ANOTHER CHAPTER? ALREADY? Why not? I have it done and have no self control. 8D

I love how you all laughed at and/or with me about my lack of adultness and my insane giggles. Now... let's see how Owen is and how dinner goes.

Raptor
Chapter 20: Missing

Zach got Gray away from there as quickly as he could. He rushed his little brother towards the hotel and into the elevator, under the guise of not wanting to be late for aunt Claire. Which he didn't, of course. But mostly, he just wanted to make sure Gray didn't see Owen fleeing. He breathed out as the door to the bathroom shut. Gray was getting ready first. Zach sunk down on the edge of his hotel bed and pulled out his phone. He pulled up his messages and sent a quick one to Owen. Don't worry. Gray didn't see.

The door opened and Gray came out. He glanced at Zach as he walked by. But he didn't say anything as he dumped his clothes on his bed. He picked up his camera and sat down on his bed. He turned it on and started scrolling through the pictures.

Zach watched him for a moment longer, wondering. But Gray hadn't said anything, so he mustn't have seen. Zach hurried into bathroom and got ready. Then they left and headed down. The brothers arrived on time to meet their aunt in the way too fancy restaurant. They were a few minutes early but the hostess showed them to the table and brought them drinks.

Claire showed up a moment later. She was on time but still frowned. "I'm sorry. I hope you weren't waiting long." She said as she sat down across from them.

Both brothers shook their heads. "We just got here." Gray said.

Claire smiled. "Good. Is Owen here yet?" She asked. Zach glanced away and Gray shook his head. "While we wait for him..." She leaned a bit on the table and looked at Gray. "Did you see the show? What did you think?" Gray smiled and erupted into a full detailed recount of the whole show, including the crowd's reaction and his own personal thoughts. The drinks arrived while he was talking and they paused long enough to order. When Gray finished, Claire nodded and turned to Zach. "What about you? Did you like it?"

Zach shrugged and didn't answer.

"He didn't really watch." Gray said, leaning forward. "He tried to break into some storage building thing."

Zach glared sideways at his little brother. But that was exactly what Zach had told him he'd been doing. "Was bored." He mumbled.

Claire nodded again and leaned back a bit as she took a sip of her water. "So not suitable for teenagers, then?"

Zach shrugged again and pulled out his phone. His mind was on Owen again and he bit his lip. He hoped Owen was on his way, that he was still showing up. But as the time ticked by and Gray's voice faded in and out of his subconscious, he started to doubt. He didn't exactly feel bad. Because Owen had kissed him. Owen had pretty much admitted he was attracted to him. Zach was practically giddy about that. But he did feel bad that Owen felt the need to blow them off... uh... to stand them up. Owen could have come. Zach would have kept his hands to himself. He did not want his aunt and brother to know. Then his mom would find out. And his dad would kill him.

Their food arrived and Claire paused to call Owen. But she pulled the phone away from her ear with a frown. "He's not answering." She said and breathed out a sigh. "I haven't seen him or talked to him since I asked him to meet us. I'm not sure what's going on."

Zach pointedly looked at the table. He picked up his fork and stabbed at his gross fancy food while Gray started talking again. The kid babbled on and on about how great everything was and how much fun he'd had and blah, blah, blah. Zach had heard it all before and his thoughts were once again on Owen. He pulled his phone out again and opened his messages. Sorry. He typed quickly. His finger hovered over the send button for a moment. He wasn't exactly sorry. At least not sorry for kissing Owen. Maybe he was sorry for the timing. He shouldn't have done it when Barry was coming back. And certainly they shouldn't have done it again at the plaza, when anyone around could have seen.

"Where's Simon?" Gray asked suddenly, his voice loud and piercing through Zach's thoughts.

"Who's Simon?" Zach asked, glancing sideways at Gray. He leaned back in his seat and set his phone on the table.

"Mr. Masrani." Gray answered, like that explained anything.

