Summer Heat

Chapter 5

"I can't believe that you're getting your own show."

Annabel blushed. "Well, you know, it's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal? Annabel, do you know how long it took them to accept Owen and my show offer? And you didn't even offer! They just wanted yours from the ratings you brought while Owen was out. This is great. This is-"

"Shut up, Rolly," Owen said.

"What? I'm just trying to tell her how awesome this is," the guy's friend continued to gush. "And you got the Monday slot? Just wow."

"Would you be quiet?"

"Why aren't you happy for her?" Rolly took a sip of his coke. "I would be happy for my girlfriend."

"Yeah, well, right now you have no girlfriend."

Rolly scowled. "I told you, this time it's just a break, not a break up."

"Like the word up changes anything."

"Cut it out, Owen." Annabel reached over and laid a hand on his arm. "I think it's sweet, Rolly, that you and Clarke aren't going to see each other or anyone else until school starts."

"Anyone else?" He frowned at her. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Uh, from Clarke."

"…Oh. Well. Oops."

They were over at Annabel's house, hanging out in her living room. She had made them pizza rolls and given them sodas, so the boys were both fine. It was too hot to go anywhere, not that any of them had any money to do so. Well, Annabel did, but the boys didn't, but what else was new?

"What have you done?" Annabel frowned at him. "Rolly?"

"I just…I mean, it's been three days. What? Did she think I could swear off women for that long?"

Owen shook his head slightly. "I think she was banking on that no woman would want you in that span of time. Or in any span of time."

"You be quiet, you." Rolly pointed a finger at him before leaning forward from the chair and grabbed some pizza rolls off the table. "This doesn't involve you. You've been in a bad mood for days."

"I have not," Owen said as Annabel leaned against him. The two of them were sharing the couch, neither really sure why they had invited Rolly to hang out with them. Annabel would of course blame Owen, as he was really his friend, but by the same token, Owen would blame her, for she had a tendency to helping the needy. And boy was Rolly needy.

"You kind of have, Owen," Annabel told him, closing her eyes. It was such a lazy, hot summer day. He frowned, but didn't want to fight with her over something so silly. Instead, he just picked up his coke from the table and took a sip.

"Why can't we go swimming again, Annabel?" Rolly asked after a few minutes of silence, in which they had all fallen back into watching television.

"Because I don't want to," she told him. "You can use the public pool if you want."

"Ew."

"That's what I thought."

"Although," Rolly began, thinking. "I suppose there will be a lot of hot chicks there. Really hot chicks."

"Chicks is offensive," Annabel told him.

"Yeah, well, if she's gonna be with me, she had better get used to it." He smiled at Annabel then. "Can I go get another soda?"

"Sure," she said as he got up. "There's some in the fridge."

When it was just the two of them in the room, Owen asked her, "Can we get rid of him? Or something?"

"Bear-"

"We're home alone, but not really because he's here." Owen kissed by her ear, which was something new for them, something different. "Don't you want to do alone things?"

"He's your friend, Bear," she whispered as he kissed the side of her head now. "You make him leave."

"He likes you better."

"He doesn't like me."

"He does too. You're a girl. A woman. He likes you 'cause you got boobs and stuff. You appeal to him."

"I find fault in that."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. If he does like me, maybe it's because he thinks I'm freaking awesome."

"…I think that sometimes you think too highly of yourself."

"But Snoogie, aren't you the one that told me I was perfect?"

"You are perfect."

"And freaking awesome?"

"Most definitely."

"Alright then."

When Rolly came back into the room, Annabel sat up, moving away from her boyfriend slightly.

"Rolly," she began as he took his seat once more. "Owen and I want you to leave."

"Huh?"

"We want you to be happy. Go find a girl to talk to and hang out with. You know, before Clarke find out that you're seeing people on this break."

"But I-"

"Here." She reached out and grabbed the plate of pizza roll, thrusting them towards him. "Take these."

"But Owen was my ride."

"There are a lot of girls here, just in the Arbors." She winked at him. "Hot girls. So, you know, you should probably just walk around some. You know, my neighbor's daughter's back from college. Sandy. In fact, I think that's her, taking out the trash right now."

Rolly followed her line of sight out the glass front of the house. "Do you think-"

"I heard her and her boyfriend, Richard, broke up. They'd been together for years. She's probably very vulnerable. In fact-"

"Say no more." Rolly quickly downed half the pizza rolls on the plate, much to the complaint of Owen, before heading to the door. "I'll see you guys later. Don't wait up, kiddies."

It wasn't until he was gone, when they were finally alone, that Owen spoke.

"Is that all it takes to get rid of him?"

Annabel watched from the glass front of the house as the long haired guy headed across her lawn, calling out to the older woman across the street. "I guess so."

"I could have used that many times throughout our friendship."

"I'm sure."

He kissed her head again, causing her to turn to look at him. "Let's go upstairs."

"'kay."

It was a fun journey, up the stairs, if only because halfway there, Annabel launched herself at his back, leaving Owen to have to carry her.

"You could have asked me to carry you," he complained as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck while he just reached behind him, finding her knees and pulling them across him. "I would have. Just not like this."

