A/N Sorry I have not updated this in a while. I haven't had much inspiration, lately.
Owen grudgingly ate the breakfast that Cyrus had prepared. He was still very uncomfortable with the fact that Cyrus had the key to Cristina's apartment.
Again, he was feeling like a third wheel, as Cristina and Cyrus chatted up a storm. It was like if he wasn't there and he didn't like that feeling at all.
When Cyrus left, Owen was still sulking. He picked up the breakfast dishes, carried them to the sink and started washing them. He was quiet, as he did the dishes.
Cristina came behind him and hugged him. "What would you like to do today?" she asked. He didn't understand how she could be so oblivious to how he was feeling. Still, he fought back the urge to complain. He wanted to have an enjoyable visit in New York. He would save what he thought about her relationship with Cyrus when he was leaving. He didn't want it to ruin their weekend together, since they saw each other so little.
"I don't know. Maybe we can do touristy things," he asked.
"I know. We can hit up a matinee at one of the Broadway shows. After the matinee, we can grab a meal," she said. "It will be fun."
"As long as Cyrus isn't coming with us," he muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?" Cristina asked. She didn't quite get what he was muttering.
"Nothing," Owen said. "It sounds really good. I think I would like to do that."
Cristina called the concierge at Hotel Dumont, who secured the tickets on their behalf and also booked a reservation for them at one of the restaurants in the theater district. Owen knew he could have called the concierge at the Lockhart hotel in New York, too, but he knew that she wanted to do it. Plus she was really excited about their day out, together.
And they did have a really wonderful day. The Broadway show they had chosen had lots of singing and dancing. One could not feel happy when they left the theater. Then, they had early dinner at the restaurant. They saw a couple of people from the show they had just seen and they managed to get autographs and pictures with the actors.
As they left the restaurant, Owen remarked that he had never done such a thing before, asking an actor and actress for their autograph and it felt kind of exhilarating and weird at the same time. "You were a fanboy," Cristina declared.
"What?" Owen said. "Me? Never!" He laughed. "I suppose I was." He took her hand and they walked hand in hand to the subway station, where they took a train home back to her apartment building. They were talking and laughing all the way up the elevator.
"Do you smell that?" Cristina said, when they reached her front door. "Smells like food." She turned to her key and to no one's surprise, there was Cyrus in Cristina's kitchen, cooking dinner.
"Hell, no," Owen muttered. Will this guy ever go away? It was clear that Cyrus was just too thick-headed to see when a guy wanted to be alone with his girl.
"What was that, Owen?" Cristina asked. She had heard him muttering. In fact, she thought he had spent a lot of the time, muttering under his breath. She really had to talk to him about that. That wasn't very nice, saying things that nobody else could hear.
"Nothing," Owen said. "It is a surprise to see you here, Cyrus." His tone betrayed only a hint of hostility, not that anyone would notice it.
"Ah, just cooking a little bit of dinner," Cyrus said, with a huge smile, which was mostly directed to Cristina.
"We already had dinner," Owen said, firmly. "In the theater district, we had a lovely meal. Just after the matinee we attended." The hint of hostility had grown a little bit more in his voice.
"Oh," Cyrus said, looking at all of the stuff he already had on the stove. Cristina gave Owen a glare. Cyrus was going to a lot of trouble and he could at least be grateful for it.
"That's okay, Cyrus. I am sure Owen and I could squeeze a little something in. After all, it was a very early dinner," Cristina said. Cyrus immediately brightened.
"Oh, good," he said. "Then, this won't all go to waste. It should be ready in half an hour."
"I think I am going to take a shower and change," Owen said. He just wanted to get away from Cyrus. He shook his head as he made his way to Cristina's bedroom. He stripped off his clothes and stood under the stream of the warm water, trying to erase Cyrus from his mind. But it was hard to do so, especially since he could hear Cyrus' raucous laughter from the kitchen.
When he finally emerged from the bathroom, he changed into his pjs and lay on the bed. He wasn't really happy that Cyrus was there all of the time. He just wanted this weekend to be about him and Cristina alone with each other. He didn't think that was selfish. After all, they hadn't seen each other in a while. He just lay there, staring at the ceiling. That was how Cristina found him, when she came to check on him.
"Hey, aren't you coming back out?" she asked, noting that he was already in his pjs. She came and lay next to him, resting her head on his chest. "Dinner is ready and the table is set. We were just waiting for you."
"I am not that hungry," Owen said. "After all, we already had dinner."
"I know," Cristina said. "But he went to all of this trouble. At least, have a little bit. For me?" She gave him her begging look, which she knew that he could not resist.
"Okay," he said. "Just a little." She smiled and pulled him out of the bed.
They walked back out where Cyrus had already laid out the food in their plates. It was a lot more food than Owen had wanted to consume. He let out a big breath and started eating what he could. Cyrus was really a good cook, he knew. No wonder Cristina liked him coming over and cooking for her. As he watched Cristina and Cyrus converse, Owen suddenly became aware of how close they had become. Seeing each other every day in work and living so close to one another was allowing Cyrus to win over Cristina. Owen, on the other hand, was 1000 miles away in Miami. He couldn't fight for his girl while this man was trying to move in on her. He became even more sullen, as he picked at the food.
