#amenff

[jordan202]

My Boys Drabbles: Just a Feeling (Part 3)

Hey guys, like promised here goes part three. Owen is finally face to face to with ex again. Sorry about taking so long to post it! 

Previous chapters are HERE.

My Boys Drabbles – Just a Feeling (Part Three)

“Beth. It’s really you.”

Owen took his time recovering from the shock of unexpectedly bumping into his ex-fiancé. Seeing her after all those years was already surprising enough, but to find out she now taught his youngest sons felt like his past had decided to suddenly play all kinds of tricky games with him.

Beth stood up with a dignified expression on her face that seemed much more neutral and contained than Owen could ever associate with her. And somewhere in between processing all those thoughts and impressions, his mind also registered that while he felt absolutely stunned to be facing her, the teacher on the other hand didn’t seem really that surprised to casually run into him after over a decade of not seeing each other.

When met by nothing other than a quick inspection, Owen felt compelled to break the uncomfortable silence. In the past, he’d usually had a hard time getting Beth to stop talking and not the other way around.

“I... I had no idea you were a teacher here,” he confessed looking into her eyes and trying to understand what her distant expression meant. From what he could remember, Beth had always been receptive and kind whenever they saw each other after months apart and even though everything was different now, her silence was still strange.

Owen couldn’t quite expect her to smile and excitedly greet him now, but her total lack of reaction confused him. He knew years had passed and people grew and changed, but the image he’d carried of Beth during all that time had been the one of an idealistic, excited, naive young woman who was perhaps too optimistic and too much of a dreamer for her own good. Nonetheless, despite her lack of maturity, Beth had always had a good, decent heart. So it felt odd for him to face her right now and be met with an indifferent expression rather than a smile.

“I worked in Medina Elementary. It wasn’t until very recently that I took a position here,” she explained with a more polite approach.

“That’s good,” Owen swallowed hard, unsure of what else to say. He’d never really imagined what it would be like seeing her after so many years but if he had, his mind probably would have come up with something a lot different from what he was experiencing. “I hope you like the new job.”

“I do,” Beth said matter-of-factly.

“This is a great school,” Owen added, hoping the awkwardness of their interaction wouldn’t last very long.

“Yes, it is.”

The surgeon nodded, suddenly met by the uncomfortable silence again.

“It might be just an impression, but...” his voice trailed off as he looked for the best way to phrase what was conflicting him. “I kind of have the feeling that I am completely surprised to see you but you don’t look at all that surprised to see me.”

Beth gently furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the twins standing next to them and then back at Owen.

“The first thing I got when I arrived at school was a list with all my students,” she looked at the man standing in front of her with a dumbstruck expression, as if what he was saying made no sense. “Hunt is not a rare name but it isn’t all that common either. And really, Owen? Just look at them,” Beth added, slightly shaking her head from side to side as if she couldn’t believe he was doubting that, “did you really think I wouldn’t recognize your sons the minute I first laid eyes on them?”

Owen opened up his mouth to refute her, but after realizing Beth was right, he decided not to say anything. Of all his children, Danny and Robbie were by far the ones who resembled him the most, not only in facial features but also in physical structure and maybe even in the way they spoke.

“Yeah, I guess you have a point.”

“Ms. Whitman, do you know my Dad?” Robbie interrupted their conversation, just as curious as his twin brother about the interaction between both adults.

“As a matter of fact, I do, Robbie,” Beth turned her head to face the child and her expression softened immediately, going from neutral to warm and receptive. “We met a long time ago, before you were even born.”

“Really?” Danny’s eyes widened with curiosity as he entered the conversation.

“Yes, but today your Dad is here for our meeting and he wants to hear about the two of you,” the teacher sneakily changed the focus of the conversation, knowing that as the normal six-year-olds Danny and Robbie were, they would definitely want to talk about themselves if offered a chance. “Is their mother joining us or can we start?” she asked with her best professional tone as she turned her head from the boys to their father.

“Uh, she can’t make it,” Owen replied, still disconcerted by the way Beth’s expressions would quickly change depending on whether she was talking to the kids or facing him. “She is stuck at work, so...”

“It’s alright,” Beth assured him with practicality. “I just want to update you on Danny’s and Robbie’s progress over the last trimester. We’ve had a remarkable...”

As his ex-fiancé and current sons’ teacher went on to give him a full report on how the twins were adapting to the transition from kindergarten to first grade, a much more impartial topic, Owen slowly made himself more at ease. Since he’d been caught so off guard, it had been hard at first to process anything out of that surprising encounter.

It was true that in the past he and Beth hadn’t had the easiest breakup. In fact, now he thought about it, the trauma surgeon became well aware that he’d probably been a real jerk to her at the time they had parted ways.

