Not the longest chapter, but I'm excited for it. Hope you are too! I'm hoping to have this story done completely pretty soon, in a few chapters. I've been working on another new story (of course) about Digimon. So if you are at all interested in that show keep an eye out!

Molly's P.O.V

Out at Brownie Ranch, I had only been waiting for Owen for maybe ten minutes, and I was still nervous. No matter how many times I played over that night in my head, I couldn't figure out what it was that made me so damn anxious about the idea of Owen. I had spent so much time with him before, why was now any different?

My stomach growled, reminding me of just how hungry I was. I had walked all over town that morning, stopping first to give Ruth and Craig some spinach. He didn't seem so enthused, but then again he never did. Ruth was a lot more gracious. Then I wandered through the Maple Lake district, strategically avoided Chase's house, and wandered into town to deliver some carrots to everybody at the Inn. It was his day off so I didn't have to worry about running into him there.

I talked with Colleen for a while, then made my way to the ranch and talked with them for a bit. I found Renée out in barn and asked if it was okay to have lunch out by the cliffs. She told me it was fine, and kept me there for at least an hour, showing off her brand her engagement ring. Toby finally worked up the courage to ask her I guess, and the glow on her face just proved what her voice said to be true: that she was simply ecstatic.

Eventually, I found my way to the benches back by the cliff. It was now fifteen minutes past one. I closed my eyes and rested my head back, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks, and waiting to hear movement in the grass, or any other sign of Owen. I must have dozed off, because I hadn't heard anything until there was a tap on my shoulder.

"Wow, I just got here and you're already tired of me." Owen was leaning over me from behind the bench. I jumped when my eyes shot open. "Sorry," he laughed, standing upright and walking around the bench to join me. "Didn't mean to scare you."

I put my hand on my chest and caught my breath. "No, no it's okay," I told him. "What time is it?"

He held his hands up. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I got caught up at work. But I'm only fifteen minutes late."

His voice sounded so flustered that it made me smile. "It's no big deal," I told him. "I'm grateful for the nap."

Owen's face relaxed, and I felt that weird feeling in the pit of my stomach again, the one that had kept me up all night. There was a long silence between us, and he just stared down at me with that goofy smile, and I smiled back, and eventually he looked down at the basket on my lap.

"So did our lovely neighbors leave us anything to eat?" he asked. "Or are we gonna feast on breadcrumbs?"

I laughed. "Oh don't worry about that. I hid some food under an extra cloth so no one would see." I pushed aside the red-checkered fabric and revealed the bread I made that morning. There was a mason jar filled with raspberry jam, a bundle of grapes, and a few chunks of cheese that Renée had given me earlier that day. I told her the point of me giving her some of my crops was a gesture, and that she wasn't supposed to give me anything in return, but she insisted.

Owen reached for the bread and ripped it in half. "Man, you have no idea how hungry I am." I grabbed the cheese and took of a hunk for him. "The mines were ridiculous today." He took big bites of his half of the bread, not waiting to swallow before taking the next. I handed him another mason jar filled with lemonade and he took it with a smile.

"What happened?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Gramps just had me working extra long today," he explained. "He's mad I missed dinner last night without telling him, so he has his not so subtle ways of telling me he's angry."

My face got hot. "Oh god, I'm sorry," I said, feeling the guilt hit my stomach. Suddenly lunch didn't seem so appetizing. "I had no idea he'd be mad at you."

Owen looked down at his food and smiled to himself. "Hey, I'd do it again." He spoke so softly that I wasn't sure if he wanted me to hear him, but I had. The fluttering in my stomach came back, and I thought again about that sudden burst of emotion I had the night before, when all I wanted to do was kiss him. It struck me then, that feeling in my stomach, that sick and twisted nauseous kind of feeling was me falling in love.

It was him. It had always been him.

As I sat and stared at him picking at the grapes inside the basket, I went through so many different emotions all at once. I was angry at myself, mostly, for not realizing before Chase. For wasting my time with some selfish, angry kid. I was nervous in hoping that he felt the same way. I was happy and flustered and calm all at once. Everything contradicted the other. And right as my brain was about to explode, I acted before I had time to think.

"Owen?"

He looked up at me. First his eyes were relaxed, but when he noticed my intent focus he looked worried. He cocked his head to the side. "What's wrong?" he asked.

I didn't answer him. I just leaned forward and pressed my lips against his. At first he was frozen, clearly shocked by my sudden burst of affection. He was stiff and distant, but after a second he wrapped his arm around me, placing his hand on the small of my back. I thought that maybe he would pull me closer but he didn't. It was like he was being careful. Like he didn't want to break me.

I don't remember how long we kissed for, maybe a minute, maybe an hour. The sun was still high in the sky when we broke apart, and I was struck with that nervousness again, afraid that maybe it would be awkward or a mistake or something. He looked at me with those sparkling gray eyes, his hand still resting behind my neck, and he laughed nervously. It was quick, and his smile was wide and embarrassed. There was a pink tint in his cheeks as he pulled his hand back and turned to look back over the ocean.

Oh no, I thought. It's weird. This was the biggest mistake of my life. This is so embarrassing. I wanted so badly to just creep down into my coat and disappear. The silence between us was so thick that I didn't dare to look at him. I was confident that I had completely ruined one of the best friendships in my entire life and had already started mentally packing up to move when he finally spoke.

"Damn," he said. "You have no clue how long I've been waiting for you to do that."

Maybe it was the nerves releasing their grip on my lungs, or maybe it was his tone, but what ever it was I laughed. I laughed really loudly and probably for too long, and when I did I saw Owen turn to look at me, partly shocked. To my relief, he laughed too. And the two of us sat there and laughed at the entire situation. He reached out and rested his arm on the bench behind me, and I took it as an invitation to lean in against his shoulder. We didn't say anything else, because nothing else needed to be said at that point. We just sat in blissful silence, staring over the water, hoping that this moment might never end.