Winter Freeze
Chapter 4
"This actually worked out really nice," Annabel went on as Owen sat on her bed, waiting for her to hurry up and pick an outfit. He wasn't sure why she couldn't just wear what she had work to the radio station earlier that morning, but he was never one to argue with her. "We'll go be with your family today and mine tomorrow."
"Yeah, sure," he mumbled, staring down at his phone. He and Rolly were in a pretty heated debate about football and he really didn't care one way or another what Annabel thought was nice. The day and the next day were going to suck. They were all going to suck. Life sucked. Girl had to find that out eventually.
"After we finish with your family though, do you think you could come back here with me? I have to make something for dinner tomorrow. You cook better than I do."
"Mmmmhmm."
"I was thinking a pie. You like pie, don't you?"
"Mmmmhmm."
"You can even pick out the flavor."
"Chocolate."
"That's good. I'll ask Mom to pick us up the stuff to make it when she goes to the store this afternoon." She giggled slightly, finally pulling what she wanted out of her closet. "Okay, I'm going to go get dressed, alright?"
Owen was saved from death by mortification when her father walked in a split second before he made some kind of a crack about how she should just get dressed right in front of him, as they'd already seen more than enough of each other. God's grace, probably.
"Annabel, would you kindly tell your sister and her boyfriend that your mother-"
"Dad, not now. Talk to them yourself." She pushed passed him and into the hallway. "I have to get ready to go out with Owen. I won't be home till probably dinner time. We're eating over there though so-"
"No, we'll still be hungry," Owen interjected as he looked up from his phone. "Well, I will be."
"Owen," Annabel complained over her shoulder before she headed to the bathroom. He just shrugged, going back to his phone.
"Can you tell Kirsten then that her mother wants her to get ready to go shopping?"
Owen frowned, looking up to stare at Mr. Greene. "Me?"
"You want to be part of this family don't you?"
At the moment, not particularly. "I guess so."
"Then take care of that."
"Kirsten doesn't…like me."
"Life goes on," Andrew said simply, turning then to walk out of the room. "She's in her old bedroom, I think."
Owen sat there for a good minute, weighing his options. He and Andrew hadn't been on good terms since probably before last summer, before the whole cheating thing came to light and he struck Annabel. This was a chance to at least come to a somewhat stable truce. Maybe. On the other hand though, Kirsten…shiver.
Sighing as he found his feet, Owen headed out of Annabel's bedroom and into the hall. By process of elimination, he was able to figure out which room was Kirsten's and headed over to knock on it.
"What?" he heard her call from the other side of the door.
"Uh…your dad wanted me to tell you that your mother wanted you to know that she was going shopping later and she wanted you to get ready to go." Owen cleared his throat. "Okay?"
He heard the woman groan on the other side of the door and took that to mean that she had heard him. Smiling, he turned just as Annabel came out of the bathroom.
"Okay, Bear, let me get my shoes and then we can go," she told him as she walked passed. Then she paused. "What are you doing outside of Kirsten's door?"
"Your dad wanted me to tell her-"
"Oh God, Owen, don't start doing his bidding now."
"I wasn't," he defended, following her into her bedroom. "Can we go now?"
"Yes," she told him as she slipped his shoes on. "How long does it take to get to your aunt's house?"
"Hour and a half at most."
"Can we listen to my CDs?"
"If I made it."
"Bear-"
"We need to leave, Bell. Now." He went over to her stereo, sighing slightly. 'I'll grab a few of yours, okay? Just make sure they don't get mixed in with mine in the car. You may never find them."
"Don't I know it."
When they made it downstairs, they found her mother in the kitchen, making something. Annabel quickly headed in there as well making Owen hold down a groan. The girl knew nothing about being punctual.
"Mom, Owen and I are going to make a chocolate pie. Can you get the stuff for that?" she asked.
"Of course, sweetheart." Grace smiled at Owen and, even though it was forced, Owen admired her effort. "Is there anything special you want at Thanksgiving tomorrow, Owen?"
"Oh, no," he said, shaking head. "Whatever you guys make will be fine."
"We're making ham and turkey, so-"
"Both are fine with me," he assured her as Annabel got her jacket off the back of one of the kitchen chairs before rushing over to him.
"Bye, Mom. We'll be home for dinner," Annabel said, taking Owen's hand as she passed him. "Come on, Owen."
Oh, now she was rushing him? Sighing, he allowed her to pull him along, only stopping to slip on his boots and coat before they went out the door.
"The news said that it might snow tomorrow," Annabel told him as they headed over to the Land Cruiser.
"So I've heard," he muttered. "Tomorrow before I come over I have to swing by the hospital to see Mallory."
"I know, Bear."
"She's just so…bored." He shrugged slightly. "I gave her my old Gameboy, but-"
"What is that?"
He just groaned. "You slay me, you know that?"
"I really don't know what-"
"The point is that she's bored and alone. She and her friends aren't exactly-"
"Does she have an mp3 player?"
"No," he said slowly. "Why?"
Annabel took the little hammer out of the door on her side of the car before buckling herself in. She had been insistent on doing that recently. It was really cute to Owen usually. At the moment it was just annoying.
"What if I take your Ipod thingy and delete some of your music-"
"Annabel-"
"-and fill it with things that Mallory likes and then give it to her?"