Not only had he taken too long to let Beth know he didn’t reciprocate her feelings and wishes, Owen had also failed to inform her he’d been back from a war zone once he made it to Seattle, even though deep down he knew she was deeply worried about him, to the point of praying for his well-being every night. Owen knew that the reason why he’d done it was because back then, he’d been caught up with a lot more than he could handle, including a serious mental condition. It had been easier to simply sweep his dirt under the rug and pretend he could start over with a clean slate rather than having to deal with what had actually happened to him.

Life had put Cristina Yang on his way and coincidence or not, she was exactly what he wanted but didn’t need in a woman at the time. Unlike Beth, Cristina was very comfortable with not knowing details and not asking any questions. And his unwillingness to face what happened to him in Iraq had been one of the reasons Owen had avoided Beth upon his return.

Even though he knew he wasn’t in love with her anymore, after their breakup Owen was pretty sure that she would have done everything within her power to try and help him if she so much as thought he was that damaged from the war. She would probably want to salvage their relationship too. The only problem at the time was that Owen wasn’t open to receiving that kind of help.

Or perhaps deep down he had a feeling that Beth was never meant to be the one with whom he could share his pain and trust his heart. Owen supposed that was true because now that he was older, had lived through things and knew better, he was sure that back then he couldn’t have connected to anyone else in the way he connected to his wife now, regardless of what he’d lived or been through at the time. It wasn’t so much about the experiences but rather how comfortable he felt to share with a particular person or not.

As Owen’s mind drifted back and forth in thoughts about the past and present, Beth’s voice broke the silence.

“So... we are done here, I guess,” she wrapped the conversation with a smile, playfully giving Danny an affectionate squeeze on his belly that made the boy chuckle and look at her with adoration in his eyes. “Can you boys please go pick up your backpacks and get the crayons you used back in the proper box? We want to keep the room tidy for tomorrow.”

“Yes, Ms. Whitman,” Robbie and Danny replied in unison.

Owen waited until the kids were out of their hearing range after noticing how Beth remained still, watching from a distance as his sons strictly followed her instructions.

“So...” Owen put both his hands in his pant pockets, drawing her attention with his voice. “You’re still excellent with kids, I see,” he commented awkwardly, unsure of how she would react at his attempt at small talk. Even though it had been years, Owen still felt awful about the way he had treated her, mostly because he had never really apologized for it. “Not that it surprises me, of course,” Owen added. “How many do you have now? Five, six?” he asked with a lighthearted tone, knowing that just like him, Beth had always wanted a big family.

Owen could swear he identified a trace of sadness in her gaze as she turned her head at him to reply.

“Eighteen,” she shrugged, apparently trying to look like she was okay with the joke but Owen knew her well enough to see that the question – and mostly the answer – bothered her.

The trauma surgeon quickly understood that eighteen was the number of children in his sons’ first grade class. And if Beth had given that as a reply, apparently regarding her beloved students as her children, it could only mean she didn’t have any kids of her own.

The realization took Owen by surprise but he didn’t have the courage to ask why she had changed her plans – or maybe why they had failed to happen? It was probably not his place to ask, anyway.

“Danny and Robbie talk about their siblings all the time,” Beth commented as she crouched down to pick up a pencil from the floor, making Owen wonder how she’d even spotted the object underneath a student’s desk in the first place. “Just yesterday they were talking about how you were flying kites with them over the weekend… They are obviously happy kids,” Beth gazed at the boys from a distance with a lingering smile. Owen saw the contrast between that and the shadow of sadness he could swear she was trying hard to conceal. “You got the whole package, didn’t you?” the teacher asked as she got up with the pencil in hand at the same time a gloomy shadow darkened her usually lively eyes. “Not that I am surprised, it is what you always wanted, I guess… What we both did.”

“Beth...”

“No, Owen, don’t,” Beth interrupted him before the surgeon could even start. She could precisely predict what he was about to do, and after taking years to recover from their unilateral decision to end their engagement, she wasn’t interested in hearing what he had to say anymore.

“I know we have both moved on and it probably doesn’t matter anymore… What’s in the past is in the past,” Owen repeated the sentence he seemed to be telling himself quite a lot lately. “But I’d just like to apologize for the way things ended between us,” he added the most considerately and kindly he could.

A daunting silence followed and Owen noticed as the face of the woman standing in front of him went through many transformations.

First she seemed surprised. Then confused. And finally, really angry.

“That’s it?” Beth scoffed, suddenly neglecting every progress she’d made in her journey to be resolved about her past. For a long time, she had tried every method possible for moving on: therapy, sports, yoga. Many years before she had finally convinced herself that she was over the heartbreak and if faced with Owen once again in her life, she would be able to simply ignore him because he couldn’t affect her anymore. Well, how wrong had she been, apparently. “You break up with me through an email, come back from the war and don’t say anything, then you get a job, start a relationship with someone else… And as if that’s not enough, you tell me to my face that my dad has cancer and walk away…” Beth summoned up the events from her perspective. “Years later that’s what I get?” for the first time that day, Owen could see a reaction on her face that seemed spontaneous instead of rehearsed whenever she looked at him. “A simple, generic apology? Are you actually serious?”

