Summer Heat

Chapter 2

When Owen pulled up, he found Annabel's father in the driveway, washing his car. He gave a curt wave to Owen before calling out that the door was unlocked; he could just go in. Annabel was up in her room, getting ready.

Nodding at the other man, Owen headed into the house. He had seen Annabel up in her room through the glass front of the house and knew that she was rifling through her drawers for something. Probably her bathing suit.

It was a few days later and Owen was finally getting to use the Greene's pool. It had taunted him for months now, previously because it was too cold and then because, according to Annabel, it was hot out, sure, but not hot enough. It was hot enough now though. Oh, was it hot enough.

"Bella," Owen called as he walked up the stairs. "I'm here."

"Yeah, I know, Bear. I can see your car," she called back to him from her bedroom. When Owen got there, he immediately entered. Annabel glanced at him, taking in his swim shorts and his shirtlessness.

"Those are cute," she told him in a mocking way.

"Yeah, yeah." He went over to her bed and sat down as he slipped the sunglasses over his eyes to the top of his head. "What's taking you so long?"

"I can't find my swimsuit, Bear. God. If it's that important to you, just go down to the pool. I'll be there in a minute."

He hesitated, smelling deception in the air. "Is this a trick?"

She groaned. "Just go."

"Aye-aye." Owen even gave her a little half salute before heading out of her room. "Can I get a coke? Bell?"

"Whatever, Owen."

"Someone's in a bad mood," he mumbled to himself as he headed down the stairs. On the way out to the backyard, he got himself a coke and Annabel a bottle of water. Maybe that was her problem; she'd been drinking too much water and was suffering from soda withdrawals.

Once outside, Owen sat their drinks down on the patio table before jumping into the pool. It felt so good! He hadn't been swimming since he lived in Arizona. He used to love it, when he was a kid. They'd go swimming at the neighborhood pool, him and his little sister. His dad used to go with them. He missed those days.

"What happened to the bathing suit?"

Annabel made a face at Owen as she came to sit at the edge of the pool, resting her feet in the water. Reaching down, she pulled her shirt up to her boobs, showing him the bikini top. "I'm wearing one. I'm just wearing a shirt over."

"And jean shorts." He frowned. "This is not fair."

"No one made you come shirtless, Owen." She had her cell phone in her hand, texting someone. "I don't why, but I always thought you'd be hairy."

"What?"

He was close enough to her now that when she stretched her leg out, she was able to rest her foot on his chest.

"I thought you'd have hair on your chest. I'm kind of shocked you don't," she admitted, leaving her foot where it was. "Other than that, you look about how I imagined. Shirtless."

He just stared at her as she continued texting. "Who's that on the phone?"

"Clarke."

"You tell her that Rolly's coming with that girl?"

"No," Annabel said, looking up at him. "He's bringing a girl?"

"Well, it is a pool party."

"No, it was an Owen and Annabel date."

"It's not a date if we're at your house."

"It is when we're swimming."

"But Bella," he complained, pushing her foot off his chest before moving closer to her. "You're not swimming yet."

"No," she agreed, setting her phone to the side. "And I don't plan to- Owen!"

He had pulled her into the pool, laughing the whole time. Annabel was fighting him then and he let her go as she swam away from him.

"Damn it, Owen!"

He kept laughing. "What? You wanted to swim today."

"You jerk!" Annabel swam over to the edge of the pool, but didn't pull herself onto the ledge. "God. I could have dropped my phone in the water and electrocuted us."

"Yeah, I don't think that's how that works, Bell," he said, moving to get close to her again. She gave him a soft hit against his chest as punishment. Owen just smiled though.

"It does in the movies," she told him as she stroked the spot she had just hit, trying to soothe him probably. "And I would have been pissed if my phone got wet."

"Here." Owen reached out, towards her phone and hit it softly with his hand. The phone skated across the concrete, coming to a stop only when it hit the grass. "There you go. Now there's no chance of that."

"There wasn't a chance before."

He found a new distraction as Annabel's light colored shirt became soaked through, her bikini now showing through.

"Your shirt's wet, Bell."