"I like this though."

"Yeah, 'cause you're not the one doing the work."

He dropped her off on her bed the second they were in her bedroom while he quickly went over to the stereo to put some music on. Annabel giggled, watching him as she moved up the bed.

"Bear?"

"Hmmm?"

"…Do you carry condoms on you?"

"No," he said, blinking at he turned to face her. "I don't."

"Oh."

"Did you-"

"No. I mean, not right now. I just wanted to know if you were, like, always prepared."

"No. I could be though, if I thought that we would be doing that any time soon."

"You don't think we will?"

"I don't."

"Do you, like, have any?"

"Hmmm?"

"Have you bought any? Before?"

She was blushing now, but he didn't see why.

"No."

"So you don't have any?"

"I have the few they give us in health class. And, uh, Dad kinda brought some with him, last time he came down. He didn't say much, but, uh, told me that I should have them. In case."

"Bet that was awkward."

"Yeah, well." Owen moved to get into the bed with her. "It's not as bad as when Mom wants to talk about sex."

"Ew. Really?"

"Yeah."

"What does she say?"

"Dumb things. It's just like when she asks me if I'm doing drugs. She always wants to act like she's still young, like she still gets it, like she does drugs and has sex too."

That made Annabel laugh. "You act like she'll never have sex again."

Frowning, he shook his head. "Let's not talk about that."

"What does she tell you? About having sex?"

"Before you? Nothing. Then when we started…dating, she started telling me that it was okay if I did have sex, she just wanted to know. And she's told me since I was in, like, the 7th grade that she knows that I'll want to 'experiment' with drugs and alcohol and it's okay, just so long as I tell her about it."

"So basically, you can do anything, as long as you tell her about it?"

"Basically."

"Wow. That's…weird."

"Is it?"

"Yeah." She shifted on the bed as he laid on his side, staring at her. "My mom and I don't even talk about that."

"Ever?"

"Ever."

He stared at her skeptically. "She's never talked about sex with you."

"No," she said slowly. "We're not like that, my family."

"You and your dad never-"

"God, no."

"Even after you told them about…Cash?"

She shook her head slightly. "They sent me to that…you know. Mom sent me to that therapist."

"Yeah, I know." That was all she talked about, back in January. She hated it. She didn't think she needed it. It didn't last long.

"That was their solution to things."

"Your dad likes talking to you though. Right?"

"He likes to tell me how much he loves me, now. He likes to tell me about how much time we spent together, when I was a kid. That's what he likes." She was on her side now too, watching his green eyes with her own blue ones. "It'd be weird, I think, if they knew that we were…so I'll probably never bring it up."

"You have to eventually."

"Why?"

"You know, so you can get birth control or whatever. Don't you need a prescription for them?"

"I think so. I guess. If you say so."

He gave her a slight smile. "I mean, that's assuming we ever actually have sex."

"Assuming so." She reached out, poking him in the chest. "You'll have to show me yourself then, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"I'd have to see your…" She lost her courage slightly, blushing deeply at the thought. Owen smiled at her, looking off.

"I'd have to see you too, you know?"

"I know."

"Then…"

"Then what?"

He wanted to ask her what they were waiting for. If they both knew what had to happen and both wanted it to happen, then why weren't they allowing it to happen?

"Then…do you want to?"

"No."

She said it so easily, as if was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh. Well."

His chest got another poke. "I just don't…I'll only know when I want to do it when I, you know, know. Until then though, I just-"

"You don't have to explain it to me," he told her, trying to sound casual, as if he discussed sex with pretty girls all the time. Just her and only a handful. "It's whatever."

"Rolly teases you about it."

"Hmmm?"

"I can tell. He makes little snide comments, sometimes, when I'm around you guys. I can only guess what he says when you guys are alone."

"Rolly can be an ass, sure, but he's a good guy."

"Except to the girls he dates."

"Yeah, well, if they're dating him, they're probably looking for a jerk."

"I guess so." She let out a long sigh. "I like Clarke though."

"I know."

"Don't you?"

"I like her enough. I don't consider her a friend, but I don't dislike her either. She's just someone to be around, when I have to."

Annabel moved closer to him now, resting her head against his. "Rolly mentioned something, when he was here."

"What?"

"When you went to the bathroom, when the two of you first showed up, he said something about you guys hanging out with some girl while I was gone."

Owen frowned. "Clarissa?"

"I guess."

"She helped us out at the station while you were gone."

"What?"

He nodded. "We texts sometimes. I think I told you."

"I don't think you did."

"I think I meant to."

"You still didn't."

"Well, she did. We took her out to World of Waffles with us, afterwards."

"You pay?"

"Annabel-"

"'cause if you did, then it's a date."

"It is not."

"It is too."

"Then did you and Rolly date? He paid for you, that first time, 'cause he never talked to Clarke."

"That's different."

"How?"

"He paid for you too. He lost a bet. Different."

"It is not."

"So you did pay for her."

"No," Owen said, shaking his head. "I didn't."

"Bear."

"I'm not lying to you. I offered though, since she had helped out, but she said no."

Annabel blinked. "You were going to pay for another girl's dinner."

"Breakfast."

