Summary: Fast forward 3 months and things are going great. Alise and Owen go on a romantic getaway to Panama and their true feelings for each other come out. *Adult themes ahead
For the past 3 months, I guess you can say that Owen and I have been in our "honeymoon phase", that's what Lucy calls it anyway and she brought this to my attention the other day. I've never really had a "honeymoon phase" in any of my past relationships before, so I didn't really know what it was up until now.
Our relationship still feels fresh and new, even though we've been together for quite some time. We've gotten to know each other so much, we see each other at least 3 to 4 times a week and when life gets super hectic it's almost once a week, which is when the distance starts to get to me. I'd never say I was a clingy person, but it's something about Owen that makes me miss him whenever we're apart.
He feels the same way too and I could tell he was kind of clingy too. After the nights we'd spend together, he never wanted me to get out of bed in the morning, pulling me back in for just "5 minutes of cuddles". Boy does that man love his cuddles. I would have never expected..
He'd text me saying he missed me if we hadn't seen each other for a few days. He even admitted it to me once that he's been clingy and that's because he wants to spend all of his time with me (after basically pulling his teeth - he didn't give it up freely, but that's Owen, he doesn't like talking about his feelings that much).
We would go to the waterfall once a week if our schedules allowed it and have a picnic, we've even swam there a few times on a whim (and we didn't have bathing suits so skinny dipping was a fun option and it was even more exciting knowing someone could totally stumble upon the waterfall and get a surprise of a lifetime).
We'd watch movies together, we'd get lunch if our schedules lined up, I'd visit him at the enclosure and watch him train the raptors and he'd let me give them rats on occasion.
Owen said they accepted me "as his mate" - which I thought was weird at first, but then he explained it to me that it was a territorial thing for them. They liked and respected me, which is why they listened when I told them to come and it wasn't just because I had a rat in my hand. It was nice because I felt like I was being accepted by his girls - his family.
Speaking of family, Lowery has gotten used to the idea of Owen and I dating (he still doesn't dare to ask how it's going though, after what I said last time), we've had dinner a few times here and there and he actually asked Owen questions to get to know him more and Owen did the same to him. They're obviously not best friends, but apparently, they've texted here and there and I don't know how I feel about that. My parents (meaning my mom and step-dad) insisted on meeting him, so they came down to visit a few weeks ago and gave him the 'okay', which I was happy about. I've dated a guy my parents didn't like and, well, clearly that didn't end well.
I haven't officially met his family yet, but I've spoken to his brother, Henry and his nephew Arlo with Owen over video chat. One time Owen's mother insisted on talking with me when she called him and realized I was there. He was hesitant at first, but I quickly learned that's because she is a complete over-sharer. I sure enjoyed hearing about how he'd always streak and never kept his pants on until he was like 8. Owen said his family liked me, so that's reassuring.
We'd go off the island every once in a while. We'd go to Costa Rica when we were getting antsy from staying on the island (which was mostly my idea, being on the island all the time never seems to bother Owen that much).
I finally convinced him we should take a weekend trip to another country. I could tell he was a little hesitant about leaving his girls for 4 days, but Barry and I convinced him that Barry had it under control. Owen needed a break anyway. We both did.
"Is this really all you're bringing?" I asked as I pointed to his small backpack that didn't look like it could fit 4 days worth of clothes as well as the essentials.
"We're not going away for a month. Do you really need a duffle bag and a backpack?" he asked, putting my duffle bag in the trunk of the car. "Jeez, what do you have in here, rocks?"
"Just a weeks worth of outfits because I have to stay stylish. A blow dryer, a curling iron, and a straightener because I don't know what mood I'll be in each morning. And can't forget my laptop and my tablet 'cause I gotta stay connected." I said, giving him 'duh' look.
"Are you kiddin' me?"
"It's hard work being a girl, Owen." I said over dramatically with a smirk.
Of course, I didn't have that many things in there, just the essentials… but it wasn't all a lie. I did bring my laptop and tablet, even though I probably won't use them. Owen was probably going to make me disconnect anyway. Regardless, it's nice to have the option.
"Let me just pee really quick…" I said, putting my backpack in the passenger's seat and running inside. When I came out, Owen was sitting on the couch in the living room.