"He's my boss." Claire said with a smile. "Gray here really charmed him."

Gray smiled and ducked his head a bit. "I didn't do anything." He said sheepishly.

Claire let out a laugh. "You did something. Because he wouldn't stop talking about you and everything you said. He was really impressed with you, with everything you know about the park and all your insights." She said. Gray smiled again and for once, was speechless. Claire continued. "Simon was in control when I got back from dropping you off." She said, still looking at Gray. "Lowery said he'd been talking about you the whole time. Then he had this conference call he had to go do with some investors that didn't make it to the island this week."

Zach tuned them out again as Gray started talking again, asking about Simon and the investors and blah again. Dinner continued to drone on. Zach wasn't really sure how long. It felt like hours. But after glancing at his phone, he saw it hadn't even been an hour! And neither Claire or Gray had eaten much, having spent the whole time talking. But it was grating on him. He just wanted out of there, he wanted away from them. He just wanted to go back to the hotel and try to call Owen. He wanted to apologize and beg forgiveness or something.

He waited a few more minutes, until there was a lull in the conversation. Gray had paused to take a bite. Zach quickly cleared his throat, bringing them attention to him. "Uh... I'm not really hungry." He said. "I'm uh... kinda tired and my head hurts." He lied. Well... it had a half lie. He was a bit tired. And his head hurt a bit. But it was mostly from all the mindless talking and worry about Owen.

"Oh... we could leave..." Claire started to say.

Zach shook his head quickly. "No, no. You two finish eating." He glanced at Gray. "Can you pack mine up for me and bring it with you?" He asked. "Maybe I'll eat it later." Gray nodded and Claire still seemed to want to argue. But then Gray started talking again and she turned towards him. Forgotten for a moment, Zach slipped away as quietly and quickly as he could. He hurried out the door and didn't stop until he reached the plaza. He slowed and breathed out a sigh.

He turned for the hotel and stopped. Owen was on his mind again. He pulled out his phone and stared at it idly for a moment. He bit his lip as he hit Owen's number and pressed the phone to his ear. But there was no answer, just as Claire had said. Again, he felt bad. And he really wanted to talk to Owen. Apologize or something. Zach tilted his head as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. Owen might be at the raptor paddock. Owen was probably at the raptor paddock. He always was, Zach thought with a smile. He was certain the man lived there. It was about two miles away. He could run that easily in 20 minutes. 15 if he really tried. He could run to the raptor paddock, apologize to Owen, maybe kiss him a bit or feel up his chest or squeeze his ass or SOMETHING! Then Owen could drive him back to the hotel and aunt Claire would never know.

And if Owen wasn't there... well there'd be no feeling up and he could probably still make it back on his own. Gray was a slow eater, especially when he started talking. Claire, too, when her phone rang every few minutes. And if they did get back before him, Zach would just say he'd been walking around. Yeah. Zach smiled to himself. He probably had at least an hour, maybe more. He was betting on the more option. He rolled his shoulders for a moment, stretched his neck side to side. Then he lifted his legs one at a time, stretching his hamstrings slowly. His back was still sore, he could feel it as he stretched. But it felt good. After a few more stretches, he took off at a healthy jog. He increased his pace after a few strides.

Once again, his thoughts fell to Owen. Hopefully the man would be there. And be appreciative of his apology. Very appreciative. And there would be more kissing time. He wasn't sure what more he'd be willing to do. What would he have done earlier? If Owen had snapped his fingers and told him to strip down and turn around... He was a virgin but it wasn't exactly choice as much as... well he didn't want to screw any of the girls in high school. And he didn't want to get caught sneaking around looking for other boys who wanted other boys.

Oh god! He slowed and stopped as the raptor paddock came into view. He bent over a moment, catching his breath. Did Owen want to have sex with him? Did he want him to? Did he want to? What if Owen did? Would he be able to say no? Fuck! Did he want to say no? He honestly had no idea. He had no idea what he expected or what he wanted. Zach breathed out deeply and straightened back up. He looked at the raptor paddock and bit his lip. In reality... Owen was probably just toying with him anyways. Why would someone so perfect want him? Just some scrawny little teenage punk who was mean to his brother and sarcastic to the world.