"No crap, Owen."

"Take it off."

Ignoring him, she turned slightly before using her arms to lift herself out of the pool. Sitting back down on the edge of the pool, she said, "Don't you dare pull me back in."

"That was some impressive upper body strength there, Bella." Owen smiled at her. "You know, I think you're a little bit stronger than I th…"

Annabel giggled at the way he trailed off as he watched her pull her shirt off. "Do what, Bear?"

"I was just…Yellow, huh?" He looked off before back at her.

"Mmmm, this one is kind of old. It was a little small." She looked down at her yellow bikini top. "I think my boobs have grown."

Even though she had said it, she still blushed. Owen just laughed, still slightly nervous.

"Since?"

"Two years ago," she told him as he ran a hand down her leg. The part of the pool they were standing in was shallow enough that he could stand up straight, though his height was even with hers, as she was sitting down.

"Take these off too," Owen whispered in her ear as he got closer to her, now conscious of the fact that Mr. Greene was just in the front yard.

"What?"

"The shorts," he mumbled. "They're wet too, huh?"

"Mmmm." Annabel stood then, taking a few steps back before undoing the button on her jeans. "They are."

Owen just watched her, knowing that she just had a bikini bottom on underneath, but still intrigued nonetheless. Of course, Owen had seen a lot of porn in his lifetime and this was really nothing in comparison to some of the things he'd seen from those kind of videos, but this was different. This was real. Annabel was real.

Now clad in only her bikini, Annabel went and set her wet clothes in one of the patio chairs and got a sip of her bottled water before going to sit back down at the edge of the pool. Owen just moved to grasp her thighs, pulling them apart slightly so he could stand between them.

"When is this gonna go away?" He reached out and tugged gently at some of her hair. "And be blonde again?"

"So you did like me better before?"

"No," he said slowly. "I'm just curious."

"If you don't like it Owen-"

"I love it. I love you." He kissed her then. "It's just something to get used to. You know?"

"Mmmm."

Owen looked up suddenly, staring into the glass house. "Is your mom home?"

"Yeah. She was in bed still. She hasn't felt well recently since she got back from New York."

"Maybe she misses it."

"Maybe."

"Is this where the party is?"

Owen groaned as his friend suddenly appeared at the back gate. "Rolly, shut up."

"Ha ha!" The guy was his typical jolly self as he opened the back gate. "Met your father, Annabel. Nice guy."

"Mmmm," she replied, staring at the girl who walked through the gate with the other guy. "Hi."

The girl just glanced at Annabel before whispering something in Rolly's ear. The guy nodded, not acknowledging her in any other way.

"Wow, buddy. You can live with music long enough to be in the pool?" Rolly, who was already in his swim trunks, pulled his graphic t-shirt off before taking a running jump and doing a cannonball into the pool.

"Rolly," Annabel hissed when she got splashed with water. Surfacing, he just laughed, looking back at his guest.

"Hey, Hayley," Rolly called. "This is Annabel and this is Owen, her boyfriend. That was her dad. Which, might I say, Annabel-"

"Chill, dude," Owen said, moving back from his girlfriend. "God."

Hayley, who Annabel had never seen before, went over to one of the pool chairs and laid out. "This is it, Rolly?"

"I told you I'd just be hanging out with my, uh, closest friends."

Annabel kicking up some water at him. "I'm one of your closest friends?"

"I would say so."

"Then you must have some horrible friends."

"Yeah, well, you know."

Annabel glanced back at the other girl, making sure she wasn't listening, before pushing into the water. Once she was close enough to Rolly, she whispered, "Clarke texted me."

"Annabel-"

"Now, now, Owen, let the woman speak." Rolly glanced over at Hayley. "What did Clarke say?"

"She asked what I was doing today and I just told her that I was hanging out with Owen. I wasn't sure if I should tell her- Rolly!"

He swam over to one edge of the pool before looking around for Annabel's phone. "Where's your cell, Annabel?"

"On the ground. Don't step on it. What are you-"

"Text her. Get over here and text her."