"Don't play semantics on me."

"I'm pretty sure this whole thing is semantics."

"Oh, I doubt you even know what semantics are."

"Oh, and you do?"

"Yes, Owen. I'm actually intelligent."

"What are you calling me?"

"I don't know. What's a three letter word for a nocturnal bird?"

"That is a hard thing to think of. Who thinks of an owl as a nocturnal bird?"

"Um, try a three year old."

"Um, try not being such a-" He stopped himself, watching her eyes to see if they were kidding or not. He felt like he was, but he also knew that they could go from joking to fighting faster than anyone he knew.

"Say it. A bitch."

"N-"

"Mr. Honesty, was that your name?"

"Even if it was, I didn't say it."

"And what does that count for?"

"I'd like to think a lot." He was the one to poke her this time. "If I'm Mr. Honesty, what are you?"

"What am I?"

"Mmmm…You can't be Mrs. Honesty."

"No, I can't."

"Mainly 'cause you're not honest."

"I try."

"You do," he conceded. "You can't be Ms. Liar either."

"I don't lie much."

"You try not to."

"Mmmhmm."

"You're not very good at it anyways."

"I'm kind of good at it."

He gave her a look.

"Fine, I'm terrible at it. To anyone that pays attention. Most people just accept what you tell them."

"Yeah, well, most people are idiots."

Annabel reached out, resting a hand against his cheek. "Rolly shaved his beard."

"Hmmm?"

"That little goatee he had going. He's shaved it."

"And?"

"I just…Why do you shave so much, Bear? I think you shouldn't."

"Shouldn't what? Shave?"

She nodded. "I think you should grow out your…beard or whatever."

"Hmmm."

"At least test the waters, see what it would look like. You know, before school starts or whatever. And if I don't like it, then you can shave it."

"If you don't like it, huh? And what about what I want?"

"I've never really seen how that factors into anything."

"Of course not."

"It feels weird, doesn't it?"

"Mmmm."

Owen sighed as he ran a hand down the back of Annabel's head. "Just being shirtless."

"Mmmm."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Mmmm."

They were over at his house, where he had told her to meet him after he got off from work. His mother, Cam, and his sister were off somewhere. Not that he cared. He had had been having as little interaction with his mother as possible and planned of it to stay that way.

Anyways, as was the norm now, the second they were alone, Annabel and Owen fell into their new ritual. He now let her touch him freely, though neither of them had yet to fully get naked. It was enough to get Owen off though, for now, so he was fine. He had even taken his shirt off, or at least allowed Annabel to take it off him. This hadn't really excited her as much as it would have him had the roles been reversed, but it was still something.

Now, as they laid there in his bed, neither having anything else to do that day, Owen couldn't get over how much he liked this new step. Sure, losing the shirt wasn't much, but it was something. Perhaps Annabel's shirt would be next. Yes, he would rather enjoy that.

"Would you rather I just be quiet?"

Annabel sighed, finally looking up at him. "You wanna talk?"

"Yeah."

"'kay." She stroked his chest now, running her finger down it. "Tell me how you hurt yourself?"

He frowned slightly. "I told you, I cut myself with that knife when I was cutting the apple yesterday."

"No, Bear. I meant what you were talking about in the note." She was still staring at him. "You said that you used to want to hurt yourself. Tell me about that."

He blinked, it dawning on him then that writing that hadn't been his best idea. Still at the time he was still high on life and had felt the need to share it with her. Then again, it would have come out eventually anyways.

"Bella-"

"Tell me."

"It was just…I didn't…have anyone in Arizona. At all."

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged as best he could with her laying half on him. "I didn't have friends, only enemies. It's always been that way. Until Rolly and you."

"It has not. Everyone has friends. Except like, that Steven King girl. But you're not from a Steven King book, are you?"

Still, he just stared down at her. "I'm not saying I never had friends, Annabel. I'm saying that my sophomore and freshman year sucked. It was like every fucking day, every fucking day, they were on my case and it was like fuck it. Just fuck it. There's no point. At all. Why even lift up your head every fucking time if they're just going to slam it back down? Huh? Huh? There's no point. There's-"

"Bear." She pushed herself up slightly, planting her hands firmly in his chest to do so. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," he told her, now staring up at the ceiling. "I couldn't. I even fucking failed at that. I couldn't even drag a fucking blade across my fucking skin. Do you know how shitty that is? What a shitty person I am if I can't even kill myself right?"

"Bear-"

"No, Annabel. You don't get it."

"Oh, I don't get being alone? I don't get horrible things happening?"

He stared at me for a moment. "Okay, maybe you do. Maybe. But at least you're still pretty. At least people still like you. At least you can go somewhere else, be someone knew, and still get by. I can't do that. I just can't."

For a minute, Annabel was silent as she stared at him, trying to find the words she wanted to say. "You mean you couldn't."

"What?"

"You couldn't," she repeated. "Not you can't. Can't would mean that you still wanted to do it."

He didn't say anything.

"Owen." She reached out, laying her hand against his cheek, waiting for him to look at her. "Do still want to-"

"No," he told her just as quickly as she had told him no to having sex. "I have you."

