"The strawberry milkshakes are the best," I whisper to Owen, seeing him concentrating hard on the menu of the diner.
"Of course you would like them, miss strawberry milk fanatic," he grins at me, tearing his gaze away from the menu.
"I'm just stating facts."
"Guess I'll have to try one. Just for you."
Savannah watches our entire exchange. "Could you guys maybe stop making me feel extremely single for just one second? Please," she half-jokes.
"Sorry, Sav," I apologize genuinely. "But let's be real for a sec- I have no idea how you're still single because you're literally perfect, but you don't need a significant other to make your life whole. You're an amazing, strong, independent woman."
She smiles. "I'm single by choice. Significant others are too much work, and I don't need that right now. But still, watching you two be all mushy makes me the hard-core third wheel. Wish Charlie was here- just because I miss him, and at least then we could both bicker about you two being annoyingly cute."
"Why don't I buy you a strawberry milkshake to make up for it?" I offer. She hesitantly agrees, and I get one for Owen as well. He wasn't very ecstatic about me paying, but he let me.
"Jenny, you weren't wrong about these milkshakes," Owen says once he takes his first sip.
"I second that," Savannah adds.
"See? Always listen to me."
"Yes ma'am," Owen says.
After we all down our milkshakes, we all get back into my car. I've already shown them around town a bit, but there's one more place I want to go by before we go back to Aunt Lauren's house. I don't know why I want to go there, but I just want to see it. And I know it'll be easier when my two best friends are with me.
I take a couple of turns and end up in my old neighborhood. I start shaking a bit, starting to fully realize what I'm doing.
"Jenny, are you okay?" Owen asks, looking at me with concerned eyes.
"I wanted to ride by my house. Since you know, I haven't seen it since I flew out to Vancouver. And I wanted to show you both."
"Jenny, you don't have to," Savannah adds in. "We know how hard this might be for you."
"I want to."
They don't argue as I continue to drive. I'm a nervous wreck by the time I turn on my street and I can see my house slowly come into view. It hasn't changed, which doesn't surprise me.
"It's that one," I point it out to Owen and Savannah. I drive by it slowly and then speed up until I get to the end of the road.
"You didn't have to do that, but I'm proud that you did," Savannah encourages. "You needed that. Drive by your house with us- some of your best friends- to see that you have something better now. Something that isn't toxic, and to remember that even though your parents are really hard to deal with, you're always gonna have us. And we love you."
Owen grabs my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. "She's right. That place never was home. You have a real home now- with us."
"Thanks, guys," I say, trying to hold in my tears. I keep a firm grip on Owen's hand until we arrive back at the house. I didn't even realize how long we'd been out until I saw that the sun was already setting as I pulled in the driveway.
Aunt Lauren is waiting for us in the kitchen when we get back. She questions us a bit, asks us what we did, and we tell her most of it. I guess Owen and Sav got the memo that riding by my house was an us thing, and I don't really want to share it with anyone else. This is why they're my friends. They understand me in ways no one else can.
We don't have anything else planned for tonight, so we all get ready for bed relatively early. Once Owen and I are back in my room, the happy demeanor that he had around my aunt turns quite serious.
"Jenny," he says, coming to sit on my bed beside me. "I'm really proud of you for today. I know that wasn't easy for you, but I'm glad you did it."
"Me too," I agree. "It was kind of symbolic, like what Savannah said in the car. That was my 'home' for so long, but it never really was home. My home is with you guys. Maybe this is bad, but I swear you guys love me more than my parents ever did. Or at least you have a better way of showing it."
"Jenny," Owen sighs. He wraps his arms around me, securing me in his grip. His hugs are so genuine, and they always make me feel safe. It's like he's reassuring me that he's there, and he isn't going to hurt me like everyone else has. Maybe that means I'm putting a lot of faith in him, but I trust him. We wouldn't be here if I didn't.
By the time he pulls away, I have tears forming in my eyes once again. I think he notices, but all he does is put his hand on my cheek and whisper "you're okay."
After another moment of silence between us, I get up to go take a shower. Owen gives me another one of his hoodies to change into, which is quite comfortable. I always like getting one of his hoodies I haven't gotten before, because they always smell exactly like him.
He showers after I do, and he changes into one of my oversized t-shirts and sweatpants. He also offers to fix my strawberry milk, just like he used to back during filming. I oblige, of course. And his strawberry milk is just as good as I remember.
After I go say goodnight to Savannah, I climb into bed beside Owen. He lets me lay my head on his shoulder and wraps his arm around me.
"Hey, you know... we could watch Miraculous. I do have a TV in here now, so we won't have to watch it on my computer like we used to," I say.
"How could I pass up that offer?"
I grin in response and grab the remote to turn on the TV. I let Owen pick the episode, and we continue to cuddle as we watch it. Watching Miraculous with him is probably one of the things I've missed the most. I know he likes to pick on me for always getting smiley over Cat Noir, but I love watching him get on edge whenever an intense moment happens. I can always feel him tense up, and I find it hilarious because he's seen all of the episodes before.
I end up falling asleep during our third episode, but I blame that on Owen playing with my hair. It puts me to sleep almost instantly.
Nightmares haven't been a huge issue since the beginning of filming, but they've started acting up again. I didn't tell Owen, because I didn't want him to worry, but I've had quite a few since he's been gone. Most of them resulting in me waking up crying or hyperventilating. Tonight is no exception.
I have a particularly rough nightmare tonight, which I guess was brought on from driving by my parent's house, but I ended up waking up in a puddle of my tears once again.
I'm not exactly sure what to do, because Owen is fast asleep and I really don't want to wake him up and make him worry. I can't lie to him, but withholding information is different. After a few minutes of trying to calm myself down, I realize exactly what I need to do.
I get up and go into my bathroom as quietly as possible to get changed.