"That's everything? You don't got a suitcase we need to get at your apartment?" Owen asked seriously.
"Very funny," I rolled my eyes. "I have everything. The boat leaves in 20 minutes so we really have to go. Like now."
"So snippy." Owen smirked, standing up.
"We wouldn't be pressed for time if you didn't pull me back into bed, twice." I said, shooting him a glare.
"I wouldn't have to pull you into bed if you weren't so anal about everything. You were too uptight. I had to loosen you up. By the sounds of it, I didn't do a very good job. Might have to try again before we get to the boat." he smirked at me, grabbing my waist and pulling me so my back was flush against him as his lips attached to my bare shoulder.
"Owen…" I whined, "We have a boat to catch…"
"So we'll get the next one," he shrugged, moving my hair behind my shoulder. He left a trail of open mouth kisses from my shoulder and up my neck, his beard tickling me and sending a shiver down my spine. I closed my eyes, my head tilting to the side to give him more access. He found that one spot that drove me crazy, he nipped and sucked at it.
"Fuck, Owen…" I said through gritted teeth.
I really wanted to catch this boat, we already missed the first one at 8 am and the next one won't be until 11 am. That means we wouldn't get to Costa Rica until 12 pm and then we had to pick a flight from there, so we probably wouldn't be at our destination until mid-afternoon.
Owen hummed against my neck, acting as if he wasn't doing anything. His thumbs drew circles on my hips and his teeth continued to nip at my skin.
"I hate you," I whined, sinking into his touch and biting my lip. Owen chuckled against my skin. "Just fuck me already, Owen." I mumbled, tugging on his hair.
"Whatever you want, baby." he chuckled, scooping me up in his arms and bringing me to the bedroom.
"So where to?" Owen asked, his arms wrapped around me from behind as we stood in the Juan Santamaria International Airport, looking at the list of flights and times on the screen.
Before we decided to come on this trip, I looked at a few countries close to Costa Rica and came up with Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, and Colombia, but I wasn't sure which one I wanted to go to. Owen had the idea to keep it exciting and just to go to the airport to pick a place that felt right and worked with our timing.
"The flight to Honduras leaves in an hour and a half, or there's one for Panama that leaves in an hour… that'd be cutting it pretty close," I thought.
"Which one do you want to go to more?" he asked, looking at me. I thought about it.
"I kinda wanna go to Panama."
"We better hurry then."
"Of course now you're the one telling us to hurry, we wouldn't even need to be hurrying if it weren't for you." I smirked.
"Yeah, but we were both pretty happy this morning, now weren't we?" he grinned.
I laughed and shook my head, pushing him along. "Just get in line you jerk."
center~~~/center
Thankfully 3 years of AP high school Spanish and 1 year in college allowed me to have an idea of where we were going according to signs. Owen knew a little bit of Spanish and spoke it better than he read it, so he left the navigation to me.
We found a resort on Isla Grande and the room we were staying in was right on the beach. It was a luxury resort, so the room was beautiful. It had a California king sized bed, a TV (which I was sure we wouldn't even be watching), a dresser, huge walk-in closet and it was a spa bathroom. The thing that really had me was the large double doors that overlooked the Caribbean ocean. It was an absolute paradise. The water was so blue, the air was so fresh. It was unreal to me.
It was around 4:30 pm when we finally got there, so the first thing we did was go to get an early dinner because we were both starving. We found a cute little restaurant right on the beach. I brought a few brochures that I got from the resorts main lobby and rattled off a few ideas.
"We could go snorkeling with dolphins… oh! Or we could fly a helicopter over the El Valle!" I read, beaming when I saw the last thing.
"What's an El Valeo?" He asked, taking a chip and dipping it in salsa before eating it.
"El Valle," I laughed at his mispronunciation. "It's a volcano, look at how beautiful it is!" I showed him the picture that was in the brochure.
"So I guess we're going to fly a helicopter over it?"
"Please? It'd be so cool!"
"Whatever you want." He smiled, taking a sip of his coconut margarita. I never thought I'd see Owen drink a margarita, but they didn't offer shots of tequila - which he had originally asked for, so he settled on a margarita because of the tequila in it.
"Okay, so we'll do that tomorrow, what could we do Saturday?" I thought, flipping through another brochure.