As they stared at each other, each thinking a different thing, Annabel became acutely aware of how everyone else could perceive his clinginess as a problem.

"Owen," she said slowly. "You have more than just me. You know that."

Still, he didn't speak.

"And if I broke up with you…you wouldn't…Owen…"

"I wouldn't what?"

"Hurt yourself? Or, like, try to kill yourself?" She was looking into his eyes, but this time, there was no love there, only fear.

"It doesn't matter," he told her in that honest way he had. "'cause we're gonna be together forever. You're not going to break up with me."

"But if I did-"

"You won't."

"Owen-"

"You won't. Why do we have to talk about things that won't happen?"

Annabel felt something in that pit of her stomach that didn't sit well. Still, she couldn't even begin to describe what it was exactly. It just wasn't…right.

"You have to promise me, Owen, that you won't do anything if we break up."

"I-"

"Owen-"

"Fine! Fine, I fucking promise that I won't fucking-"

"Why are you so angry?"

"Because this is stupid." He sat up, making her fall off him. "This is all so stupid. We're not going to break up. Ever. So why do I have to make some stupid promise-"

"If you don't think we're ever going to, then why are you having such a hard time making the promise? Huh? And if we did, would you?"

He didn't answer as he got out of bed and went over to his stereo, planning on switching the CD. "Stupid-"

"Owen, this is like the stuff they warn you about."

"Who warns you about?"

"Everyone. Like…it's one of those warning signs of a bad boyfriend or whatever."

"What?"

"Yeah, it's up there with beating and stuff."

"It is not."

"It is too. When you try to break up with a guy and he either threatens to kill himself or threatens to kill you, that makes him crazy and abusive."

"It does not."

"Owen."

"I mean, yeah, saying he'll kill you is abusive, but the other is not."

"It is too."

"I wouldn't do it anyways, alright? Kill myself for you." He snorted. "I would never kill myself for you. Like you're that big of a fucking catch."

"Stop cursing already."

"You're the one that-"

"Let's just stop. It's over. The fight is over. You're not going to kill yourself and I'm not going to bring it up again."

"No," he said slowly. "I'm not going to kill myself and you're not going to break up with me."

"And what if you break up with me? Huh?"

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know, Owen. Why do you ever break up with someone?"

"I don't ever break up with anyone."

"That's because you've never had the freaking chance."

"Well, I don't want to ever break up."

"You don't know though, Owen. You think that things will always be great."

"Because they will."

"They won't."

"Why do you always have to tell me about how bad things will be? Huh? Did you ever think that they've been bad with all your other boyfriends because you weren't meant to be with them? Huh? Because you were meant to be with me?"

"Oh God, Owen. Fate? Do you really believe in that?"

"No. I do though think that we're together because we're supposed to be. That we're with each other for a reason."

"And what reason would that be?"

"I was there for you when you needed me."

"When did I-"

"When all that shit happened with Sophie and Cash. I was there for you."

She blinked, sitting there on his bed, watching him. Swallowing, Annabel said, "Well, that's over."

"Oh, it's over? All that stuff is over?"

"Yeah, it's over."

"If it was over, Annabel, then you wouldn't still be having nightmares."

"That…That's not what that's about."

"Then what is it? What makes you so scared at night that you can never sleep? Huh? What?"

"I don't know, Owen." She locked eyes with him once more, not shocked to find his green one's wild, angry. "I really don't."

"Then maybe I'm supposed to be there for you now, with whatever the heck's going on with your nightmares."

"It's not like I'm having nightmares for some out there reason. It's only because…"

"Because what, Bell?" He was watching her now, his voice softer. "What are you so afraid of? Huh? What can't you tell me?"

"Nothing. I don't know…"

"You don't know or it's nothing?"

"Owen-"

"Is it your family?" He was walking over now, coming to sit next to her again. 'Your dad? Does he, like, hurt you?"

"God," she groaned. "What is it with the two of you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"''Is he hurting you?'" She rolled her eyes. "That's all he ever asks about you. You're not going to start that stuff too. God. No one is hurting me."

"Okay, I believe you," Owen said as reached over, rubbing her knee. "That's just where my mind automatically went."

"I don't get it."

"Get what?"

"The two of you get along so well when you're together, playing videogames or watching baseball, but the second you're apart, all you do is belittle the other."

"I do not belittle him."

"You do too. All the time. And he does it about you too. It's annoying." She looked up at him. "It's like you're jealous of each other."

"Well, that would be extremely disgusting."

"Not in that way, freak." She hit him gently in the chest, reminding her that he was still shirtless.

"In what other way could your father and I both be jealous of the same person?"

"It's just…like territorial."

He considered this. "Well, I win."

"You do not win."

"Yes I do."

"You do not."

"He might have peed on it first, but I peed on it last and will continue to pee on it. I win."

"Ew." She hit him again, but this time he grabbed her hand, moving to entwine their fingers. Silence fell over them after that, each lost in their own world for awhile. Slowly, Owen moved to lean back against the wall, pulling her to settle in against his chest.

Falling into place against him, Annabel asked, "What are you?"

It took him a second to find his voice again. "What do you mean?"

"You said you don't believe in fate."