"What? N-"

"I have to call her then," Rolly said. "She won't answer when I call from my phone or Owen's, but if I call from yours, she'll answer."

"Rolly, no," Annabel complained. "I don't want to be a part of this."

"You already are."

"I am not."

"It's too late, Annabel!" He got her phone before shifting through her contacts. "You're in too deep. I can't pull out. Should have used birth control."

"What?" She looked to her boyfriend. "Owen, stop him."

"Why can't we ever just have a normal day? One where we all just hang out?" Owen continued to complain as he got out of the pool. "I mean, I just wanted a normal, nice day with my girlfriend. Why can't that ever happen to me?"

"I dunno, man, but- Ah!" Rolly tensed up as Owen's hand suddenly clamped down on the back of his neck. "Not cool, dude. What are you-"

"Drop the phone in my hand," Owen said, holding one hand out while squeezing the boy's neck harder with the other. "Now."

"Alright, alright," Rolly said, doing as asked. "Would you let me go now?"

"If you promise to stop being weird."

"Promise."

"Alright then." Owen let him go before walking over to the table to finally open his coke. He was planning on getting back in the water, but suddenly Annabel was next to him, taking a seat in one of the patio chairs.

"Here's your phone," he said, setting it on the table in front of her. Then, glancing over at Hayley and Rolly, he asked, "What was up with that?"

"I dunno."

"Isn't this chick here for him?"

"Chick's offensive."

"Bella."

She just shrugged. "I guess they're not really together. It's still tacky. I mean, like if when you took me to Bendo that first time, I would have been offended if you, like, called another girl and were telling her how into her you were. I mean, even if we're not really together, you should at least respect me. You know?"

Owen laughed slightly. "God, Bell. Like I could ever get someone else."

She just smiled at him. "You could get someone, I'm sure."

"No one as good as you."

"Well, I am perfect."

Leaning down, Owen pressed a kiss to her wet forehead. "Yeah, you are."

"You like my toenails? They match my sandals perfectly, huh? Kirsten thought they did. I've never been a big fan of orange though. You know?"

Owen glanced down at her feet before back up at the TV. "Yeah."

"Then, do you like this shirt? I got it down there. It matches pretty well too. You think? I do. Owen? Bear?"

"Mmmmhmm."

Annabel sighed, leaning against him. She was over at his house, where she found herself most summer days now, so long as Owen was off. It was starting to get boring though.

"Do we have to keep playing videogames? These are boring."

"Uh, Bell, the NES is not boring. How is Zelda boring? Huh?"

"…I don't get it. Is the guy Zelda or-"

"You're kidding, right?"

She groaned, moving to lay down now, her head in his lap. "Let's do something fun, Bear."

"I'm having fun."

"Well, I'm not."

"Did you want to play-"

"No more videogames."

"Bella-"

"Owen, I want to do something fun."

"Like what?" He glanced at her. "I'm all ears."

That got him pinched. "Shut up."

He rubbed his arm before dropping the controller and wrapping an arm around his girlfriend. He pulled her up until she was sitting. With his other hand, he reached towards the front of her jeans.

"Well," he began slowly. "We could always try something else."

"No, Owen." She pushed his hand away. "Not today."

He frowned. "Why not?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

For a second the two of them just stared at each other. Annabel seemed to be trying to tell him something without not actually having to come out and say it, but he was never too bright.

"I don't know what you're-"

"I'm on my period, okay?"

"Oh." He blinked. "Oh."

This had never come up before. Owen, now embarrassed, moved away from her slightly.

"Sorry," he mumbled, looking back at the TV. "Did you want-"

"I just didn't want you to try and-"

"I won't." Ew. He really wouldn't. "Uh…you wanna watch TV? Or a movie?"

She leaned into his arm. "I didn't mean to make things awkward."

"They're not. I mean, it's not like I didn't know that you have a period." He pushed up before going to turn off the NES. "You wanna pick the movie or you want me to?"

She just sat there, watching him. "You can, if you want."

"You want to watch a concert on-"

"No. No music. I want to watch a movie."

"Well, we are home alone," he pointed out. "You wanna watch a horror movie?"

