Something's wrong with Owen. Though they had not yet spent enough time together to have a frame of reference for a state of normal, Cristina was finely-enough tuned to his energy to know something was off. He had left early the day before, which had been no big deal at the time, but today he had been less engaged than usual at work. That piercing intensity of his that noticed every expression of hers - every success, every error, every teaching opportunity - was unfocused and seemingly uninterested. And she had been floored when he'd missed a chance to berate Karev, who had made a snide comment within earshot of a patient that Owen had definitely overheard. He had even deferred to Derek with a "Just do it your way, then" on a case that would have been better handled with more thorough discussion. This was not the Owen she had grown accustomed to over the past few weeks, and it worried her. I wonder if he's having second thoughts about me since the other night. Maybe I came on too strong. Being abandoned at the altar by Burke had left her unsure of her own ability to perceive when something was wrong with a relationship, and without being aware she was doing it, she was hyper-sensitive to potential warning signs.

He's fucking checked out, she thought. They were sitting at the Pizza Portal waiting for their order, and he was staring off into space and not even talking to her. Cristina folded her arms, stared at him for another moment, and finally spoke. "Knock Knock. Hello? Anyone there?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was somewhere else," he apologized.

"Somewhere more interesting?" she asked with just a touch of sarcasm. With a more interesting date?

He shook his head and smiled reassuringly. "Never. I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have asked you to join me tonight. I'm lousy company."

"Tell me something I don't know," she retorted. He raised an eyebrow at her. That was kind of mean, she realized. Her demeanor gentled and she leaned forward and asked with some trepidation, "What's going on?"

"I don't know if I can talk about it right now." He looked supremely uncomfortable. At least he's finally looking at me, she thought. "I'm still trying to process something that I think I have to do, but it's really personal."

Cristina's heart started to beat faster and her mind began to race. Shit, she thought, he's got another girlfriend somewhere and he's deciding whether or not to tell me about it. Or maybe he's considering going back into the military and leaving here. He's bored at this job. That's why he's so disinterested. I knew this relationship looked too good to be true.

She tried to keep her affect neutral. "Try me," she said. There was a slight edge to her voice.

"No, really," he said. Her hand rested on the table and he placed his over it. "This is nothing to do with us… well… except for how it might get in the way…"

Shit, she started to fume, I was right. There's someone else. No way I'm going to walk right into another heartbreak when I can see this one coming a mile off. I am so done with secretive men who don't tell you what's wrong and then just leave you…" She pulled her hand away and started to gather her things. "When you decide to clue me in, give me a buzz, and I'll see if I can pencil you in on my calendar." She rose and started toward the door.

Owen looked at her in shock and got up, grabbing her arm. "Hey, wait! What the hell is going on? I must be missing something here."

"Well, let's see. You have some big personal thing that you just said might get in the way for us, and you don't want to tell me about it, so I'm thinking to myself that I'm better off getting out while the getting's good."

He just stared at her for a second. "Ok, I'm confused." He shook his head. "And clearly I'm fucking something up but I don't know what or why. Will you please sit down?" She just stared at him. He gestured toward the seat. "Please?"

She stood for another moment and then nodded. Maybe I'm overreacting, she considered. They both sat down again. Just then their pizza arrived and he took a moment to acknowledge the waitress before turning his full attention back to Cristina. "What the hell was that?" he asked.

She stared at him, trying to read the situation, and said nothing.

"I feel like I just walked in on somebody else's conversation… like there's some subtext here I'm not clued into. Before I say anything more, maybe you want tell me what's going on?"

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "You first," she said.

He met her gaze for a moment, then plated a slice of pizza and handed it to her. "Eat something, Dr. Yang. Maybe that'll improve your surly disposition," he joked uncomfortably.

Touché, she acknowledged silently. She took the plate from him. I guess one of us is going to have to start talking or this evening is going to get really tedious. She took a bite and then looked at him with a more playful attitude, "You're right! I feel better already. Look how much nicer I am."

Owen laughed. "Can we start this whole thing over? I forgot where we got on, and I have no idea where to get off."

It suddenly occurred to Cristina that her assumptions about what he'd been telling her earlier could be completely off base. She was making up stories without having the facts. What had he actually said? This was something personal, and it might get in their way. Surely there were other explanations that didn't include him leaving or being a cheater. Has he been anything but straight with me since the moment we met? I have to remember he's not Burke. He's so not Burke. He's like the Anti-Burke.

"I'm sorry," she said. "You're not the only one with shit in their past. I got screwed over a while ago and I thought I was over it, but..."

"Want to tell me about it?"

I kind of do, Cristina realized. Why not? If he takes off after this, I'll have saved myself some grief in the long run. And if he doesn't… "Did you know I was engaged to an Attending last year?"

Owen looked at her in surprise and was quiet for a moment. "I've been studiously avoiding the hospital grapevine, so no, I had no idea. Anyone I know?" he asked as casually as he could manage, meanwhile mentally ticking off the male Attendings at Seattle Grace. No one there seemed worthy of her by a long shot. He hoped to God it wasn't someone he was working with. That would be a complication he could do without.

"Maybe by reputation. Ever heard of Preston Burke?"

Owen shook his head. "Nope, the name doesn't ring a bell." Well that's refreshing, she thought. Burke was a legend in his own mind, but not in everyone else's, apparently. Suddenly the cult of Burke worship at Seattle Grace began to seem provincial and silly to her.

"Well, anyway, we were supposed to get married… and we had the wedding all planned… and I was there in my dress… and… he took off," she ended flatly. No, the pain is not gone... It was humiliating. But it was actually easier to say this than I thought. I don't really FEEL anything about it anymore. That's good. That's really good.

"Took off … as in left you there?... as in left you at the altar?" Owen was incredulous.

Cristina nodded. This is the moment of truth. She looked at him, assessing.

"What a fucking coward. No real man would treat a woman that way. I can't even picture you caring about a guy like that. Where is this piece of shit, anyway?" he asked. There was a mischievous glint in his eye, "Want me to beat him up for you?"

Now this is NOT the reaction I expected. A smile began to curve Cristina's lips. I think I would actually pay to see that. "If he ever comes back I'll point him out for you, and you can have at it," she replied as she took another bite. "But I don't think he's ever coming back here. At least I hope not."

"Did you love this asshole?"

Cristina let out a little snort, "I thought I did, but looking back on it, he didn't love me for who I was. He was like this Cardio God and I was his little disciple. He kept trying to remake me into the right woman for him. I lost a part of myself in that relationship, and for a while I thought I'd never get it back," she finished.

"And have you gotten it back?"

She looked into his blue eyes and felt a warm glow suffuse her. "I'm definitely working on it," she said.

"And he's the reason you almost walked out of here just a few minutes ago?"

"Well, not directly," she considered, "but you don't leave someone at the altar without keeping some pretty big secrets. I mean, if we'd been communicating we would never have gotten to that point…"

Owen nodded as he picked up the thread, "So I go and tell you that I've got something personal and that it might affect us…"

"And that's not a position I'm ever going to put myself in again," she affirmed.

"Got it," he said.

"So you have to tell me what's going on with you, even if it's personal. You can't shut me out because I need to be able to trust that there won't be any awful surprises here, or I can't move forward with you."

Owen felt the way he had felt when she had told him about her Dad. Another layer of the onion peels away.

"Ok," he agreed, "but let's eat first. Our pizza's getting cold. And I can't do this on an empty stomach."