"Why don't we just wait? Play it by ear. We're on vacation, we don't have to plan out everything." He said, sitting back in his chair.
I smiled at him, "You're right. We'll play it by ear." I'm more of a planner and he's more of an improviser and he was right, we didn't need to plan this out. We just do what we feel like doing, that's what vacation is about. "But we are going Salsa dancing tonight." I snuck in, taking a sip of my strawberry margarita.
"Are we now?" he raised his brows.
"Yup and I don't care if you wear board shorts, you're not getting out of this." I smirked, knowing he'd probably say that he only had board shorts and he couldn't do it.
Owen just smirked at me and nodded. "Well, since I'm not getting out of it… I need another margarita. Or maybe 3. If I'm drunk enough I won't even realize I'm there." he reasoned.
"If that's what gets you through it," I laughed. "I'm gonna need a few more to get through it too, to be honest."
"Watching you fall on your ass will be hilarious and totally worth it." he laughed.
"Who said I'm the one that's gonna fall?!"
"You've fallen walking upstairs when you were completely sober, I'm pretty sure I got this one." He laughed.
I raised my brows, he was right, but I wasn't going to let him know that. "Hmmm, we'll see."
Salsa dancing was so much fun. We were both a little tipsy so we spent the entire time laughing. We earned a few dirty looks and eventually we had to leave because we couldn't keep our composure and we didn't want to ruin anyone else's experience. To my surprise, Owen was a pretty good dancer. I also didn't bust my ass and neither did Owen, so that was a plus.
We made it back to the resort around 11 pm. I went to take a shower and when I came out he had room service bring chocolate covered strawberries and a bowl of fresh fruit. He had the interesting idea of eating the fresh fruit off of me (when I was naked), saying he'd always wanted to try it. So, we did it and it only made us end up tangled in the sheets a good 20 minutes later.
The next morning, I woke up to feeling the cool breeze and the sound of Owen's heartbeat. First I noticed that the double doors overlooking the ocean were wide open, then I noticed the sun was peeking through the horizon. I looked up at Owen, he was laying there with a hand behind his head, completely relaxed and his eyes trained on the sun. I was surprised I didn't feel him get up to open up the double doors, but he was as quiet as a mouse. He always was. He chalked it up to his days in the Navy.
"Sunrise?" was all I could manage to mumble in a groggy voice as I looked at him.
Owen chuckled, nodding as he moved a piece of hair out of my face.
I smiled as I yawned, looking back down at the sky that was directly in front of the bed. We lucked out on this room and who would have thought that Owen Grady had a soft spot for sunrises and sunsets.
I didn't make it through even half of the sunrise, as it takes about 45 minutes and I was quick to fall back to sleep.
center~~~/center
Later that morning, I woke up to find Owen's side of the bed was just a pile of blankets and sheets wrapped into one. I glanced at the time: 9:27 am. I slept in a lot later than I usually did. Usually, I'm up between 6:30 and 8 am and I consider 8 sleeping in. But we are on vacation. I could only imagine Owen was losing his mind without something like his bike to tinker with.
I yawned, stretching my arms over my head before getting out of bed. Owen was nowhere to be found in the room, so I figured he was outside.
I went to the bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror. My hair brought on a new meaning to bedhead. It was all tangled and all over the place. I laughed and ran a brush through it before throwing it into a bun. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, then changed into a burgundy floral romper that was perfect for the weather today.
I opened the double doors and saw the back of Owen's head where he sat on a lounge chair. For a moment, I wondered what he'd be doing. He'd said in the past how he never liked suntanning because he got bored of it quickly. He always needed to be doing something, which is why he had trouble relaxing sometimes - which is what I'd point out to him. To which he'd say "I'm completely relaxed, what are you talking about?" But I'm not even going to get into that now.
I walked over and saw his head was buried in a book. I caught a glimpse of the cover and couldn't help but let out a laugh. Owen looked up and closed the book, putting it face down in his lap.
"Are you reading FDR's biography?" I asked, unable to hold back a little chuckle.
"Maybe. Why does it matter?" He asked defensively.
"I've just never seen you read a book is all. The only books you have in your bungalow are of cars and boats and Navy stuff. I just never imagined you having your nose buried in a book. Let alone a biography. About FDR." I explained.