"Why does my stuff have to be deleted?"
"Is there enough room for music for her?"
"I don't know."
"Owen-"
"Don't you have an Ipod you can give her?"
"No. I have a CD player, but I don't think she'll-"
"Great. Give her that."
"Owen-"
"I give up a lot for her," Owen told his girlfriend as he pulled out of the driveway. "Why do I have to give up my music too?"
"Don't you love her?"
"Not funny. Not in the fucking slightest."
"Calm down. It as just a suggestion. Don't give it to her. I don't really care." Annabel cross her arms as he slipped one of her CDs in. "I don't care hat you do, Owen, at all. Ever. So-"
"Don't start fighting with me before we get there. The last thing you want to do is come off as a bitch to my relatives."
"I'm not a bitch," she whispered, though she knew what he had said held some weight. This was the first time she would be meeting some of his family; she didn't want to come off in a bad light.
"I know you're not. You just…act that way sometimes."
"And you act like a jackass sometimes."
"A lot of the time," he readily admitted. "But I'm not going to be that today. I'm going to be the nice boyfriend, loving sibling of the girl that can't be here, the sociable son, and favorite grandson/nephew."
"It's not going to be vegan food, is it?" she asked after a moment.
"No, of course not. Ew."
"Is your mom the only one who-"
"Yeah, she is. Trust me, there'll be lots of meat."
"Oh. Good." Annabel's arms fell slightly. "So why are they all coming over today anyways?"
"Today's the day that my grandfather and his second wife come. Cam's mother. Then tomorrow Mom is going to drive down to see her mother."
"Oh. Are you…close to your grandfather's wife?"
"She's my other grandma, Annabel. She's always been there. I mean, God."
"I didn't know. Sorry."
Owen shrugged slightly. "I didn't get to see them a lot though, when I was kid. Now we live up here, near them."
"I didn't get to see my grandparents a lot," Annabel mumbled then, shifting in her seat. "Now they're dead."
"Dad's dad is dead," Owen told her then. "He's the one I got the goggles from. He was real old when I was a kid."
"I'm sorry."
"People die, Annabel."
"I know."
He let out a long sigh. "I just…"
"It's okay, Bear."
They rode in silence for awhile. Annabel just sat there, head against the window, watching out of the corner of her eyes. Owen for his part was counting the seconds until her stupid CD ended and they could listen to something at least tolerable.
"I didn't get a hangover," Annabel mentioned randomly at one point. "From yesterday."
"You weren't that drunk anyways."
"We should do that more often."
"Drink?"
"Hang out with Rolly," she corrected. "I feel bad for him sometimes."
"Yeah," Owen muttered, thinking of his friend that was no doubt still sleeping off another one of his parties. "I do too."
"He just seems so lonely."
"Rolly?"
"Yes," Annabel said, nodding her head slightly. "Lonely."
"I dunno about that, Bell."
"Well, I do."
"If you say so," Owen agreed, more not to start a fight than anything else.
"We should invite him to dinner tomorrow."
"What?"
"Yeah. Mom and Dad won't mind," Annabel said, pulling her phone out then, no doubt to text him. "His parents went and left him all alone. It's not fair."
"He could have gone," Owen pointed out. "He wanted to stay home and screw random drunk chicks that were dumb enough to show up at his parties."
"Owen."
"What?"
"You should be a better friend."
"Me?" He made a face. "What about you?"
"I am a good friend. I'm nice to Clarke, I pretend to like Rolly, and I love you. Nice friend."
"I tolerate Clarke, I get Rolly out of all the shit he causes, and I'd die for you. Nice friend."
"Psychotic friend."
"Annabel-"
"Truth hurts, Snoogie."
"That reminds me," he said then. "No calling me that when we get there."
"But Bear-"
"Or that. Owen. You will call me Owen."
"It's so hard though."
"I know."
Telling me that I can't just makes me want to do it even more. I always call you Bear. You're Bear. Bear."
"I know."
"Ooh, I know what." Annabel sat up some then, smiling over at him. Owen just kept staring at the road.
"What?"
"I'll call you Gavin."
"No."
"Owen-"
"No."
"Gavin." She giggled. "I love that name."
"Yeah, well, I don't."
"That's because you're no fun." Annabel shook her head. "Gavin. Owen Gavin Armstrong. I love that."
"Bella-"
"Gavin Is a better name than Owen. I don't know why you don't go by that. Gavin is a badass name a dark past and a motorcycle. Owen's a country boy from Mississippi that spent summers catching frogs down by the river."
"I'm not country."
"You're not a badass either."
"What's your middle name?"
"Dawn."
"What?" He laughed slightly. "Dawn. Annabel Dawn. That's cute."
"I feel like these are things we should have learned about each other months ago. God, we're about to have been together a year."
"Yeah, but it's funnier this way," Owen pointed out. "People that learn everything about each other get bored. You know?"
"I guess so."
"Besides, middle names aren't that important," he told her. "But know your favorite TV show ever is. And I will admit, Scooby Doo is awesome."
"It is."
"Now your second favorite ever, the Kardashians? That sucks."
"You're just a hater."
"As is the majority of the world."
"Don't follow the crowd, Bear."
"You can't call me that today."
She just let out a long sigh. "You really get to me sometimes."