"If you want."

"Monster, gore, or slasher?"

"Just pick something, Bear," she sighed.

"Alright," he said, picking a movie before going to put it in the DVD player. "You want me to go get a blanket?"

"Yeah, sure."

While he was in his bedroom, Owen did a quick check of his email, not shocked to find one from his father. He just deleted it without reading it before heading back out of his room, taking a blanket and pillow with him.

"You wanna sit down here?" Owen gave Annabel the items before turning and going into the kitchen. "I'mma make us some popcorn. Alright?"

"Is popcorn vegan friendly?"

"The heck if I know. I guess. Not buttered though," he said, considering this now. "Butter is made from milk, right? Which is made from cows."

"Ugh. I have a new respect for vegans."

"How come?"

"It takes so much out off you to figure all that stuff out, you know? I mean, I just eat whatever except for when I'm watching calories or am on a diet. Then vegetarians just have to make sure its not meat. Vegans though have to be sure that its not only not meat, but also not made from animals stuff. Who has time for that? Who's smart enough for that?"

"Mom, apparently."

Annabel giggled. "When I first told my dad that your mom was a vegan he just started laughing, thinking I was joking. When I said I wasn't, he asked what exactly kind of vegan food she was feeding you that made you get so big."

"Ha ha. You know, the more I hear about your dad, the less I like him."

"Oh, whatever. You're just mad that the two of you don't play videogames anymore."

"Why would I need to play games with him, Annabel, when I have you?"

When Owen came back into the living room bearing a bowl of popcorn and water, Annabel just smiled at him, sitting up some. She was already snuggled under the blanket and was glad that her bear was finally back to warm her even more. Owen had to turn on the movie before coming over to her.

"Mmm." Annabel leaned against him the second he was under the blanket with her. "I'm so cold."

"It's hot out."

"Yeah, I know."

He made a face, looking down at her. "You okay?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Okay."

Annabel giggled, slightly. "My parents are getting rid of their mattress."

"What?"

"Yeah. Mom doesn't want…Dad says that that woman never…but she wants a new one."

He shook his head. "This is all so weird. I mean, my parents just got divorced because they couldn't get along. They never cheated on each other. And if Dad had cheated, Mom would have left him immediately."

"Everyone's different," Annabel told him as the movie finally got passed the opening credits and was really starting.

"What are you?"

"Hmmm?"

"Would you leave a guy? If he cheated on you?"

"If we were just dating? Like if I found out you were sleeping with someone else? Yeah. Duh. Or if I was engaged and the guy was cheating."

"But if we were married?"

"That's trickier. It really depends."

"On?"

"On a lot of stuff, Bear." She was stroking his leg now, no longer looking at the TV, but rather the popcorn bowl. "Like…if it was in the first year or so of the marriage, then yeah, I'm gone. But if I've been with him for, like, over twenty years, it's something to think about, you know? One mistake out of twenty years isn't that bad."

"It's a 95."

"What?"

"On a test. It's a 95."

She just sighed slightly. "What about you?"

"What?"

"If you were cheated on, would you leave the girl?"

"It depends too."

"On?"

"How much I love her."

"Even if you were just dating?"

"Even then."

"So basically you're telling me I could sleep around and you wouldn't care?"

"Oh, I'd care," he insisted. "And eventually I'd have enough, no doubt, but just one mistake? It's just one mistake. I'm possessive though."

"So?"

"So, I might get angry with you."

"You've been angry with me before."

"Not as angry as I'd be then."

"Would you, like, hit me?"

Owen paused. "No. I don't think so. I wouldn't want to."

"What if I hit you first?"

He smiled at that, laughing slightly. "Bella, you have hit me."

"Not when I was super angry though."

"When you get angry, you become submissive. I know you. Besides, there's no way you could hit me and hurt me."

"I could if I wanted."

He kissed her head then. "Sure, Bell. My point is though…I hit things when I get angry. I throw things. But I hardly ever get directly angry at you. I get angry with what you do."

"If I cheated on you though, then you'd be angry at me."

"I'd be angry at the fact you were cheating."