"I don't."

"Do you believe in God then?"

"I do," he said, nodding.

"Then what are you?"

"Hmmm?"

"What are you?" she repeated. "Like…Catholic or-"

"I'm from the Southwest, Bell. I'm Southern Baptist."

"Oh."

"What are you?"

She poked his chest. "I'm a Christian, I guess. We don't really go to church or anything. It's just, you know, presumed that that's what I am."

"What do you want to be?"

"I don't know. I mean, I know there's a God. I just never really think about it a lot."

He stroked her back. "Mom's not a Christian."

"Yeah, I figured that."

"She's…weird, is what she is."

Annabel giggled. "I feel like she's one of those people that believe in a high power and doing a lot of drugs to reach it and everything."

He made a face down at her. "My mom's not a drug addict."

"I'm not saying she is."

"I feel like you are."

"Yeah, well."

He pressed into her side now with his thumb, making her squirm.

"Bear!"

"I love you." He pressed his nose into her hair, her dark hair. He didn't like it, no matter if he could tell her or not. It wasn't her. It was someone else. He couldn't wait until it was blonde again. All the girls he had crushed on back in Arizona, they had never been blonde. They'd been dark headed, red headed, anything other blonde. Those were all different though. Very different. This was Annabel. This was his, this was safe, and this was real.

"Yeah, I know."

He shook his head. "I think we fight too much."

Considering this, she said, "Even if we do, at least we make up quickly."

"Guess so."

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me!"

Owen groaned. "Rolly, shut up. I'm serious."

"Shiver me timbers. How dare ya address ya cap'ain in such a way!"

"Get in the fuck in the car, dickhead."

"I'mma Cap'ain Jack Sp-"

Owen finally just shoved his friend in the back of the Land Cruiser. That night, when Owen got off work, he found that he had a message on his phone from Annabel, who had gotten a call from Rolly, who had gotten drunk at some bar and called her to come get him. Now, here they all were, in Annabel's front yard, all hoping that her parents didn't suddenly pull into the driveway.

"I didn't even know he had a fake ID," Annabel told Owen, crossing her arms, watching as their drunk friend settled in on CDs and their cases. "I wouldn't even have gone to get him except I was afraid he was going to get busted. It wasn't even him who called. It was-"

"Yeah, I know, one of his dick Fountain friends. They called my phone first. I was at work though. I only answer when it's Mom or Mallory."

Annabel shook her head. "You listen to the message? He was, like, harassing some girl or something."

Owen looked into the window of his car, staring in on his friend. "What was he doing to her?"

"I don't know. His stupid friends had ditched him, around the back of the building. He was vomiting up his freaking intestines."

"Good," Owen said, still watching Rolly. "Hopefully he won't puke in my car."

"You'll kill him if he does, won't you?"

"I make no promises."

Annabel leaned towards him then, standing up as tall as she could so she could kiss him. It started as a peck and stayed that way as she moved back away from him.

"Get gone, Owen, before my parents show up. They'll kill me."

"Aye-aye."

"You're hilarious, Armstrong," she said, pushing him away slightly.

"Well, I try."

"Now go," she said, heading back up towards her house now. "Call me when you get home, huh? I haven't even gotten to tell you about what happened with my mom and Kirsten."

"What happened?"

"I told you, you'll only find out when you call me tonight."

He growled as he turned to get into his car. Opening the door, he said, "Alright, Rolly, you've already screwed my night. You wanna go home or am I dropping you somewhere?"

"I'mma choose," Rolly said from the back of the car. "'cause I'mma the cap'ain."

"That's the plan," Owen sighed, waving one last time at Annabel, who was now standing in the doorway of her house, watching them. "Shithead."

"Cap'ain," his friend reminded him.

"That's right. You're Captain Shithead."

Rolly made a loud noise at that one as Owen pulled out of the driveway. Then he groaned. "I feel like shit."

"That's 'cause you are shit, Rolly. And if you ever call my girlfriend again to pick you up-"

"Annabreast loves me."

"Here name is Annabel."

"…I think I'mma be sick."

"You puke in my car, on my CDs, I'll make you eat it."

That got a laugh out of the drunk. Then, just as suddenly, he fell to the floorboards.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Owen glanced back at him. "I hate you right now. I really hate you right now."

"I hurt."

"Yeah, Captain, you're hurt," Owen sighed, shaking his head. "You're hurt. Now where do you wanna go? Home?"

"No. No! Not home." Rolly moaned. "Clarke."

"I'm not taking you to Clarke."

"Parents out. Gone." Rolly lifted his head up suddenly. "To Clarke's!"

"Rolly-"

"I'm lea'er."

"I thought you were the captain?"

"That too."

Owen let out a long breath. "Fine. To Clarke's. Whatever. You can be her problem now."

Clarke's family lived close by. Not in the Arbors, but close by. Their house was actually older than the Arbors housing development, but still just as nice. Owen had been there before, a couple of times, and though it wasn't glass, it put his house to shame.

"He's what?"

Owen nodded. "He's in the back of my car, drunk, and asking for you."