"Also, no name calling while we're there."
"What?"
"Yeah. And no-"
"Owen, if you just didn't want me to go, that's all you freaking had to say."
"I just want this to go perfectly, Annabel."
"So basically you want me to lie about the person I am and be someone completely different."
"Not at all," Owen said, shaking his head slightly. "I love all of you. I just want them to get that chance too."
"By me being phony."
"Not calling me Bear is not you being phony, Annabel. It's just respectful to my wishes."
She just sat there then, staring straight ahead. Owen sighed, nudging the volume up on his stereo, figuring it was best to try and lose himself in her crappy pop music than duke it out with her.
"You know, Bell, this is very important to me," he said finally. "I want everyone to love you like I love you. You're important to me. One of the most important things in my life."
She paused for a moment. "Behind?"
"Mallory and music."
"I'm fine with one of those, but not the other."
"Annabel," he scolded. "You should know that my sister is more important to me."
"Owen-"
"I'd give up music for you," Owen said then.
"Liar."
"I would. For a whole day. If, like, your life was on the line or something."
"What kind of diabolical mastermind would make you choose between music and me?"
"An evil genius."
She giggled again finally, looking at him. "I don't want to embarrass you in front of your family, Owen."
"You couldn't," he assured her. "You're amazing. Far more astounding than anyone could have ever predicted for me."
"If you weren't driving I'd kiss you right now."
"Because what I said turned you on?"
"No," Annabel said slowly. "What you just said was silly and mushy."
"Then why-"
"Because astounding is a big word for you. I'm proud."
"I'm proud of you too."
"For?"
"Stuff."
"Owen-"
"The radio show," he said finally. "I know I wasn't nice about you getting it at first, but I just want you to know that I am really happy for you. Proud of you. You've done a good job. A spectacular job."
"Mmm. What exactly are you hoping to get out of all these words, mister?"
"Well, you know."
"God, it hasn't even been a week yet and you already think-"
"What can I say, baby, you're magic."
"Baby?"
"Bella. Whatever."
"Oh, B…Gavin."
"Gavin. You really like that? You're not just fucking with me?"
"Most certainly not," she said, nodding. "Gavin. That's going to be our first son's name."
"Who said I'm having sons with you?"
"Uh, you. Many times."
"We're not naming our kid something I don't like anyways," Owen said, readily giving into that.
"No, we are. Gavin. Gavin Greene."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. He's my son. Just like you'll be my husband. Owen Greene."
"You kid."
"I don't."
"I would never take your last name. You'll be taking mine."
"I'll be hyphening my name."
"That's such a dick thing to do."
"I'm shocked your mother didn't do that," she told him honestly. "As pro woman she is."
He shrugged slightly. "I still think it's a stupid thing to do."
"Greene-Armstrong. That sounds funny."
"'cause it's stupid."
"Our witty conversations get to me sometimes. Something I'll miss I suppose."
"Where are you going that we can't have witty conversations?" Owen frowned over at her. "We're going to talk on the phone, like, everyday. And sexting is a big thing these days, Ann-"
"No."
"Well, you're a spoilsport."
"You're not getting a kiss for that one," she told him.
"I didn't do it for the kiss. I did it because I'm truthful."
"Oh whatever."
"You've never learned how to play dominoes?"
"I'm sorry," Annabel said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I only have sisters."
"Girls can play dominoes," the ten year old reasoned. "They're just no good at them."
"Oh," she said while Owen rolled his eyes.
"Play nice, Jesse," Owen told his cousin who just sent him a death glare. "I'm serious. Annabel is my girlfriend. If she doesn't know how to play that game, maybe we should play another."
Groaning, the boy jumped off his aunt's guest bed, going over to the closet. Being a single woman, Camille didn't have a lot of board games, but since Mallory had gotten sick, she'd bought a few.
"Can we play Battleship?"
"Not everyone can play that game, buddy," Owen told him, making the other boy groan. Kelly, Owen's other cousin, giggled from Annabel's lap. She was three and had immediately attached herself to the older girl.
"How come we can't just play outside?" Val asked. She was Owen's mother's something. Life was complicated enough without figuring all that stuff out. She used to be pretty nice and sweet, but since she turned eleven she had been a monster and Owen wanted nothing more than to get rid of her. "I don't want to play a stupid board game."
"It's cold out and your mom said you just got over being sick," Owen told her. He was sitting at the desk, mostly mediating between the children. Typically at these family things Owen would spend all his time with the adults, listening to me talk and argue. Annabel though seemed to rather be around the children which was fine, really…for her.
"You're stupid, Owen."
He just rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh. Annabel smiled over at him before looking down at the girl in her lap.
"What do you wanna play, Kelly?" she asked her, but the girl just giggled, cuddling back into Annabel.
"Aunt Cam burnt the sweet potatoes," announced another child as he came into the room with a girl.
"Can you do that?" Jesse asked as he pulled the Monopoly box down from the top shelf.
"Apparently," the girl that had come in said. "Ooh, we're playing Monopoly?"
"I'm not," Owen told them all.
"No one wants you to play, Owen, because you're stupid," Val told him, going to get on the bed also. Annabel smiled at her boyfriend again, but he just shook his head.
"Stupid is a bad word," the girl that had just come in, Terra, told Val as she went to pick her piece for Monopoly.