This was a really bad idea.

But there was something stopping him from turning. Owen had kissed him. Owen had grabbed him and pushed him against the wall and... well he would never know the answer to any of the questions running through his head if he just stood there. Zach took a deep breathed and started towards the raptor paddock again. It was light out enough that he could see one of the raptors, Echo he thought, standing at the gate. She whistled when he came closer and he stopped. "Hey... Echo?"

She blinked at him and tilted her head. Zach stuck his tongue out at her. She opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out. Zach smiled. Yeah, that was Echo. He smiled at her and waved. "Uh... I'm sorry." He breathed out.

Echo tilted her head to the side, looking confused.

"Uh... that uh... we didn't get to... play, I guess." He said, scratching at the back of his neck. "That I... uh... upset Owen and then had to leave."

Echo's eyes widened and she started wiggling. She pressed closer to the fence and let out a whistle.

"Uh... now?" Zach asked and she bobbed her head. Zach smiled again and shook his head. "Not now. But maybe later, okay?"

Echo nodded her head vigorously, looking excited.

"So..." He mused, stepping closer to the fence. "I take it... that you aren't mad at me?"

Echo shook her head again.

Zach breathed out and actually felt relief. As weird as it was to talk to an animal like it understood everything and could hold a conversation. Because it was weird. But he still felt relief when she nodded. "Blue... she's mad at me, isn't she?"

Echo looked away for a moment. She seemed to hesitate. Then she breathed out loudly, looked back at Zach, and nodded her head.

Zach sighed. He knew that was coming. He knew the beta raptor was angry with him. But he'd worry about that another time. That wasn't the reason he was at the paddock. "I need to find Owen." He said. He felt a bit odd talking to her like she was a person. But at the mention of Owen's name, she snorted and turned to look towards the alpha's office. Zach followed her gaze. "Thanks, Echo. I'll ask Owen if Gray and I can come play tomorrow, okay?"

Echo let out a squeal and started bouncing.

Zach was reminded of the dancing from earlier. "Maybe we can show Gray, how you can dance." He lifted his hand and twirled his fingers in the air as Owen had.

Echo stretched up, and then twirled and twisted in the odd dancing manner Owen had taught them. Then she stuck out her tongue and turned and ran off.

Zach watched her until she disappeared. She really was an oddity he couldn't explain. Then shook his head and turned towards Owen's office. He lifted his hand slowly and stilled. He was prepared to knock but instead, grabbed the handle and turned the knob quickly, before he could lose his nerve. It was unlocked. "Owen?" He said the name softly as he pushed the door open. He stepped inside and the stench of alcohol hit his nose. He knew that smell. His dad drank sometimes. He didn't do it a lot, but when he did, he consumed a great deal and got very loud and opinionated. Most of his dad's drunken anger was directed at him. Zach's wrinkled his nose as he looked around the dark room. "Owen?"

The man in question was passed out across his desk. His arms were splayed out and his head was turned to the side, his cheek pressed against the desktop.

Zach hurried over. "Owen!" He said his name louder. He reached out and touched the man's shoulder. But he could see the slow rise and fall of his back. Owen was alright. Well... he was breathing, at least. And clearly dramatic. Oh great, Zach thought, shaking his head. He teased him the tiniest bit and the man drank himself silly. He hadn't really done anything. Well not really. Okay, so Zach had done something. But Owen hadn't tried to stop him! Okay, so he had tried. But not very hard! "Hey Owen!" Zach said louder as he placed both his hands on Owen's shoulder and shook him harder.

Owen opened his eyes slowly and lifted his head a few inches off the desk. He blinked at him. He frowned and it seemed to take several long moments before recognition shined in his eyes. "Zachy!" He said loudly.