Clarke stood there, staring at him, frowning slightly. She was clearly getting ready to go out for the night, even though it was already midnight. Then again, considering her parents were out, Owen had no idea what shenanigans she was planning on getting in.

"And?"

"Clarke, he got kicked out of a club, called Annabel to pick him up, and has already vomited. You're not going to get thrown up on or slept with. He's going to pass out in a few minutes. He says that your parents are out. My mom isn't. So can you take him? Please?"

"I've got a date."

"At midnight?"

"Who are you? My father?"

Owen groaned, looking off. "I'm not keeping him. He's your boyfriend."

"We're on a break."

"Yeah, well, then you should end the break now because I'm dropping him off on your lawn."

"You are not. Owen-"

"Rolly," Owen called as he headed back over to his car. Opening the door to the backseat, he said, "Clarke wants you."

"Yo ho, yo ho."

"Oh, there's a ho ho," Owen agreed, pulling his friend out of the Land Cruiser before letting him go. An object in motion and all that caused Rolly to propel himself into the grass, where he stayed for a moment before rolling onto his back.

"Rolly!" Clarke rushed out onto the lawn, moving to get to her boyfriend. Or was he her ex-boyfriend now? Owen was never good with those kind of things. "Damn it, Owen."

"Yeah, I like it better when Annabel says it. See? That's why we're together, 'cause we like things about each other." Owen smiled down at his drunk friend. "Right now, Rolly, I don't like you. So, I'm going to go home and call Annabel now. You cool?"

"Mmmm. Owen. Cap'ain down," Rolly groaned as Clarke got on her knees next to him. "Mmm. My lady liege."

"Wrong time period, bro," Owen said as he head back over to his car. "Thanks, Clarke."

"Fuck you, Owen."

He gave her the finger back. "Yeah, well, if you didn't play along with him so much, we wouldn't be here right now."

"Cap'ain Shithead," Rolly groaned before promptly turning and depositing what was left in his stomach. "Mmmm. Pizza."

"Later guys." Owen said as he got into car.

"God, what if my neighbors see? Owen, help me get him in the house. My mom and dad will kill me!"

"Maybe you should have been nicer," he said as he closed the door. When he was sure she couldn't hear him, he added on, "Bitch."

Apparently though, she had heard it. Or so he found out later, when his phone rang on the drive back home.

"Don't you ever call another girl a bitch."

"Love you too, babe," Owen said simply as he put his phone on speaker before tossing it into the passenger seat.

"Clarke is my friend."

"No," Owen said slowly. "I'm your friend. Clarke is your boyfriend slash best friend's other best friend's girlfriend or occasionally ex-girlfriend."

"…You're an idiot. And if you ever call her a bitch again-"

"Even Rolly calls her a bitch. We do it all the time. She's an uptight bitch. What's wrong with saying that?"

"It's like you're not even the same guy when you're with Rolly. My God, Owen."

"If the boot fits-"

"Does Rolly call me a bitch?"

"Hell no. I'd hit him."

"Owen."

"Well, I'd yell at him. Very loudly. And then I wouldn't talk to him for awhile. Punish him. I might even poison him."

"Oh whatever. Just don't do it again. And why didn't you take him home? Clarke said that she asked you not to leave him there."

"Look, Bell, I don't want to talk about Clarke or Rolly or bitches or whores-"

"You called her a whore? When?"

"…This isn't about the past. This is about right now. And right now I want to talk to you, about what you did today. What did you do today? What happened between your mom and sister? That's what I want to hear about."

"Are you sitting down?"

"I'm driving."

"Then see? I can't tell you yet. You might crash, it's such a dramatic story."

"Might I crash?"

"You very well might."

"I'm weighing my options."

"What are they? Crash or what?"

"Crash or die of anticipation."

"I might have oversold the story."

"Not you. Not Annabel."

"Shut up."

"You know what Rolly called you? Annabreast."

"What?"

"Yeah. I think it's 'cause you were wearing a boob shirt."

"I am not wearing a boob shirt."

"When I picked Rolly up from you, you had on a boob shirt."

"I was not."

"You were too. You know you were," Owen accused. "It had to have been hard to find one, considering how small your boobs are and everything."

"Oh, we're going there?"

He chuckled slightly. "I tell the truth."

"You fit in the palm of my hand."

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding," she said.

"Were you? I wasn't."

"Owen."

Smiling he asked, "Can I tell you about what I did at work today then? If you won't tell me about your day yet?"

"Sure."

"I delivered pizza somewhere interesting."

"Where?"

"To your dad's work."

"Bull."

"I did. They ordered, like, seven larges. They're having a party."

"Yeah, I know."

"Isn't he like an architect or something?"

"Something like that, yeah."

"Your mom was there."

"I know."

"She spoke to me. Didn't seem too upset about Kirsten or whatever."

"She hides her pain well."

Owen paused, knowing that that was way too true. "Some people are better at it than others, sure. You do it well too, you know."

"Do I?"

"Mmmhmm." He nodded even though he knew that she couldn't see it. "Must be where you get it."

"Must be."

It was then that he pulled up to his house, parking in the street. As he got out, he made sure to grab his phone, switching it off speaker and back to normal before pressing it against his ear.