"You're stupid too."
"Hey, knock it off now," Owen said, frowning. "You want me to go tell your mom?"
"Tattletale," Val mumbled, glaring at him.
"Which do you wanna be, Kelly?" Annabel asked the little girl. "Huh?"
"Dis one." She grabbed the racecar, giggling.
"Okay," Annabel said, taking it from her as the girl tried to put it in her mouth. "We put it on the board, not in our mouths. You know that."
"Annabel," the girl giggled, cuddling into her again.
"I'll be back," Owen said then, standing up. "Okay, Bella?"
"Mmmhmm," she said, distracted as she helped Jesse figure out how to be banker.
Groaning to let his displeasure be known, Owen got up and left the room, no one really taking much notice in it. Whatever. He didn't really want to be around any of them anyway. Except Annabel. She was always the one exception.
"When's food?"
"Go away," Cam said, batting at his head when he came into the kitchen.
"I'm hungry," he complained, standing behind her in the kitchen. "I was told to show up at noon. I did. Where's my food?"
"God, you're like a little boy," the woman complained.
"There's this, Owen," his mother called from the kitchen table. "If you're hungry."
He took one look at the vegetable platter before looking back at his aunt. "Yeah, I'm gonna need food soon. Real food."
"God, go be with your girlfriend. Isn't that why you brought her?"
"She's playing Monopoly with the kids," Owen told her. "That's boring."
"You know what that's called, Owen? Being a good person. Right now she's being a better person than you. Do you understand that?"
"I don't care," he said as another one of his aunt's came into the room. "Can I make sandwich?"
"We're eating in, like, an hour."
"So yes sandwich or no?"
"Whatever. Just get out of the way."
Well, wasn't she rude? Still, mission accomplished. Whistling after he had made his snack, Owen took it outside to eat. All of his male relatives were in the living room, watching something dumb on TV. The last thing he wanted to d was hear them talk.
While has eating in his car and listening to music, Owen got a phone call. Usually he would ignore it, but it was Rolly. Even more reason to ignore it, right? Still, they had been on good terms the past few days and he didn't want to screw that up. Sighing, he turned down his music before answering the phone.
"Hello?"
"So are you and Annabel still together or is she trying to get it in with me?"
"Repeat yourself and be very careful because I am not against murder."
"She text me and I asked if I wanted to come to Thanksgiving dinner."
"Yeah, as a freaking friend," Owen said, frowning. "Are you that dense? I'm going to."
"So I'm not going to be hooking up with her afterwards?"
"Watch your mouth."
"And I take it from that that you're not going to be either."
"Seriously, Rolly, knock it off."
"Where are you today anyways, bro? I'm so bored."
"I told you, I went to Cam's house."
"For?"
"Some of my family came over. We're eating."
"And you didn't invite me?"
"You just got invited to freaking Annabel's house and thought that she wanted to hook up."
"I would invite you to my house for dinner, Owen."
"And?" The teen shook his head slightly. "Where are you anyways?"
"At home, watching TV. Smoking. Eating Doritos. The usual."
"Right."
"Thinking about life, love, fucking your girlfriend."
"Dude, you're seriously about to get it."
"I'm kidding," Rolly insisted. "Although, she does seem pretty fuckable."
"That is not a thing and Annabel is not that thing."
"Fuckable is a thing, but if you thought it wasn't a thing, how could you tell me that Annabel's not it?"
"What does that even mean? Fuckable?"
"She just has that body, you know? And that really sweet face." Rolly inhaled something deeply and noisily on the other end of the phone which only pissed his friend off even more. "She'd like being fucked. Really fucked. Not whatever the hell you've been doing to her."
"Shut up."
"You've just got to do it, bro. Fuck her. Stop screwing around. Get it over with. If you had just done that to begin with instead of all this kindness garb. Then you guys would have been having sex for almost a year now and you'd be onto greater things."
"Uh, Rolly, compared to the handjobs, sex is the greater thing."
"I meant blows and all this other shit. Instead, you have her thinking that you're all interested in her needs and shit. God."
"I am."
"You kill me, bro."
"Annabel isn't just one of your girlfriends, Rolly, that you'll date for a few months. I'm with her because I want to be with her, not because I want something out of her." Owen was really containing himself, honestly he was. He wanted to get upset with Rolly, but knew if he did his anger would show to the others when he went back inside. "And if you ever talk about her like that again, you'll have more to worry about than just making me angry."
"Bro?"
"And fuck you. Really and truly."
After hanging up, Owen quickly finished his sandwich before heading back into the house. Not even bothering with any of his family, he immediately headed to the guest bedroom.
"You move four. Can you count four?"
"You count."
"You want me to count for you?" Annabel was saying as she moved her and Kelly's piece across the board. "One, two, three, four."
The youngest of them all giggled while Val just yelled out that it was her turn before grabbing the dice. Owen stood there for a moment before closing the door behind him and heading over to the bed.
"Sorry, Owen," Annabel told him. "It's too late. You can't play."
"I don't want to play," he told her simply as he leaned down to kiss her. This of course sent the other children in the room into a frenzy, making this disgusted noises like most kids do.
Fuckable. There was no way that was a thing…was there?
"Do you like gravy that much?"
