𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 ➳ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

Chapter 15 ~ Welcome to Alexandria

The sound of a Birdy song came through the CD player in the truck, waking me from my sleep.

"It's a terrible love and I'm walking with spiders...It's a terrible love and I'm walking in..." she sang, her voice melodic.

The soft material of Owen's t-shirt rubbed against my cheek as I blinked several times, adjusting to the sunlight that poured into the vehicle. Tilting my head back, I took in his sleeping form. His eyes were closed and some of his disheveled brown locks hung loosely on his forehead. I smiled and slowly brushed them away from his skin. My fingers caressed his face as I gazed at him. No matter how many times I saw him sleep, I still couldn't get over just how beautiful he looked when he did.

Gosh, I loved him. I bit my lip in thought. I still hadn't told him that though. I didn't know how he'd take it. Sure, I'd underestimated him before. I'd underestimated just how amazing he was. I'd grouped him in with the rest of the Wolves and never saw his potential to be a good person.

And I had let that cloud my judgement of him. I knew better now though. His dark brown eyes fluttered open then at my touch and I smiled up at him.

"Morning," I said softly to him and he smiled back.

"Morning, my Angel," he said, his 'morning' voice deep and raspy.

He pressed his lips to mine, gentle but brief.

"What time is it?" he asked, yawning.

I giggled, shrugging at him.

"How should I know? It's early. Probably like seven-ish," I smirked and he rolled his eyes playfully.

He was silent a moment and gazed out the window.

"We should be in Alexandria soon," he said abruptly, turning back to face me.

"Alexandria?" I asked, confused, "Is that where we're headed?"

He hummed in response, his fingers trailing up and down my bare arm, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

"But when we get there," he said slowly, "I don't want you fighting,"

"What?" I scoffed, "You're not serious. Owen, we've talked about this. I can take-"

"-care of yourself. I know, I know," he said, raising a hand to shush me, "But I still want you to be safe,"

"I will be safe if I can fight for myself and I will fight for myself! I know you care about me but you can't hold me back! Especially when it's what I want to do," I fumed, crossing my arms.

He licked his dry lips and sighed before going silent again, lost in thought with a troubled expression on his face. I leaned in closer to him and pressed my lips to his cheek briefly then.

"I have to do this, Owen. I know how to fight. But you have to let me...I'm one of the Wolves now, remember? I need to do this," I said, softly.

He peered down at me for several seconds before sighing, his hand falling to rest on my lower back.

"Why are you always so stubborn?" he joked, cracking a smile.

I grinned and bit my lip before shrugging.

"Mom said I got it from my dad," I said, arching my eyebrows momentarily.

"He must have been hard to get along with then," Owen smirked.

I shoved him playfully and laughed.

"Hey, before I forget, I found something when we were at Wal-Mart," he said, steadily pulling something large and black out of his coat-pocket.

It took a moment for me to register that it was a camera he held in his hands.

"No way! That's not- How did you find one of these?!" I smiled, taking it from him and turning it over in my hands.

He spread his hands behind his head.

"I have my ways, Little Dixon," he snickered.

I rolled my eyes at him, still surveying the camera.

"It's a Polaroid," he said, pointing to it, "So it can take a picture automatically and then spit it out,"

"I know how a Polaroid works, genius," I quipped.

"Here," he said suddenly, snatching it from my hands.

Before I even had time to blink, he'd snapped a picture of me. The flash lit up the truck and I blinked several times to regain sight.

"Dude! Not fair! I wasn't ready!" I whined and Owen just laughed.

He flapped the picture up and down before glancing down at it. A smile lit up his face.

"What? Is it bad? Do I look horrible?!" I asked, frantically trying to get the picture away from his grasp.

He laughed once more at my behavior and shook his head.

"No, Angel, you look beautiful. Like you always do," he answered.

I blushed scarlet and tried to hide behind my long dark hair.

"You look beautiful when you blush, too," he remarked and this time, I rolled my eyes.

I grabbed the camera from his hands then.

"Well, now it's my turn," I said, grinning mischievously as I snuggled up closer to him.

Holding out the camera in front of us, I bit my lip before smiling.

"Say cheese!" I joked and Owen laughed.

Snap!

Another flash lit up the vehicle and a photo popped out of the slot. I took it and waved it around like Owen had before looking at it. Smiling, I lifted it up to show him. He smiled.

"Us." he said simply and I nodded, grinning as I stuffed the picture into the pocket of my jeans.

He was silent then and I glanced up at him. His cocoa-brown eyes gazed over at me. There was an emotion there that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I love you, Angel Dixon," he said, his voice warm and soft.

My heart skipped a beat and I felt the air leave my lungs. Those three words I had been waiting to hear what felt like forever and he'd finally said them. He waited for my response but I felt like I couldn't breathe. Owen...loved me. He really loved me.

"I love you, too, Owen," I breathed out, my voice shaky.

His eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face. Immediately, he crashed his lips against mine. It was more intoxicating than usual, just knowing that the man I loved actually loved me back. Soft plump lips glided over mine and I melted into his kiss. My hands wound their way into his dark hair and his fingers dug into the material of my t-shirt, trying to get as close to me as possible. After what seemed like an eternity, we broke apart, both of us grinning at the other.

Before either of us had a chance to speak, suddenly, the truck stopped. We both stared out of the window, my hands resting on his chest. Towering before us was a massive rusty metal wall with large wooden poles holding it up.

"Welcome to Alexandria, Angel." Owen stated.