Happy Everly After

Chapter 5

I turned slowly to face Owen, but before I could gather my thoughts, he spoke.

"I'm sorry if I crossed a line there, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable", he said, shifting his weight nervously and tucking his hands into his pockets. He looked embarrassed, but he had no reason to be.

As I approached him, my nerves betrayed me as I fiddled with my ring. The cool metal provided some comfort as I suddenly felt a chill in the air. Wrapping my arms around myself, I shivered involuntarily.

"You're cold", Owen observed, offering me his jacket. "Here".

I couldn't resist making a joke to lighten the mood. "How chivalrous of you", I quipped, trying to brush off the uneasiness.

He shook his head, looking sullen. "Not really. Just being a decent friend".

A pang of guilt gnawed at my insides.

"I'm sorry for freaking out earlier. You did nothing wrong, it was all me", I said tentatively, hoping to see that softness in his eyes. It was there. I couldn't help but smile in relief.

"Let me drive you home, King. You missed the bus and I know you don't want to walk all the way back", he offered with a toothy grin.

"Okay". Turning away from him, we started walking towards his precious car - always spotless and carefully parked at the far end of the lot to avoid any potential damage from careless drivers. Owen prided himself on being a skilled mechanic and loved working on his car himself.

As I got into the passenger seat, a sense of familiarity washed over me. The scent of the car, the sound of the engine, it relaxed me. We drove in comfortable silence, something that I was grateful for in this moment. My mind went back to the three of us riding round blasting music singing at the top of our lungs. Having fun, living in the moment. It felt like a lifetime ago now. That made me frown and my nostalgic mood was instantly ruined.

I closed my eyes letting the wind blow my hair back. It felt good. But as we neared my house, my stomach twisted into knots.

This was it.

Owen turned off the engine but didn't say anything, he just looked at me in anticipation He sat with his legs wide apart, resting his head against the window and tapping his foot impatiently when I didn't offer up any conversation.

Come on Everly, put your big girl pants on and get this over with I mentally encouraged myself.

I absentmindedly twisted a strand of baby hair then pulled it out unconsciously.  I couldn't look at him as I started to speak my truth. "Owen, I just want you to know that these past few months have been hard for me too. And I know you and Charlotte—"

"And Riley", he interjected.

"Anyway", I went on. "I needed some space and maybe I didn't handle it the best way. I know I've I hurt you both".

No, not now!

I felt tears on the verge of spilling over and fought to keep them at bay. I hated crying in front of other people, not because I was scared of being vulnerable or anything, it's just I rarely cried, so when I did, I usually ended up a blubbering mess. It was a bit intense.

Owen reached for a tissue from the glove compartment and held it out to me. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine", I assured him, taking deep breaths to calm down before continuing. "Remember that party at Evan's house?"

He laughed, a cheeky grin forming on his lips. "Yeah, things definitely got out of hand there. Poor guy. His parents probably had a heart attack when they saw what happened to their house".

"Poor guy?" I repeated, perplexed. "Owen, you were the one throwing food around with those college idiots".

He looked fake hurt, placing a hand over his chest clutching non-existent pearls. "Me? How could you accuse me of such a thing?"

"Actually, in my defence, I didn't start the food fight. Someone had thrown mustard on my new T-shirt, and I couldn't just let it go. The next thing I knew, there was a ketchup bottle in my hand and things escalated from there".

I nodded absently, still feeling guilty about the mess I didn't make.

"I did go back and help Evan clean up, but we obviously didn't do a good enough job", he shrugged, trying to brush off the memory. "Anyway, as you were saying..."

But before I could continue, his phone rang loudly, startling both of us. He fumbled with it, trying to silence it as quickly as possible. Letting out an exasperated sigh, I leaned my head against the cool window.

"Sorry, just one sec", he said before swiping the answer button. "Hey man, what's up?... Right, hmm yeah. Good idea, I'm there. Just here with King", he turned to me with a small smile, "Riley said hi".

I nodded in acknowledgement but didn't say anything.

"I've got to go now; I'll call you later. Bye", he ended the call and looked sheepishly at me. "Sorry about that. What were you saying again?"