"Yes," Owen told Annabel, covering all his food in it. "And ketchup."
"You are not pouring ketchup all over that."
"I'm not pouring it, Annabel. You don't pour ketchup. You drizzle it heavily."
"You know," his mother spoke up from next to Owen. They were all in the kitchen, getting their food. "Ketchup isn't good for you."
Annabel frowned. "It has animal stuff in it?"
"Oh, no, vegans can eat it," Owen's mother assured her. "I just don't believe in using commercially processed food."
"In other words, you never eat anything good," Cam spoke up from the counter where she was getting some dressing. "I mean honestly, Teresa."
Owen just continued to cover his food in ketchup, at peace for once. It was obvious to both him and his mother that his sister was noticeably absent and had been all day. Still, food was a good distracter for Owen. A great distracter really.
Once they were seated at the dining room table, Owen completely zoned out of everything. Part of him was secretly afraid that Annabel would want him to eat at the kids table, as Kelly had begged for her to sit over there. Still, Annabel seemed to pick up on him wanting to be at the dining table with the adults and gave into him.
"Don't eat so fast," Annabel mumbled to him, elbowing him in the side gently.
Letting out a long sigh, he shifted in his seat to glance at her. "Happy?"
"Don't make me elbow you harder."
Reaching one hand under the table, Owen rested it on his girlfriend's thigh, squeezing slightly. Annabel shifted slightly, but didn't make him remove it. Owen took that as a good sign as he stroked up and down her thigh, using his other hand to get back to eating.
Fuckable. Seriously, who comes up with that shit? Fuckable. Fuckable. Annabel. Fuckable. Fuckable Annabel. Annabel is-
"So, Annabel, how long have you and Owen been dating again?"
He frowned, looking up at his grandmother. Why was she interrupting his thoughts? He couldn't think of fuckable things when his grandmother was speaking. Ha. Fuckable thoughts. Like Annabel.
…He was really coming around to the idea. Just minus Rolly.
"A year in December," she told them woman, smiling at her. Owen was still scowling slightly, but he couldn't help it. Rolly was really onto something. Like in porn. There were girls in porn that weren't really cut out for it, but it made it more real. Then there were ones that were made to be porn stars. Fuckable girls.
…Wait…Did that mean…
"I'll be right back." Owen jumped up suddenly, causing Annabel to frown at him.
"Where are you going, Owen?" his mother called after him as he headed towards the front door.
"I have to call someone," he told her, knowing that she would assume it was his sister. He was really cutting it close to lying these days.
"Hello?"
"You were calling Annabel a slut."
"Hello to you," Rolly repeated back. "And no, I wasn't. She's far from it."
"Fuckable? Fuckable? Really? That's not being a whore?"
"Whore, slut, fuckable. You really need to learn the difference between all of these things." Rolly let out a long sigh. "I mean really, bro. It's a compliment to say that you have a fuckable girlfriend."
"What exactly does that mean to you? In complete honesty?"
"That I could fuck her. God, how many different ways do you want me to say it?"
"It just…bothers me."
"Everything bothers you," Rolly reasoned. "Besides, I don't think Annabel's into me."
"She's not," Owen said with force. It was really cold out there and he was starting to regret going out there in the first place. "At all."
"Alright. Whatever. Fuckable is a good quality though, Owen, now that the two of you are, you know, doing it."
"Doing it."
"Yeah." Rolly snickered. "Fuckability is an important quality in a chick. You got one with it right out of the box. That's great. Owen. I don't know why you're so apprehensive about it."
"Annabel's not a slut."
"Fine. Alright. Is that all you wanted?"
"I want you to stop saying that she's…fuckable."
"Alright. Annabel is not fuckable. At all. That all you needed?" When he didn't respond, Rolly just said, "Great. See you tomorrow at dinner, buddy."
When he got back to the dining room, Annabel was talking to his grandfather about something. Cam looked the most relieved to see him return, but that was probably because she thought he could get his girlfriend to shut up. Owen had never quite understood Camille's hatred of Annabel, but it was stating to get to him. Maybe more than the fuckable thing.
…Nah.
"You call your dad?" Owen's mother asked as he sat down. "He's with Mallory."
"No," Owen said simply as Annabel smiled at him. "I just had to take care of something."
His mother had to leave it at that when her stepmother spoke to her. Annabel just smiled at Owen as he rested his hand on her thigh again.
"What were you really doing?" she asked him in a hushed tone.
"Talking to Rolly," he mumbled to her, getting back into his food.
"About?"
"You."
"Me?"
"You."
"You're so full of it."
Owen just shrugged. "You know you're the center of all my conversations."
"All of them?"
He squeezed her thigh softly. "All of them."
"It's so cold."
"It's snowing," Owen pointed out, wrapping an arm around Annabel's shoulders.
"Doesn't change the fact that it's cold."
He just sighed, kissing the side of her head. "I have to go home soon."
"You have to wait for the pie to finish baking."
"Why do I have to wait for that?"
"Because I told you to."
The two of them were standing in front of the glass backdoor, looking out into the backyard at the snow falling. Snow seemed to fascinate Annabel for some reason, but Owen was kind of over it. When it snowed in the south, it was great, interesting. When it snowed up north it was kind of like, wow, exactly what happened the year before happened again. Shut the fuck up about it
"I want to get home before it gets too bad," he told her. "Unless your plan is to trap me over here."