Zach rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Owen, are you okay?" He asked with a sigh.

Owen started laughing and leaned back. And promptly slid out of his chair. He landed in a pile on the floor.

Zach's eyes widened. "Owen!"

Owen made a few unintelligible sounds and waved him off. "'m fiiiiiiine." He said, stringing the word out as his head lulled to the side.

Zach knelt down beside him. "Can you get up?"

Owen rolled over and looked up at him. "Time for dinner?"

Zach shook his head. "No." He said slowly. "You missed it."

"Shiiiit..." Owen slurred out and stumbled up from the floor. "I can do it!" He snapped when Zach moved to help him. He waved his arms rather animatedly in the air as he fought to keep his balance. Then he spun around and nearly fell. "Uh... where am I?" He said, stumbling a bit more as he looked around.

Zach stepped forward and grabbed his arm. He attempted to keep Owen from flailing about. "Your office." He said.

Owen let out a groan and pulled away from Zach. "He's gonna kill me!" He whined loudly. Then he grabbed his head and leaned forward. "It's too loud in here." He stumbled towards the door.

Zach's eyes widened and he followed after him. "Owen. Owen!" Zach snapped. "Stop. You need to rest. You need to go home and sleep."

Owen stopped and turned towards Zach. He smiled brightly and nodded, swaying a bit. "You're right. You're so smart." He turned. "Where'd I park?"

Zach grabbed Owen's arm again and tried to pull him back. "Owen, you can't drive!" He snapped.

Owen pulled his keys out and threw them over his shoulder. "You can drive."

"Me?" Zach said as he let go of Owen's arm and moved to catch the keys. He stumbled back a step.

"You're old enough, right?" Owen asked as he spun around, nearly toppling over. By some miracle, he managed to keep on his feet and smiled widely at Zach again.

Zach let out a sigh. This was so not how this was supposed to go. At all. And time was ticking by. He didn't have long before he really needed to get back. And clearly, Owen wasn't in any state to drive him back to the hotel. And Zach wasn't just going to steal the man's jeep, though Owen seemed to enjoy jeep stealing. "Owen, get in the jeep." Zach said sternly, opening the door.

"Why thank you, my good man... kid... person thing." Owen stumbled onto the seat and righted himself. He smiled goofily and gave Zach two thumbs up.

"Stay." Zach said loudly. "Stay!" He held up his hands, repeating himself. "I will be right back." He backed up a step, his eyes on Owen. When the man smiled and nodded goofily again, Zach turned and hurried back inside the office. He grabbed the trash bag out of the can and quickly ran around the room, throwing all the empty and not quite empty bottles in. He tried to quickly straighten the room back up and then ran back outside, the bag in tow.

And found Owen. Standing at the fence. Screaming obscenities at his raptors. "Blue!" Owen hollered her name as he staggered closer to the fence. "Imma come in there and kick your ass! You hear me?" Owen yelled at her.

Blue was standing a few feet from the fence, her side facing the fence. She wasn't looking at him but her eyes were narrowed in a glare and her lips were pulled up a bit in a half growl. Echo was standing beside her, her mouth open and her tongue lolling out like she was laughing at the situation.

Owen snorted loudly and threw up his arms. "I'm the big raptor around here." He snapped. "I'm in charge! Now do what I say!" Owen stumbled back a step. He shook his head and held up his arms. "Uh... what did I say?"

Blue growled at him loudly and turned her back to him. She flicked the tip of her tail angrily and stamped a foot. Echo still looked like she was laughing.

"That's it!" Owen stepped forward and grabbed the fence bars. "I'm kicking your ass." He pulled himself up and starting climbing.

Zach's mouth dropped open. He dropped the bag and ran towards Owen. He grabbed the man's arm and tried to pull him back. "Owen! Owen, get down! Now!"

"Awe!" Owen whined and dropped to the ground. "Come on, Zachy. Wanna have some fun." He whined loudly.

