"He won't."

"How do you know that?" Claire adjusted so she could lock her eyes on his.

"Because it would make him look like a wuss. It'd be petty and it would shorten the possibility of getting with you." He shrugged.

Claire shook her head, her lips taking some sort of life of their own while kissing his chest softly and up to his neck where she nosed tenderly before releasing a sigh.

"If that poor man's John Stamos gets anywhere near you again, I'm going to kill him." Owen warned calmly. He had no problem on displaying how possessive of her he was.

Claire laughed, "How do you know who John Stamos is?" She kissed his neck a couple of times before her hands also took a life of their own (or maybe it was that him getting possessive turned her on) and slid up his chest under his shirt. "I'm only into one man, and one man only~" She moaned against his ear.

"I will fucking kill him." He insisted before abruptly pinning her against the mattress on her back. He brushed his lips around her neck and started to leave gentle kisses along her creamy skin, "You are mine...understood?"

Claire nodded softly and pushed his hair back, her green eyes fixed on his hazel ones. She could tell this was not a joke for him. She had never seen his eyes more serious and determined on something before.

"Say it." He demanded while kissing her jawline and brushing his lips against hers.

"I'm yours." She murmured closing her eyes feeling his hands traveling up her abdomen under her top. She trembled under his touch, she missed him so much.

Owen groaned and adjusted on top of her, his lips gently peppering the side of her neck, his fingers inching closer seeking for her breasts.

"Owen—" She gulped, she knew they had a lot to talk about, a lot to fix, so many things they had to work on before even think about starting to go there. She tried to talk, but all her lips were able to let out was a moan as she felt his hands cupping her breasts.

"Lets put an end to this fight, please." He begged. "Can we please make up?" He sobbed against her neck.

Claire wanted to agree to that so bad, she wanted to kiss his lips and let him taste how much she loved him while their tongues danced slowly. She sighed, "if you could change one thing from then to prevent the fight...what would it be?" She asked him, meaning their road trip.

What kind of question was that? He didn't even know how to answer, but she wouldn't be asking if it weren't important to her, a crucial piece to them getting back together. Owen thought about those last couple of days he had had with her, he truthfully didn't understand where things had gone wrong. They were always fighting, but somehow things had been blown out of proportion this time around.

"Lets say things we are sorry for..." She decided to change the question. She knew she had a few things she wanted to apologize for, little things that ultimately contributed to everything blowing up.

"I think you are mad at me because I left you at that motel, I shouldn't have left." He offered. "I'm sorry I did."

She shook her head and kissed his forehead, "You were an ass for leaving like that." She chuckled, "but I wanted you to just fuck off." She pursed her lips. "I'm sorry I made you pee your pants." She started laughing, "that was really uncalled for."

Owen laughed and adjusted on his side so they could get comfortable on the bed. She shifted and rested on her side as well, facing him. "I deserved that." He nodded.

"I'm sorry I made fun of your itinerary. That always comes back and bite me in the ass and we end up wasting all this time." He frowned, referring to how something similar went down on their first date.

Claire smiled, she was glad that he was going along with this but it was only making her realize that even if they wouldn't have done all those things, she would still have broken up with him... or like Owen thought of it; they would still be fighting. It didn't matter if he had followed her suggestion from the moment they left home, or if he had stopped for a restroom break. It didn't matter if he would have let her help set up the campfire and if there were no rats living in his van.

"Hold me?" She asked softly before turning around, her back on him.

Owen nodded and spooned her gently. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nosed into the crook of her neck. The redhead caressed his arm and pressed a couple of kisses on his shoulder.

Even if little things put together made a big one; the problem was in their mindset and not only on how different it was but how opposite. The redhead frowned, this realization was heartbreaking.