"Certainly."
"I like that plan."
"Me too."
"I don't think your parents will be down for it though."
"Probably not."
"So I should go."
"Fine," Annabel groaned, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Ooh, don't forget to bring me your Ipod tomorrow."
"To bring to Mallory, right?"
"Yes."
"I'm still not sold on this idea."
"You're just not very good at conforming."
"I think that's a good thing." He kissed her that time, lingering for a moment before taking a step back. "Let me go get my boots and leave."
Annabel still held onto his arm. "Will you call me when you get home?"
"Most definitely."
"Fine," she groaned, releasing him then though she still followed behind him to the front door. It felt like they had just gotten home from his aunt's, though they had in reality been over three hours. It was almost ten by that point and Owen just really wanted to get home and go to bed. It had been a long day after all.
"I'd walk you to the car, but-"
"It's cold, Bell," Owen told her as he grabbed his coat off the rack by the door. "You stay here."
Reaching out, she pulled him in for a hug, making his laugh slightly. He knew though that her sister, future brother-in-law, mother, and father were all lurking somewhere in the house and that their time alone was long passed.
"I'll miss you," she mumbled against his chest. Owen just kissed her head one more time before pulling his hat down a little tighter on his head. He didn't like the cold after all.
"I'll call you when I get home," he promised as she let him go. "What time should I come over in the morning?"
"Whenever. We don't eat until, like, five or six in the afternoon so it really just depends on how much time you want to spend together."
"A lot," he assured her before opening the front door. "Bella."
"Bear."
The second the door was closed behind him, Owen started shivering. Cold was his worst enemy. You know, right behind Rolly at the moment.
Fuckable. Seriously?
When Owen got home he found his mother waiting up for him in the living room. He knew that she had been lonely recently, what with him being gone so much and Mallory being sick. Part of him felt bad for her being alone constantly, but the other part him was totally into Annabel and couldn't be held down.
"Today was a good day," his mother told him as he took his boots off my the door and put his coat on the rack. "Did your girlfriend have fun?"
"I think, yeah."
"The little ones really liked her."
"Yeah."
"So anyways, you're not going with me to Grandma's tomorrow, are you?"
"No. I'm eating at Annabel's."
His mother sighed slightly. "I figured as much."
"She invited me, Mom."
"I didn't say it was a bad thing, dear." She smiled at him slightly. The only light in the room was coming from the television, but it was just on the news. "You know that your father's leaving Friday."
"I'm aware."
"Did the two of you have your…talk?"
He frowned at her then, standing in front of the television. "Mom, if you wanted me to leave or think that I'm taking up too much space in the house-"
"I didn't tell him that."
"He said that I'm a bother to you and-"
"He's twisting my words, Owen." She stood then too, staring at him. "I just thought that perhaps you would like such an option. You don't, that's fine."
"I don't want to go live in Arizona. Not without Annabel."
"And that's fine. You know that I'm not going to kick you out, Owen. Would I rather you go to college? Completely."
"Mom-"
"But I love you. And I know that you're going to do what you want with your life. That's what it's about, Owen, life is. Figuring out what you want to do with it. Your father thinks that we can just work this out of you until you want to go to college, but I know it doesn't work that way. This is your life, not ours. So as long as you're working, you're welcome here. Alright?"
He just nodded, not sure what else to say.
"Alright," she said then, moving forward to cup the back of his neck. Then, pulling him forwards, she kissed his head. "Go to bed. You've got to get up early in the morning, huh?"
"Yeah."
"You can take one of the dishes from tonight over to there tomorrow if you want."
"I don't think I can bring leftovers."
"Why not?"
"Mom, they're, like, rich."
"They're not rich, Owen."
"Compared to us. Her mom doesn't even have to work. Only when she wants to. And they have a pool. And a two story house."
"We have a-"
"Not our kind of two story house, Mom. Not a 'Oh, out of space, make a second floor' kind of two story. They have tons of space down there and tons up there." He stared at her. "I don't think you understand how different they are from us."
"I think you're exaggerating, honey."
"I think you don't know them like I do."
"That could be because I've never met them."
He shrugged. "Why would you?"
She just sighed, staring at him. "If you don't want to bring anything, that's fine, Owen. I doubt that they'll hate on you for bringing leftovers."
"They won't, no, but they'll look down on me."
"More so than if you bring nothing at all?"
"Yes."
"Then maybe you should think more about who you're spending all your time with." She patted his cheek then. "Now go to bed. I was serious about that."
"They're not snooty, Mom."
"I know. You're just exaggerating, like I said."
"But-"
"Go. Goodnight. I love you."
Owen wanted to stay and explain to her what he had meant, but knew that Annabel was waiting on his call. Shaking his head as he turned to head towards his room, he called over his shoulder, "I love you too."
"Wow, your chick's family is cool."
"Shut up, Rolly."
"They are."
"Speak for yourself, kid."
Owen and Rolly frowned as they were joined in the living room by Brian. Annabel was with her sisters in the kitchen and Drew had been sent the store or something. Owen wasn't too sure. He and Rolly had been enjoying football, but apparently they were going to have to do it in the company of someone else.