Zach grabbed his arm, once again, and tried to pull him towards the jeep. "You need to go home and sleep. You need to drink lots of water."

"I already drank a lot."

"Water!" Zach repeated, pulling harder.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Owen was attempting to curl up in his seat. But it was too small and he was too big. He let out a whine and pulled himself over the center console. He put his head on Zach's thigh and rubbed against him.

"Owen!" Zach's mouth dropped open and he glanced down at him. He had no clue what the drunken man was attempting to do. But it was rather distracting. "I'm trying to drive!" He snapped.

"Doing fine." Owen mumbled against Zach's leg.

"Owen! Get off!" He snapped louder. "Now!"

"But you're so warm!" Owen whined. But he pulled himself up and leaned back in his seat. He huffed out loudly and thunked his head against the window.

Zach breathed out in relief and shook his head. "Focus, Owen. Where do you live?"

"That way." Owen said, lifting his arm lazily to point for a moment. "Follow the road."

Zach kept his eyes forward on the very lack of a road. "What road?"

"It's there." Owen mumbled. "Right there. You are doing awesome."

Zach glanced sideways at Owen. The man's eyes were closed. "Hey! Hey!" He snapped. "No sleeping!"

"Awe!" Owen whined loudly but he opened his eyes and slumped forward on the dashboard. "But I'm tiiiiiired Zachy."

Zach sighed. He flipped the brights on and they helped a little. Though he still wouldn't call it a road. But after a bit longer, and with some more vague pointing from Owen, a trailer came into view. Zach pulled the jeep to a rocky stop. Owen didn't even wait, just opened the door and practically rolled out. "Owen!" Zach jumped out of the jeep and Owen was already halfway to the door. Zach was so in over his head. He had no clue what to do. Owen dropped to the ground, rolling around suddenly. "Owen!" Zach snapped, rushing towards him. "Get up! Honestly!" This was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever seen.

Owen looked up at him. He blinked and smiled widely. And then started trying to pull his shirt off. But he was having trouble, his back being flat on the ground.

Zach's eyes widened. "Owen! Stop!"

"But I wanna show you something."

"Stop."

"Awe come on. You'll like it. It's awesome."

Zach felt his face redden and he looked away. "Owen! Get up now! And go inside!" He said loudly and pointed at the door.

"Awe!" He whined. "Can't do it inside. I'll make a mess."

"Stop talking!" Zach snapped. "NOW!"

Owen made a big display of shutting his mouth as he let go of his shirt. Then he dragged himself up and stumbled towards the door. Zach breathed out a sigh of relief as he followed behind the man. Owen stumbled inside and collapsed on the couch. Zach shook his head as he pulled out his phone. He hit Gray's number and put his phone to his ear.

"Hello? Zach?"

"Hey Gray." Zach breathed out, shaking his head. "You still with aunt Claire?"

Owen sat up and grabbed for Zach's hand. "Don't tell Claire!" He said loudly.

Zach wrenched his hand away. "Shut up!" He snapped, covering the phone for a moment. "I said no talking!"

"Yes." Gray said softly after a moment.

"Okay." Zach stepped away from the couch, out of reach of Owen. "I need you to cover for me." He said softly into the phone. "When she drops you off, tell her you're tired. Tell her... I'm going to sleep and she can't come up because you don't want to wake me, okay? Or make up something. Please."

"Alright." Gray said softly. "I'll be quiet when I get back."

Zach breathed out and rubbed at his neck. "Thanks."

"When... should I wake you up?" Gray asked.

Zach blinked for a moment. "Oh! I don't know when I'll be back." He sighed. "I went to the raptor paddock to find Owen. He got really sick. So I drove him back to his place and he sorta passed out. But it's like... in the middle of the jungle and it's getting dark outside. Honestly... I have no clue where we are. No way I can get back without getting lost."

Gray laughed. "You can't drive."