"I like to keep you on your toes," He said, smiling up at me and moving his book before opening his arms for me. I smiled and sat on his lap as he kissed the side of my head. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah, you let me sleep too late."
"I didn't want to wake you, you were so cute." He said. I looked down at him. "Plus, if anyone needs more sleep it's you. You get up too early at home."
"Me? You're the one that's up with the sun! We both need more sleep. Have you been up since 5?" I asked, brows raised.
"Yeah, but I fell asleep on the hammock for a couple of hours. So I've only really been up for 40 minutes." He defended.
"Fine." I shook my head, kissing his lips. I gave in, not wanted to fight him on it any further. "I have to call the place that does the helicopter ride over El Valle and see if they can fit us in today. But first I'm starving. Should we order room service or go out?"
"Your pick, baby." He said, rubbing my legs and giving me the reins, as he usually did.
I hummed, thinking. "Let's do room service. Pancakes and bacon." I stood up, it was beginning to be my favorite breakfast because he usually forgets the eggs so that's usually what we're stuck with when I stay over at his bungalow.
"Can't forget the fresh fruit!" He added.
"So you can eat it off of me?" I raised my brows, looking back at him with a smirk.
"Only if you want me to." He winked.
"Let's save that for another day, I actually wanna do something outside of our hotel room today." I laughed, walking inside with Owen following close behind.
They were able to squeeze us in at 12 for the helicopter ride over the volcano. It was absolutely beautiful. I was super excited for it as we watched it from up above.
"Let's hike to it!" I said into the headset. The helicopter was so loud that you couldn't really hear much.
"We're in the helicopter because you wanted to see it. This is the closest you're gonna get." Owen said.
"But it's far away, plus it's inactive. People hike to it all the time!" I explained.
"You're never satisfied." Owen couldn't help the smile on his face. I could tell he wouldn't budge, he didn't really enjoy hiking unless if it was to a waterfall or something along those lines.
"Fine," I said, defeated. "At least let's go rock climbing off a cliff. Unless if you're too scared?" I raised my brows at him.
"You know the answer to that," he said, of course, he wasn't scared. Nothing scares Owen. "We'll climb the damn cliff, but only if we can go to the Lost Waterfalls." he compromised.
"You know how many tourists they'll be?" I pointed out.
"Well, you like waterfalls. It'll be worth it." he said. I couldn't help but smile at that because I do love waterfalls and he's sacrificing being around tourists, which he hates, for me.
center~~~/center
We were not even halfway up a cliff that we were rock climbing and I looked down at Owen, he honestly looked a little scared when he looked down and then back up at me. The hint fear washed away from his face the second he saw me looking.
"You scared?" I smirked.
"No. I'm just worried you'll do something to hurt yourself." he answered, taking a step up. We each had a spotter and the ropes were attached to the top of the small cliff, where there were two more spotters. It was completely safe, something Owen double checked before we went up there.
I laughed, shaking my head as I took a step forward. My foot lost traction and I slipped down, my stomach dropping in the process. Owen grabbed my waist right away, catching me right as the rope tightened up, causing his body to be the buffer between me and the cliff, which I would have slammed into if it weren't for him.
"Like that." he said.
I gulped and looked at him, the worry evident on my face. That was actually pretty scary, but he caught me. He saved me and I know he'd never let anything bad happen to me. He reached up and tried to separate our ropes while still holding onto me with one arm.
"I love you, you know that." I said without holding myself back like I had on many other occasions. I was worried it'd be left in the air with nothing in return, but I didn't really care at this point. I just wanted to get it out, if he didn't say it back then it was fine, just as long as he knew how I felt.
Owen paused and nodded, "Yeah," he looked at me, searching my eyes. "I love you too…" he said. I felt my heart skip a beat as I grabbed the back of his head and pulled his lips to mine, which was a little difficult to manage with the helmets on, but hey, safety first.
"Hey! Esta todo bien?" one of the spotters called up to us, asking us if everything was okay.
"Estamos bien," Owen replied, telling him we were good. "We should probably get down now." he said. I raised my brows, glancing up the rest of the cliff. We didn't even make it halfway up. "We have a hotel room to get back to." he winked at me and I immediately caught on. That sure sounds a hell of a lot more fun than climbing the rest of this cliff.