"I like the Mrs. Greene," Owen told Brian, hardly looking at him as the guy sat on the other end of the couch. Rolly, who was in between the two of them, smiled. He always like d a good argument.
"I wasn't talking about her," Brian said simply, reaching forwards to grab the bowl of Cheetos off the coffee table. "Talking about Andrew."
"Man, you guys must be cool. Most of my girlfriends' fathers hate it when I call them by name," Rolly said, nodding.
"I'm not a little boy like the two of you."
Owen frowned. "You know, you did get his daughter pregnant. Not to mention you secretly lived in an apartment that he was paying for. So maybe it's not all his fault."
"Don't play," Brian told him. "I've heard enough about how the two of you don't get along."
"I didn't get Annabel pregnant. The way I see it, you're way worse off than me."
"For now."
Glaring over at Brian, Owen thought of all the things he could say that the guy. Then Annabel had to go and call his name from the kitchen.
"Coming," he called back causing Rolly to snicker.
"Whipped," he whispered to his friend, but Owen just jumped up to find out what his girlfriend wanted.
"What'd you want, Annabel?" he asked as he made it in there.
"I wanted to give you this." She was sitting at the kitchen table, never the cook of the family, her laptop in front of her. She waved his Ipod at him. "I made a list of the things I deleted to, so-"
"Thanks," he said, going to take it from her. "Are you sure Mallory will-"
"Like the music? Duh." She rolled her eyes as he came to stand in front of her. "When are you going to see her?"
"Probably tomorrow."
"Don't you work tomorrow too?"
"I do," he told her, slipping his music player back in his pocket.
"So we won't see each other at all?"
"We spent how many days together this week?"
"You sound clingy, Annabel," Kirsten chided from over by the counter were she was chopping something up.
"Really clingy," Whitney agreed.
"Leave your sister alone," Grace told them both while Annabel just resorted to sending them nasty looks over her shoulder.
"You want to come watch TV with us?" Owen asked her then. "Now that you're done?"
"I'm clearly helping in here, Owen."
"Clearly." He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. The second she did, he pulled her up before taking her into the living room with him.
"Annabel," Rolly said as she came into the room. "I was just telling Brad here how much I like your folks."
"Brian," the older man said, glaring at the teen.
"Whatever."
Annabel just smiled at Owen as she went to sit in the chair, leaving him with the couch. Making a face, he went to reclaim his spot. Stupid Rolly and Brian, running everything.
"Do you guys really want to watch football?" Annabel asked after a moment.
"Yes."
"Kind of."
"Not really."
Sighing, Annabel shifted in the chair. Thanksgiving was turning out to be a bust for both she and Owen. Then again, there was always the chance that her father and Brian might get into one last fight before the night was over. That was always a plus. For her anyways.
It wasn't until it was finally time to eat that they all got to find out the nagging question; Would Andrew kick his future son-in-law out of the house? Owen was leaning towards yes, but then again, he had was still kind of happy about spending a holiday with Annabel. The first of many, he liked to think.
"Thank you guys so much for letting me come over for dinner," Rolly told them, looking in turn at each person at the table. When he looked at Owen and Annabel, who were sitting across from him, he winked, making Annabel giggle and Owen about gag. It wasn't fair. How did his ditzy friend get invited to this?
"Of course…uh…um…"
"Rolly."
"Right," Andrew said, nodding his head. Annabel sent him a glare, but honestly, who named their kid Rolly anyways?
"So kids," Grace spoke then, smiling over at Kirsten and Brian. "Have we picked a final date yet?"
"It's Thanksgiving," Andrew said before his daughter could speak. "I don't want to talk about things like that."
"Drew-"
"Whitney, tell us about you."
She frowned at her father. "Why?"
"You never talk about yourself," he reasoned. "How has apartment life gone?"
"Fine."
"And you're good there? All alone?"
"Perfect."
"Have you made any friends at work? Around the apartment complex?"
"Plenty."
"Well, that's great," Mr. Greene said, nodding. "And work's been good?"
"Great."
"Great. See, Grace? We should focus more on Whitney."
"Dad-"
"Drew-"
"What?" He smiled at Whitney. "Moving out might have been the best thing for you. Others however-"
"Drew, don't do this today. Alright?" Grace gestured to Rolly and Owen. "We have guests."
"Guests. Guest. We have plenty of guests."
"What does that even mean?"
"I need a beer," he told her simply as he stood.
"I'll take one too."
Drew turned his eyes on Rolly before onto Annabel. "This one, I like."
"So yes?" Rolly asked.
"No."
The second her father was gone, Kirsten spoke.
"If he's going to be like that, Mom-"
"It's one more day, Kirsten," she told her daughter. "One more dinner. And then you probably won't see him until your wedding. Since apparently you're not going to be coming to Christmas."
"What motivation do I have to ever come back here when he acts like-"
"I know, sweetheart."
Elbowing Annabel gently in the side, Owen whispered, "Do they plan to make things awkward when I come over?"
"Shhh." She smiled at him before looking at Rolly. "When are your parents getting back in town?"
You would have thought that Rolly would have been the most awkward as he was the most out of the family circle. You would have thought.
"Saturday."
"They sure did get a lot of time off work," Annabel said.
"Oh, Dad's an author. And Mom's a painter. So they can do whatever they want, really."