Zach's eyes widened. "Claire..."

"She left the table." Gray said quickly. "I think her assistant called again."

Zach laughed and shook his head. "She calls a lot."

"She does." Gray agreed. "Is Owen really sick?" He asked slowly.

"Sorta." Zach answered, walking slowly around the back of the couch. "He drank too much."

"Gross."

"Yeah." Zach agreed.

"Okay Zach. I'll cover for you."

Zach smiled. "Thanks Gray." He leaned back against the couch a bit. "We'll do whatever you want tomorrow, okay? All day, you and me. Unless aunt Claire already made plans or something."

"No." Gray said quickly. "Her boss, the guy who owns the island..."

"Simon?" Zach interrupted.

"Yeah, he wants Owen to inspect the new dinosaur."

"New dinosaur?"

"Yeah!" Gray said, excitement in his voice. "She's really cool. And really big. Maybe aunt Claire will take us to see her! Maybe tomorrow with Owen!"

"I don't know about that." Zach said, glancing down at Owen. He had trouble imagining Owen being able to show up for a meeting. It looked like the man was going to be massively hung over. "If it's something important with their boss, we should probably keep out of the way."

"He's really cool, too." Gray said. "Simon."

Zach smiled. "Maybe then. We'll see. So how's dinner going? You guys talk each other to death yet?"

Gray let out a laugh. "No, we haven't."

"Good." Zach said. "Hate to have to explain that to mom. 'Sorry mom. I left them alone for one minutes and they both spontaneously died.'" Gray laughed louder. For a moment, Zach joined in and it felt good. It felt great.

"She called." Gray said suddenly, when he finished laughing.

"Who?"

"Mom." Gray answered.

"When?"

"Maybe 20 minutes ago." Gray said. "She called aunt Claire."

Zach bit his lip. "What'd she want?"

"Proof." Gray said. "That aunt Claire was really with us."

Zach smiled. Yeah, that sounded pretty plausible. And funny. For a second, he wished he'd been there to see the look on her face.

"She was worried about you." Gray continued. "I think she was mad at aunt Claire for leaving you alone today and letting you leave dinner."

Zach sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "Okay." He said after a moment. "Thanks. I'll call her and..." He started. And suddenly, he was being yanked down. Owen pulled Zach over the back of the couch and down beside him. "Owen!" Zach snapped, trying to get up. But Owen latched onto him and curled up and promptly fell asleep. Zach attempted to push him off. But the man had his arms latched around his waist. Zach sighed and put the phone back to his ear. "Hey, I gotta go. I'll see you when I can."

"Alright." Gray said, clearly tying to suppress a giggle. "Take good care of Owen."

Zach rolled his eyes and breathed out. "Later." He pulled the phone from his ear. Owen was snoring on his lap. So Zach was stuck. Quite literally. It was completely ridiculous! But Owen was sound asleep and he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. So he quickly hit his mother's number and put his phone to his ear. "Hey mom." He whispered when she answered.

"Zach? Why are you whispering?" She asked with worry.

"Uh... I'm not whispering..." He lied. "I uh... was sleeping." He said. "Gray called and woke me up and told me you called and were worried..." He stammered a bit.

"Oh." She let out a soft chuckle. "Honey, you didn't have to call if you were sleeping. Go back to sleep. You can call me tomorrow."

"Okay." He breathed out. The phone call lasted barely a moment longer, just long enough for her to ask him if he was alright. Then they said their goodbyes and Zach promised he'd call tomorrow. And then hung up. And he leaned back against the couch. He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed out. And then Owen let out a weird maybe growl, maybe purr in his sleep and tightened his grip. Zach glanced down at him. Maybe it was sort of cute. He glanced around the room. There was a remote on the coffee table. Zach leaned forward, stretching as much as Owen's hold would let him.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Author's Notes: Poor drunk Owen. Poor trapped Zach. And poor Gray has to sleep all alone in their hotel room.