"I'm home now. Tell me the story."

"Are you sitting down?"

"I'm about to be."

"Bear, you should know by now that if you're not actually doing it, it doesn't count."

"Is that so? So you're saying when I thought about hooking up with you back before we got together, we weren't really hooking up?"

"That's exactly what I mean."

"Well, then I have no idea when our real anniversary is. I thought it was right after school started."

"Nope."

"Damn."

"Damn indeed."

"Well, then I guess you're gonna have to wait for your gift."

"What was my gift?"

"Birth control."

"You're so funny these days."

"Yeah, I know," he agreed as he unlocked his front door and stepped into the house. "I-"

"Where the hell have you been?"

Owen frowned, finding that his mother was home, like he thought, but was also up, unlike what he had thought. "What?"

"What?" Annabel asked on the phone, having no idea he was talking to his mother. "Bear?"

"Uh, Annabel, I have-"

"Yeah, you had better hang that up, right now." His mother was up suddenly, coming towards him. "Give me the phone."

"What? N-"

She snatched it from him. It wasn't hard, really, as he wasn't fighting her for it.

"Owen has to go, Annabel," she said simply into the cell phone before hanging it up.

"Mom," he complained, no longer confused, but rather angry, if not pissed. "What the-"

"It is one in the morning, Owen. Where were you? With her? With that girl?"

"That girl has a name."

"You smell like beer. Were you out drinking again?"

"No! Rolly-"

"When it was just you and Rolly, I don't remember you ever coming home drunk, Owen. Since you've been with Annabel-"

"Once. I came home drunk once." He stepped around her. "And aren't you the one that always tells me its okay?"

"It's okay when you're telling me about it. It's okay when you're doing it to experiment. It's not okay when you're doing it to-"

"To what? I mean, let's just ignore the fact that I'm not and delve into the reason it's not okay tonight? Because you don't feel very happy so I can't be happy? Is that it?" He headed off to his room now. "You know, since Mallory got sick, you've been a real downer."

"Oh, have I?"

"Yes! God, have you not freaking noticed?" He opened his bedroom door, but didn't slam it, remembering how he had hit Annabel with it that day, her birthday. "You know, you'd think you'd be happy for me."

"Happy about what?""

"Happy that I'm happy."

"This is happy?"

"It was before you took my fucking phone from me! I was happy talking to Annabel. I'm happy being with Annabel. But for some reason you-"

"What is it with you and this girl? It's like she's all you can think about anymore. There are more important issues going on here, Owen."

"There is nothing more important to me than her, so no, there's not. Maybe there is for you, but I don't care what's important to you anymore. Not since you freaking slapped me."

"Not this again."

"Yes, this again." He went over to his bed and sat down on it, shaking his head as his mother stayed in the doorway, watching him. "You hit me. You striked me."

"It didn't hurt you. I've told you I'm sorry. What more do you want, Owen?"

"It's not fair! You got to do that and what? No punishment? If I hit you, you'd have me right back on a plane to go live with Dad. If I talked that way to you, you'd ship me off to go stay with Grandpa. It's not fair."

"I'm an adult, Owen."

"Yeah? Are you?" He stood then and though he didn't tower over his mother, there was a definite high difference. She was tall, but just for a woman. He was tall for a woman or man. Not to mention, just bigger all around. "'cause guess what? In a few months, in October, I'll be an adult too. And then what? Huh?"

"Owen, you stop it. Now."

"Why are you even mad at me? 'cause I'm a little late? During summer? I had to take Rolly home. Would you rather I had left him drunk, over at Annabel's?"

"Why did Annabel-"

"Because she was trying to be a good friend, just like I was trying to be. If you're going to punish me, are you really going to let it be because I'm a good friend? That's bull, even for you."

"Why was he drunk, Owen?"

"Because he wants to be. I don't know. I don't care. I don't ask. If he's not offering, I'm not listening. I have Annabel to deal with and that's enough for me." He walked passed her now, back out into the hallway. "I don't want be here right now."

"And where will you go, Owen?"

"I don't care anymore. I just don't want to be here."

She turned, staring at him. For a moment, she just stood there, watching. Then, randomly, she said, "It's struck, by the way."

"What?"

"You said striked. That is not a word. I did not striked you. I struck you. You don't get striked by lightening, you get struck." She shook her head. "I can't believe it sometimes, that you're actually about to graduate high school. Especially at moments like this, when I find out that your English teachers have done nothing for you."

"…Are you insulting me, Mom?"

She let out a long sigh. "Owen, all I'm saying is that you're not as smart as you think. You don't understand the world the way you think you do. You're not ready to be an adult yet. I don't care your age, whether it be 18 or 19 or even 21. You're still just a boy. You still don't get most of life. So don't pretend like you do."

"I'm going to Annabel's."

"It's the middle of the night."

"Her curfew's two."

"What?"

He shrugged as he headed back out to the living room. "Ground me later. I'm getting out of here right now."

"Owen, you stop it. I mean it."

"Or what?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" she finally yelled at him as he made it to the front door. "I'm sorry that I hit you. More than sorry. I…I didn't mean to get that drunk. I haven't since…I was with your father. I used to…I was bad, Owen. Back then. And I don't want to get that way again. I messed up a lot, when you were a kid, I know that, but I'm better."