"Owen."

"I've been angry at my mother many, many times. And my sister. I've never hit them. You know, 'cause I love them. And I love you. I couldn't imagine hitting you. I might hit things, but never you. Not someone I care about."

"When we first got together, you didn't hit anything anymore. You didn't throw things anymore."

"I know," he sighed. "I just…everything's happening so fast. It's like everything was good and then suddenly it wasn't. All of a sudden, everything sucked."

"Everything?"

"Most everything." He glanced down at her. "Not you though."

"Never me."

"Mmmm…sometimes."

"Bear."

He laughed. "Never you, Bella. You'll be my only constant that's always a good thing, that I always want around me."

She glanced back at the movie. "Is popcorn for dinner?"

"I have cash, if that's what you mean. I can buy a piz-"

"No. No more pizza."

"There's eggs in the-"

Reaching into the bowl in his lap, she said, "Popcorn it is."

"What's the capital of Utah?"

"Salt Lake City."

"Three letter word for a nocturnal bird."

"Owl."

"A-"

"Bear, it's not you finishing the crossword puzzle if you keep asking me all of the answers."

He groaned, shaking his head. "I'm trying to get smarter, Annabel."

"Considering you couldn't come up with the word owl, I would just accept that you're going to be stupid for the rest of your life, Snoogie."

He had just gotten off work for the day and had come over with a newspaper, claiming that he was going to actually complete the crossword. Annabel, who had been on her laptop, took him into the kitchen and got him some brain food to help him accomplish this. You know, ice cream, cokes, and hot dogs. Then they set up at the kitchen table, him chowing down while working on the puzzle, her now on her laptop downstairs, helping when needed…which turned out to be the whole time.

"I wanna raise my IQ, you know?"

"What happened to your not going to college stuff?"

"I'm not," he said. "I still don't want to be dumb."

"You're not dumb." She reached out and rubbed his arm. "You're stupid. There's a difference. If you were just dumb, you would know that."

"Bella."

She squeezed his arm this time, laughing slightly. "Your ice cream is melting."

"Oh, yeah." He decided to focus on that. "I love ice cream."

"I know, because you're a little boy."

"Grown men can love ice cream."

"Mmmm."

"They can."

"Okay." She let go of him then, going back to her laptop. "I believe you."

He frowned over at her. "What are you doing over there anyways?"

"Just playing a game."

"Hmmm. I'm raising my IQ and you're numbing your brain."

"I can play computer games."

"Thought you hated all games?"

"Not all games, Bear," she said. "Just stupid ones. Like Nintendo games."

"Take it back."

"N- Bear, I swear to God-"

He had gotten up and moved over to her. "Take it back."

"No. Nintendo and Sega and all those other stupid things are dumb. Very dumb. You're- Bear!"

"Nope. You had your chance," he told her as he carried her through the kitchen and over to the backdoor. Luckily it was a sliding glass one so he was able to open it without dropping her. "Now you face the consequences."

"My phone is in my pocket," she said quickly. "My phone is-"

"It's on the table. I saw it."

"Damn it, Owen. Put me down!"

"Gladly."

And then he dropped her in the pool.

"Owen," she yelled as she finally was able to get her head above the water. "You-"

"Everything okay, kids?"

For the first time they noticed her mother on the patio, sitting in a chair. She was watching them now, intently.

"Because that sounded like a bad word I heard before, Annabel," Grace went on. "Are you fighting?"

"No," Annabel said, shooting daggers at Owen as he reached a hand down to help pull her out of the pool. Instead, she just used how off balance he was at the moment to her advantage and pulled him in. "Not anymore."

Owen growled as he came up for air before reaching out and grabbing her, dragging her under water with him. She fought him off though before quickly getting to the edge of the pool and forcing herself up and out.

"I got chlorine in my eyes," Owen complained.

"Yeah, well, life sucks, doesn't it?"

Grace sighed from where she was on the patio. "Come here, Annabel. And Owen, there's towels upstairs. Hurry and get one though. I don't want you dripping all through the house."

He was in the upstairs bathroom, drying off when Annabel came in.

