Royally Kissed | ✓

39; the undone

[ arthur; paige; owen; cain ]

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

—thirtynine—

the undone

THE NEXT MORNING, Paige found herself smiling at Owen's rearview mirror as she tried different hair styles with the use of her hair clip.

"I see now how you've missed it," Owen said, cursorily glancing at her while he put his Bugatti into drive. "Yeah, that looks good," he added, when she'd finally settled back into a half-ponytail, securing it with the clip.

Paige shrugged and smiled good-naturedly. "Sometimes, we just don't know what we have until it's gone."

"You're absolutely right," Owen replied, suddenly reaching for her hand and laced their fingers together, which she cast her eyes down for. Mindlessly, he rubbed his thumb against her skin as he trained his eyes on the road.

Paige didn't let go. If anything, she returned the gesture and heavily dwelt into that buttery sensation inside her stomach. She thought that perhaps they both had to grow apart in order to grow together. Nodding to herself, she stared straight ahead.

Only did they broke away when Owen initiated it first, and she gazed at his side profile rather questioningly. When he noticed her silence, and now seeing the confused look on her face, the corners of his mouth tilted up in amusement.

"What?" he asked, and she shrugged it off. Then a fleeting emotion darted across his eyes when he chanced a glance at her again. "I just don't want to seem like I'm going way too fast because that's not what I'm going for. I'd liked for you to do this at your own pace."

For some reason, she couldn't help but flush. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks for remembering that."

They let a couple of moments pass by as he drove for Hackett, while Malcolm and Mstsislav were following suit. The silence was a familiar, friendly hum. It was one of the perks of having Owen around. She didn't need to talk just to keep appearances or try to hide that she was shy whatsoever.

Owen knew her like the back of his hand and it was the major reason why it wasn't hard for her to somehow fall for him before. There was no knowing how much time it would take her to heal, but one thing for certain was that with Owen–it was very much possible to fall in love again.

But she didn't want to make him as a backup-man. He was too good to be one. Owen deserved his own special place in her heart and she wanted him to know that, in spite of Arthur being irreplaceable somewhere in her life, he wasn't just someone she needed to fix her.

She needed to fix herself so that she could give everything of her to the one. To Owen–if in case he was the right person for her.

"Owen?" she asked moments later, and he hummed his curiosity. "I may be not in a good place right now," she continued gently, "but I need you to know that you're not a rebound."