"You weren't that night."

"It's been hard, Owen. Stressful. Your sister is…very sick."

"I know that."

"I don't think…it's not doing much. The treatments."

"That I know as well."

"They're very costly."

"Then maybe you shouldn't spend so much on alcohol."

"Owen."

"What? I mean, God, why are you telling me-"

"I'm telling you why I-"

"I don't care, Mom. I don't care why you do things you shouldn't. I don't care why anyone does. There's always a reason for what someone does, always. It doesn't matter. Not the reason, but the action. The action matters."

"I'm sorry, Owen. I won't hit you again. I shouldn't have." She was still speaking to his back, as he still had his hand on the doorknob. "But if you walk out that door, you might think about not coming back, because it won't be fun for you here. I've never given you strict rules, but I will, if that's what it's going to take to curve your tongue, to make you realize that you do not run this house. I do."

His hand fell. "Even when you're wrong?"

"Especially then."

"She really couldn't do that, could she?"

"Do what? Boss me around? She's my mother."

"No, stupid."

"Hey-"

"Send you away. To live with someone else. Could she really do that?"

"She could try. I would never leave you. Or at least, I would take you with me."

He felt it when Annabel smiled against his chest.

"You'd take me with you?"

"Yes. In a bag."

"Have to be a big bag."

"Not that big. You're rather small."

"Rather?"

"Meh."

His bare chest got a kiss. "You're rather big."

"I am."

"Enormous."

"Not really."

"I feel like you are." She lifted her head then, to stare at him. "You ready to hear about Kirsten and Mom?"

They were over at her house, spending another summer day together, once again by the pool, This time though, instead of swimming in it, like Owen had wanted, they were making out and mess around. Which was nice too. He had come in his trunks in preparation for swimming, but it was good to have such lose shorts on anyways, in case something changed, in case they did more than just mess around.

"'course," Owen said, staring up at the sky. They were in one of those pool chairs, one of those long ones. Owen was laying back in it, Annabel on him. It was a dangerous position, out in the open, but they were home alone. It was a weekday. Her parents were out.

"'kay." She shifted slightly, knowing that he liked the feeling of her in her bikini on top of him. It excited him. "So Kirsten has been on Mom's case about the whole cheating thing."

"Right."

"Even though Mom told her that she's had enough hearing about it, that it wasn't Kirsten's marriage, it wasn't Kirsten's life."

"Okay."

"And so Kirsten called yesterday to tell Mom that for the wedding that, mind you I don't even think will happen or should happen, Dad couldn't walk her down the aisle or even come. At all. Because he was a bastard. And hated him. And she thought that he was disgusting, that he was a pig, and that she wanted nothing to do with-"

"You do a lot of talking behind our backs, Annabel, when no one is home? Perhaps that's why your mother doesn't like you to be home alone with Owen so much."

It would be an understatement to say Andrew's voice scared the shit out of the two teens, Owen flushing while Annabel responded to hearing it by trying to get out of her boyfriend's lap, thinking that would be a more punishable offense. The only problem was that in her mad scramble to escape him, she got caught up and fell backwards out of the chair, landing hard on the ground.

"Bella," Owen said as he moved to help her get up. Andrew just sighed, continuing on out of the house, not shutting the door behind him as he went to check on his daughter.

"Are you okay?"

She blinked, not sure why guy had asked that, as they were both looking at her questioningly. Instead of assigning either of them with it, she just said, "Fine, thanks."

Owen still stood, reaching down immediately to help pull her up. Her father just shook his head again before frowning.

"How many of these do you own?" he asked, frowning at her bathing suit.

"Dad."

Not enough, if you asked Owen, but no one was, so he just went over to the patio table to take a sip of his coke.

"Why are you home anyways?" Annabel asked her father. "What happened to work?"

"I had a meeting and came home after. It is my house, Annabel."

"I know," she said, looking off, at the pool. "We were just…"

"Just?"

"Hanging out, that's all."

Andrew made a noise. "Well, I'm home now. And what was going on out here before, won't be again. Understood?"

Annabel just nodded while Owen kept downing his coke, not caring that he wasn't that thirsty. Anything to keep away from his girlfriend's father. It was only after he went back into the house that Owen even went over to Annabel.

"Are you really okay?"

"Yeah," she said, glancing behind her. "My butt just hurts."

He took a glance too. "It is a nice butt. Delicate."

"Is it?"

"Mmmhmm."

She patted her own butt. "Probably bruised it. That hurt."

"Poor Bella."

"Poor me."

"Maybe swimming would alleviate it."

"What is with you and swimming?"

Owen shrugged as he went to go jump in the pool. When he surfaced, he said, "It'll get cold up here, rather quickly. I won't get to swim for long. Gotta enjoy it while I can."

She stood there, arms crossed, watching him. "It has been a rather hot summer, hasn't it?"

Owen smiled, wiping his eyes of the chlorine he got in them when dove underwater. Then, when could see clearly again, he just stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. "Yeah, it has."

And done. You guys know the drill by now. The next one will be up soon.