"Well, I hope you're happy."

He looked at her, not even caring that he was only in his boxers. "With the chlorine in his eyes? Try no."

"Mom yelled at me and told me that we would be discussing my 'language use' when Dad gets home."

"What did you even say?"

"Damn."

He snorted. "Yeah, you're mom's a freak."

She sighed before walking away. "Why did you take off your clothes?"

"I don't know. I wanted to towel off."

"When you put the wet clothes back on, Bear-"

"I'm aware now," he yelled back at her as she was now in her room. "If you hadn't pulled me into the pool-"

"Well, if you hadn't tossed me in to begin with-"

"You insulted Nintendo!"

"Screw Nintendo!"

He just growled as he continued to towel off. Then, in a softer voice, he said, "I don't want to wear wet clothes."

"You never did take that shirt home that I bought you," Annabel called to him. "So there's that. You want it?"

"What about pants?"

He heard her groan. "Maybe it's best if you just go home, Owen."

"What about my ice cream?"

"I will shove that stupid ice cream down your throat."

In the end, Owen had to put back on his wet jeans and his new shirt before heading home. He offered Annabel to tag along, but she turned him down, claiming that she didn't even want to find out when he would throw her into at his house, where there was no pool.

"If it isn't the man of the hour…and why are your pants wet?"

Owen made a face a his aunt as he walked into the house. "Annabel threw me into the pool."

Camille raised an eye brow. "She threw you?"

"Well, I tossed her in first and then she pulled me in."

His mother frowned as he closed the front door behind him. The two sisters were sitting on the couch, clearly having been having a conversation.

"Are you two fighting? Is she alright?"

He sent a look at his mother. "She's fine. I just had to come home."

"Why isn't your shirt wet?"

He held up the one in his hand. "Enough proof for you, Camille?"

"What's with the attitude? Excuse me for being curious." His aunt shook her head. "I don't like this Annabel. She makes you act stupid."

"Yeah, well, I don't like you."

"Owen," his other exclaimed. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me," he insisted as he headed to his bedroom. And there wasn't until he got to his home and found his aunt there. She always put him on high anxiety. Once he was in his room, he dropped his nasty wet jeans and changed out of them and his boxers. He left the shirt though. It was nice.

"Owen." The door started to open just as he was pulling up his zipper. "Are you angry with me or-"

"You know, I was getting dressed," he complained as his aunt came in.

"Oh, I changed your diaper. Nothing could have changed much since then."

"For someone that's afraid I'm angry at them, you sure do say enough things to make me angry."

"Ha ha." She went to lay down on his bed. "Ooh, your pillow smells like perfume."

"Shut up."

"How often is she in your bed?"

"Cam-"

"Does your Mom know? Huh? That she's in your bed often enough to get her scent everywhere?"

"She's not an animal. It's not a scent."

"It is a scent." Camille cuddled into his pillows. "What's her name again?"

"You know her freaking name."

"Ooh, testy." Cam sat up on her elbows then, watching him with a slight smile. "Mallory told me that she calls you Bear. Is that what you like being called now? Bear?"

"You're really pissing me off, Camille."

"Oh, lighten up, Snoogie."

"Cam-"

"That's the other part of the name, right?" She laughed then. "It's so fun at the beginning, Owen. You'll hate her in the end though, so don't get too attached."

"Shut up, alright?"

"What are you gonna do? Huh?" She laid back. "Your pillow smells like her, but the rest of your room stinks. What the heck do you have going on in here?"

He couldn't smell anything wrong with it, so he decided to just ignore her. Going over to his stereo, he immediately turned it on before going to sit down at his desk.

"Oh, so you're not even going to talk to me?"

"I'm busy," he told his aunt as he logged onto his computer. He was about to check his email when his sister came into the room.

"It's Annabel," she said, handing him her cell phone. Mallory had been feeling better the past few days and had even managed to plan out an outfit. Not that Owen noticed.

"On your phone?"

She nodded, handing it over before going to sit on the bed next to her aunt.

"Hello?" He frowned slightly, trying to figure out what was going on.

