Claire quietly got up and walked into the kitchen expecting to still see the dinner dishes piled in the sink needing to be washed. However, the sink was empty and the kitchen was clean. There was only the light above the stove and one lamp in the living room still turned on. Owen was nowhere to be found at the front of the apartment. Claire turned off the two lights and made her way to their bedroom. There she found him. He was sitting at the foot of the bed with his hands clasped in his lap, looking down at the ground. She walked over to him and stood in between his knees. He looked up at her and she could see he had tears in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she placed her hands around the back of his neck and pulled his head into her chest. She then leaned in and rested her head on top of his. They held this position for a few minutes, lightly rocking each other back and forth, not saying anything to one another. He was hurting for her so bad. Owen finally broke free of Claire's hold and stood up to face her. He reached down to the bottom of her sweater and pulled it over her arms and head. He then reached for the tank top she was wearing under her sweater and did the same thing. Claire kept her eyes locked on his the whole time. She was too vulnerable to stop him in that moment and just let him continue with whatever his intentions were. He then reached down and cupped his hands around the waistband of her jeans and found the button and zipper. He knelt and pulled them down with him and released them from the pile they created around her feet on the floor. She was silently watching his every move. They were supposed to be talking, not doing whatever they were doing, but Claire could tell he wanted to talk to her about everything, even if it had to wait until the love fest was over first. She told herself she would go for whatever he had planned for the two of them that night. Owen was still knelt down and was now eye level with the huge scar on her lower right thigh. He studied it for a moment. There were still marks and small holes in her flesh from the two layers of stitches and a round of staples used to stitch her up at the hospital after the incident. The internal stitches had dissolved but the outer layer of stitches and the staples had just been removed about a month prior and Claire's leg still looked pretty bad to him. His eyes traveled up to her face and right back down to the wound. She ran her fingers through his hair. He gently kissed her wound. He then stood up and removed the clip from the back of her head that was holding her bun in place. She rarely let her hair down completely even at night when she slept. Owen wanted her to be free from everything that was pinning her up or down. He reached around and carefully unclasped her necklace and then did the same to her bracelet. Her simple gold jewelry always looked so elegant with her bright red hair and beautiful green eyes. Owen always thought she looked so classy. He removed the gold ring from her right index finger but left her earrings intact, as he knew she rarely ever took them out. He walked over to her jewelry box on top of her dresser and gently placed the pieces in the right compartments. He then walked back over to Claire and stood in front of her. He kissed her on the lips slowly and gently, bringing his hands up to cup her cheeks. His hands traveled over her shoulders and down her back until they reached the clasp of her bra. He unhooked it and gently pulled it off of her. "You are the most beautiful thing in my world," he whispered into her ear. The only garment left on her body was her underwear. Claire was surprised by his next move. He reached for her favorite tank top she liked to sleep in at the foot of the bed and placed it over her head and arms and pulled it down around her waist. He was already dressed in a t-shirt and boxers himself. Claire thought they were going in a different direction and looked at Owen with confusion in her eyes. He spent all this time undressing her only to redress her in...her pajamas? He reached down and took her hand in his and walked with her to her side of the bed. She got in and he pulled the covers up to her waist. He then walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled in next to her. They had a king sized bed but always managed to end up in the middle together. He extended his arm for her to lean in to him and she did. Claire thought he was going to make love to her. Instead he found the most intimate way to tuck her in to go to sleep, literally. This was one of the most beautiful things she had ever witnessed out of him. He could be so tough and stubborn sometimes but he could also be so tender and soothing too.