"Mmmm."
"They left you all alone?" Mrs. Green asked then, frowning over at him. "Rolly?"
"Well, yeah," he admitted. "They're real cool about that kinda stuff."
"You leave me home alone, Mom," Annabel said.
"For a weekend. How long have you been alone, Rolly?"
"Mmmm…since Friday."
"And no one's checked in on you?"
"Mom," Annabel groaned.
"I'm just curious."
"No ma'am," he said, shaking his head. "It's not so bad. I am seventeen."
It was then that Andrew came back, bringing the tension along with him. Owen took to playing footsie with Annabel under the table, which was always fun. Always.
"I don't think I've been to your apartment in awhile, Whitney," her father said then. "Furnished now?"
"Yep," she said, still not making eye contact. Owen chalked that up to that secret boyfriend Annabel had told him about.
"I should come by and-"
"It's really a far drive, Dad," Whitney said then.
"To see my daughter?"
"You see me all the time."
"You hiding something over there, dear?" Grace asked then, glancing at her. "A secret drug ring? Human trafficking scheme?"
Whitney rolled her eyes heavily. "Nothing that extreme."
See? This is the whole reason Owen was all for honesty. Whitney was grown. Why couldn't she just tell her parents she was dating? It wasn't that hard of a thing to do. God, the first time Owen met Annabel's family was after kissing her in front of a fountain at the conclusion of a trial for a guy that tried to rape her. You don't get more awkward than that.
"You hiding a secret child than? A husband?"
"Nothing. I'm not hiding anything."
Her mother wasn't playing around anymore and they could all tell by the way she was looking at her. Owen almost wanted to just announce to them all about that guy she was seeing. Sheesh. It wasn't that big of a deal. Annabel's family blew everything out of proportion. His sister was dying Seriously dying. Yet they thought Kirsten being pregnant and getting married was an issue. That Whitney being secretive was an issue. It got to him sometimes.
"Hey, Dad, do you think it snowed enough for a snowman?"
Everyone frowned when Annabel spoke. Except for Rolly. He always seemed to be happy.
"I-I don't know, Annabel," he said then, still staring at her. "Why?"
"I was just wondering."
"I'm sure it will before winter is over," he assured her. "But-"
"I just think it'd be fun for us all to build a snowman."
"No," Whitney said then. "It wouldn't be."
"You're just no fun," Annabel told her. "We used to build snowmen."
"When we were kids."
"Kirsten needs to tap into her inner kid," Annabel said causing both her sisters to glare at her. "What? You are having one, you know."
"Yeah, I know," her oldest sister said, reaching for her water glass. "It's kind of hard to forget."
"Snowmen are fun," Rolly said then, nodding his head. "Of course, snow is fun. A lot of fun. I-"
"Okay, shut up."
"Owen." Annabel elbowed him. "Knock it off. He can talk."
"Don't elbow me."
"Quit being a baby, Gavin."
"Ooh," Kirsten immediately set to mocking. "Name slip?"
"It's his freaking middle name," Annabel told her, frowning. "God."
"Knock it off," Grace said, giving her oldest a look.
Owen just went back to his food, deciding to let the whole Gavin thing pass. It was better than Bear. Or dinky. He really hated dinky. Not that he was a hundred percent on its meaning or anything. It just sounded demeaning.
"Mmm, that's work," Brian said suddenly as his phone buzzed. "I'll be right back."
Owen hated the other guy then, knowing he could never pull that off. Who orders a pizza on Thanksgiving?
"You guys sure cook real well," Rolly was saying then, smiling at Mrs. Greene. "Like real well. Mom doesn't cook much. Or Dad. Or me. Or my brother."
"You have a brother?" Annabel asked, frowning.
"Mmmhmm," the teen said with a nod. "He's older than me though."
"Oh."
"He lives in California. The big apple."
"Rol-"
"Just let it go," Andrew cut his wife off, shaking his head. "Just let go."
"Man, Annabel's family's awesome! How come we don't go over there more often?"
"I do," Owen told his friend as they drove down the road, heading towards Rolly's place. "You don't need to be though."
"Her dad's cool and her mom's cool and her sisters are hot and that other guy is cool." Rolly let out a long whistle. "But that one really is hot. What's her name? Whitney? Oh yeah. She's the vomitter right?"
"Dude."
"What? She is. We're alone."
"That's not cool."
"Nothing's cool with you ever," the other teen said, shaking his head. "You said she's with a guy, right?"
"Yeah."
"Man, I'd take her."
"Rolly-"
"She's hot. Hotter than Annabel and that other one, the pregnant one."
"Annabel is the hottest sister."
"Uh-huh, sure," Rolly said, shaking his head. "Hottest. Whatever."
"You called her fuckable."
"All freaking three of them are fuckable. I'd do just about anything to any of them."
"You're sick."
"You're in denial."
"I'm in love."
"Love is denial. Love is not seeing things for what they are." Rolly shrugged. "Still though, it's no real argument. Whitney is the hottest. And she has that mysterious vibe to her."
"I thought you weren't into white girls?"
"I'm not," he told his friend. "But there's an exception to every rule, my friend."
"Or you just have no backbone and can't even follow your own guidelines."
"Or that," Rolly agreed. "Yeah, probably that one."
"I figured."