"You left your phone over here, Bear. On the kitchen table."

"Crap, really?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Oh, I can-"

"I'll bring it to you," Annabel said. "I want to get out of the house. Mom's starting to get annoying."

"Are you sure? I can-"

"What, Bear? You have your second girlfriend over there or something?"

"What? No. I just-"

"Be there soon. Bye."

"Bye," he mumbled as she hung up. When he turned to give his sister her phone back, he found that she and their aunt were both sitting there, watching him while waiting for an explanation.

"So," Cam began. "What was that about?"

"Nothing. Annabel's just coming over and-"

"Really?" Mallory stood, going to take her phone from him. "Right now? Today?"

"Yeah," Owen said, glancing around his room to make sure it was presentable. Now that Cam had mentioned something about a stench though, he was concerned that Annabel smelt it too and just hadn't mentioned it. "Mallory, do you have any candles?"

"What? No," she said, frowning. "Why?"

"I need something to make it smell better in here."

She took a sniff. "It smells like it always does."

"Cam said it stinks."

"Like I said, it smells like it always does."

Their aunt giggled. "Honestly, Owen, can you not smell that?"

"It smells like him, so I doubt it."

He sent a look at both of them before going out of the room. "Mom, do you have any candles?"

"Maybe, sweetie." She was in the kitchen by this point, cooking. "Why?"

"Cam and Mallory say my room stinks and Annabel's coming over."

"Right now?" His mother frowned as he made it into the room. "For what?"

"She's bringing me something."

"I thought the two of you were fighting?"

"We weren't fighting," he insisted as his sister and aunt came down the stairs and into the kitchen also. "She's bringing me my phone."

"Oh. Well, that's fine. Is she staying for-"

"Actually, I'm taking her out to dinner," he said, making that decision after looking into the pot of whatever vegan stuff his mother was making.

"Can I-"

"No, Mal," he said, now rushing off to the bathroom to get ready.

Before, when he went over to her house after work, that had been to hangout. Hanging out was a lot different than going out. He had to maximize his odor control by applying too much cologne and take care of all those pesky hairs on his face that weren't there because he had already shaved them the day before. You know, the stuff normal teenage boys do to get ready for dates. It wasn't long before he saw Annabel's car pull up through the living room window.

"Hey, Bear, I thought-"

"Change of plans," he said, rushing to get into her car before she could get out of it. "I'm taking you out to dinner."

"Really?" She frowned. "You hate my car."

"It's fine," he said, suddenly remembering this fact. "Really."

"Were did you want to go?" she asked while handing him the phone. "Bear?"

"Anywhere that's not making vegan crap."

She smiled at that. "What's your mom making?"

"I couldn't even tell. It smelled weird though."

Giggling, Annabel watched as he settled into the car. "Are you sure you don't want to take the Land Cruiser?"

"I'm sure," he replied, still trying to find a comfortable position. "Just drive. We can eat wherever you want."

"Well, Dad was bringing home steaks, so-"

"Steak?" He smiled. "Is there enough for you?"

"I don't think there will ever be enough for you," she said while glancing at him. "You can eat over though, if that's what you mean, sure. Saves you money anyways."

"Well, if I'm coming, I should at least buy something for dinner too, right?"

"I guess. You wanna stop by the store?"

"Yeah. Let's buy cookies or something."

She giggled a little bit, reaching over to rub his thigh. "You can come over then, on one condition."

"Which is?"

"No throwing me in the pool."

Owen smiled slightly. "I think I can follow that one."

"Clarke and Rolly are back together, by the way."

"Mmmm." Annabel was on her bed, reading.

Bleh. Owen was on the floor in front of her bed, on her laptop. She told him he could stay, so long as he was silent. Her father had been up and down the stairs all night, so neither was brave enough to sneak making out. Besides, Owen wasn't sure if she was still…so yeah. He had no plans of doing anything that involved touching.

"I'm bored," Owen told her.

"You're looking up music. Isn't that what you do usually?"

"Yeah, at home. I'm with you." He glanced up at her. "You wanna go out and do anything?"