Cristina noticed his silence. There was indeed something really wrong with Owen. After having eaten what they could of Cyrus' food, they put away the rest in the refrigerator. Cristina declared that they wouldn't have to cook tomorrow because they had so many leftovers. Cyrus said he was leaving and he gave Cristina a kiss on the cheek. Owen could not watch that. He went to Cristina's bedroom, brushed his teeth and fell into the bed, feeling sorry for himself. He did not see Cristina telling Cyrus not to come over tomorrow because she wanted to spend the time alone with Owen, since he was leaving to go back to Miami the next day.
Cristina came in fifteen minutes later. She took a shower and got ready for bed. Owen was turned away from her, so she spooned him, wrapping both a leg and an arm around him.
"Hey, are you asleep?"she asked. He was awake but he didn't say anything. He let out a few snores to let her think that he was asleep.
"Oh, okay," she said. "We will talk in the morning. It just seems that there was something wrong and I thought we should talk about it. But you are asleep, so it can wait. Good night, Owen." She kissed the back of his neck and snuggled into him.
Owen opened his eyes. He wasn't really ready to get into it. He just wanted one more night of peace.
The next morning, Cristina wanted to be nice to Owen. She got up and made him breakfast. It was nothing elaborate like what Cyrus would prepare, so she hoped that Owen would appreciate it. She was ready when Owen finally made his way out of the bedroom. He looked around, fully expecting Cyrus to be there.
"Good morning," he said. "Where is Cyrus? I am surprised that he isn't here."
"Um, I told him not to come by, today," Cristina said. "It's your last day here with me and I wanted to spend it alone with you." Owen smiled.
"Thank you, Cristina," he said. "That's all I want, too."
"I even made you breakfast," she said. "I hope it's good." She brought over the pancakes for him. "I made these from scratch, too. No pancake mix for me."
Owen poured the syrup over them and shoveled a generous bit of the pancakes into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed.
"Well?" she said, anxiously.
"You did well," he said. "It's better than I expected it to be."
"Well, I can breathe a sigh of relief," she said, as she sat down and started on her stack of pancakes. "Oh, my this is pretty good. I am so proud of myself. Cyrus would be proud of me. He has been teaching me."
When he heard Cyrus' name, Owen was immediately turned off. He pushed the plate of pancakes away from him.
"What's the matter?" Cristina asked, wondering why he had only eaten half of it.
"Cyrus. Cyrus is the problem," Owen said.
"What?" Cristina asked, puzzled.
"I am sorry but I think that Cyrus is too much in your life," he told her. "He is always in here, like if he is so comfortable being here. He has a key to your apartment, for goodness sake. How is it that he has your key?"
"But he is my friend," Cristina protested.
"I know you want to replace Ryan in your life but it is different with Cyrus," Owen said. "Trust me, I know these things. I know when a guy has that glint in his eye."
"What things do you know?" she spat out. She was greatly offended because it was true that she wanted someone like Ryan in her life. Owen could see that, immediately and she wasn't too happy about it.
"That, for one, Cyrus wants to be more than your friend," Owen said. "He is just biding his time until that one moment, you are going to be low and he is going to step in to fill the void in your life. I am not here to stop that."
"You're wrong, Owen," Cristina countered. "He is just a friend. We cook together, we go out together. He helps me with my laundry."
"He is making himself indispensable to you," Owen shouted. "He is making it that you can't do without him. He comes over and cooks all of the time for you. Shouldn't he be doing this for a girlfriend? Not a friend."
"You're just jealous," Cristina declared. "That's why you're making it so hard for me to be friends with Cyrus."
"Of course I am jealous," he said. "Why shouldn't I be jealous? I live a thousand miles away while some guy is trying to make time with my girl. I see it happening right in front of me."
"That has always been your problem, Owen. You have always been jealous," she screamed. "You can't even trust my own judgment. You think that I am naïve and stupid. Why can't you ever trust me?"
"I trust you. I don't trust him, Cristina!" he shouted back.
Cristina was so mad and upset now that the tears were rolling down her face.
"Why don't you go back to Miami?" she said, quietly.
"What?" he asked.
"Go the hell back to Miami!" she screamed. "I don't want you here." Owen got up, immediately, packed up his things and was about to leave the apartment.
"I am going to leave but this is not over," he said.
"Just get out, Owen," she said. Owen left the apartment and headed to the elevator. He pressed the button. He only waited for two minutes before the doors opened to reveal Cyrus.
"Oh, hey Owen," Cyrus said, as he got off the elevator.
"Get out of my face, Cyrus. I mean it," Owen said, as he went in to the elevator and pressed the button to close the doors.
"Hmm," Cyrus thought to himself. He noticed that Owen had his luggage with him. That certainly meant that he was leaving. His attitude also told Cyrus that Owen and Cristina just had a fight.
Cyrus went immediately to Cristina's apartment. He used his key to get inside. He found Cristina crying on the sofa and hugging a pillow. He went to her.
"Hey, what's the matter?" he said, taking her in his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Oh, Cyrus, we had just a terrible fight," she said. She buried her face in his shoulder.
"There, there," Cyrus said, stroking her soft, curly hair. He had a smile on his face.
A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. I do appreciate them. The next chapter will be the last.