"It's ten, Owen. What's there to do? You hate parties and mostly everything's closed."

"I hate Lakeview."

She just pushed his head with her foot. "It's not so bad."

"That's just because you're happy to be home."

"I am. Aren't you glad to have me back?"

"Of course," he agreed, still surfing the web for bands he didn't know. Those were coming far and in between though. "I liked most of those CDs you brought me back."

"Most?"

"Yeah, well."

Annabel giggled. "I tried to be sure none of it was mainstream. I know how you hate that."

"I do not hate mainstream, Annabel. Some mainstream is good. Not all though. Just like not all underground is good."

"Okay, Bear," she said, trying to get focused on her book again. He wouldn't have that though. Now that there was a conversation, he was going to keep it alive.

"What are you reading?"

"A book."

"Annabel."

"Nothing you would like."

"How do you know that? Huh?"

"It's a girl book."

"Oh. I didn't realize that books had genders."

"It's a love story, okay?"

"Oh. Yeah, you can keep that one to yourself. Unless, there's, like, sex or something."

That got him hit with her foot again. "Would you chill?"

"I'm bored," he reiterated. "Don't you get that?"

"I get it," she assured him. "I just don't care."

"You're my ride home."

"Do you want to go home?"

"No."

"Then shut up."

Owen grumbled under his breath, leaning back against the bed. "Can I at least sit up there with you?"

"No. Dad's been like a freaking hawk all week. You know that."

"Then I have to go to the bathroom."

She rolled her eyes as he stood up. "Knock yourself out, Bear."

Getting up, Owen sat her laptop down before heading for the door. Once he was in the bathroom, he took his time in there, not really wanting to go back into Annabel's room. He knew that it was only a matter of time before she too got bored with doing nothing and took him home. He didn't want that to happen just yet.

When he got back to his girlfriend's bedroom, he found that she was now joined by her father. He too had just entered and hardly even noticed the other male.

"Annabel," Andrew started as he stood by her bed. "You can't-"

"The door's been open all night. You know that."

"What? No." Her father shook his head. "Your mother wanted me to come up here and talk to you about your….language usage."

Groaning, Annabel closed her book. "Dad-"

"What exactly did you say anyways?"

"Damn."

He blinked. "Oh. What else?"

"That's it."

"That's why I'm supposed to be talking to you?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Well, uh, don't use that kind of language in front of your mother," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Dad-"

"I don't really want to talk to you about this, Annabel. She's making me," he insisted as he finally noticed Owen. He just nodded at the other guy. "So I have to stay up here and pretend like I'm lecturing you."

"Dad," Annabel sighed as Owen sat back down on the floor, getting back into his laptop. "I honestly didn't even know that she was out there. Owen and I were just going outside to-"

"Throw each other in the pool. Yes, I heard that story from her also."

Annabel giggled softly while Owen shook his head. "We were just playing. Mom takes everything so seriously."

"She does, doesn't she?" Andrew smiled at his daughter while Owen logged onto his UMe, not shocked to find he had some messages from Rolly waiting for him. "She told me that she fears that you two were fighting or something stupid like that. I wasn't really listening."

"We weren't fighting. We were just playing."

"I'm sure. Just keep it away from your mother, huh? She hasn't been feeling well recently." With that, Andrew walked out of the bedroom, leaving the door open in his wake. Annabel settled back into the bed, hanging one of her feet over to the edge, directly in Owen's way.

"I've seen your toes, Annabel. I don't want to see them anymore."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Bella."

She wiggled them at him. "Compliment me on the color again."

"Your toes look nice."

"Why thank you, Bear."

He sighed slightly. "If you're waiting for me to kiss your foot, you can keep on waiting."

"Oh, come on, Bear, just- Owen!" She jerked her foot back up. "I wasn't serious."

"Yeah, like kissing your foot was a fantasy of mine." He made a face. "You asked for me to do it."

"I didn't think you would. Ew."

"Yeah, well, let's go ahead and mark that off our list of things to do," Owen said, spitting on the carpet. Annabel kicked in with her foot, but quickly withdrew it again.

"Agreed."