“Beth...” Owen took a long breath, suddenly regretting having gone there. He should have kept his mouth shut but something about his uncontrollable urge to come to terms with the people he’d let down had prompted him to say it.

“No,” she backed out raising her voice, for a moment forgetting they were inside a classroom and that she was at her workplace, in the company of two of her students. “Do you have any idea the pain you put me through that day?” the trauma surgeon didn’t have to ask her to know she was talking about the last time they’d seen each other. “You made me lose my ground, Owen,” her voice broke down a little as Beth struggled to contain her tears. “My ground!” she insisted, thinking back about how at the same time she had lost the man she had considered to be the love of her life and her father, the only parent she had. “I didn’t get a chance to take care of my dad because he didn’t tell me about it and I couldn’t take care of you either because you walked away. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to lose the two of you in the same month?”

“I...” Owen struggled with his words. It was the first time he was being confronted with that part of his past and when she put it like that, he couldn’t help feeling guiltier. “I was going through some stuff at the time and I didn’t realize what I was doing. I am sorry,” Owen replied in a lower tone, trying to keep their voices down not to draw attention from the boys who were already frowning as they collected crayons across the room and noticed how worked up their teacher seemed to be. “I get it if you can’t understand it and I respect it,” Owen said with honesty, feeling even worse for how he’d failed her. “I know it must be really painful for you to come here and have to teach my children after everything I put you through, so I also want you to know that I really appreciate how good you are with them...” the surgeon said, once again taking a peek at the boys. “And how much of a bigger person you are not to let our past interfere in the way you treat them.”

The teacher took a deep breath and closed her eyes, taking her time to open them again. It became obvious she was struggling to keep herself together and Owen censored himself for bringing up the subject.

“Owen...” Beth’s voice sounded hoarse as she tilted her head and looked at him, looking almost offended. “Danny and Robbie are wonderful kids and they have nothing to do with what happened between us,” she enforced, looking at them as she swallowed hard. Those boys and their stunning resemblance with the man she had built her dreams with once were a daily reminder of her failed past and everything Beth had set to accomplish but never did. “As you said, what’s in the past is in the past. Let’s just leave it there.”

“I really didn’t mean to make your life such a nightmare...” Owen said with a guilty conscience. At the time, it hadn’t been so obvious because he had been too caught up with his own traumas. But now, it made him feel extremely remorseful to realize that not only he’d broken Beth’s heart by leaving her, but he’d also done it around the same time he’d given her the worst news of her life after bluntly letting her know her father had cancer. At the time, Owen had grown sick of everyone hiding everything from her and he’d thought that she would be better off with the truth, no matter how hard it was.

So he’d disclosed to his ex-fiancé in the hospital waiting area that unbeknownst to her, her father had been battling cancer for a while now. And then Owen had walked out to never see Beth again until today.

By the time the older man had died, Beth had lost not one, but the two most important people in her life: her father and her fiancé.

The teacher was just about to once again suggest they dropped the subject when the twins finally came from across the room carrying their backpacks, silencing the adults’ apologies and once for all putting an end to that unexpectedly raw conversation.  

.

On the short drive home, even though they had stopped to pick up the other kids, Owen was worried he might have to deal with a series of questions from the twins as to how he knew their teacher, but to his luck, they were too distracted with their siblings to bring up the subject.

But hours later though, by the time his wife got home, Danny didn’t waste any time sharing with his mother the news he’d learned earlier that day.

“How was everything with the school meeting?” Amelia asked at the same time she dropped her handbag on the counter, took off her jacket and approached the kids, giving them each a kiss on the head. “Did you meet the popular Ms. Whitman?” she asked with good mood as she looked up to meet her husband’s eyes.

Before Owen could reply, Danny intervened.

“She and Dad already knew each other, Mom,” the boy repeated what he’d learned earlier that day with a proud smile to be breaking the news, succeeding in getting his mother’s attention. “Ms. Whitman said she knew my dad from before I was even born!” he added with widened eyes, as if his father having a life prior to his birth was already shocking enough.

Amelia took in the information and looked back at her husband, using a confused expression rather than words to ask him to elaborate Danny’s revelation.

“I was going to tell you but Dan obviously beat me to it,” Owen said with a playful eye roll, knowing he really meant it. “I was surprised to find out like this, but it turns out the twins’ substitute teacher is Beth,” he unconsciously raised his eyebrows, expecting her response apprehensively as he whispered in addition, “as in, Beth Whitman. The woman I was engaged to before moving back here for good.”

As anticipated, Amelia was also taken by surprise with the information.

“Your ex-fiancé is their teacher?” she asked, thinking about the woman she’d heard about only a few times but never really met. Amelia looked at her husband almost apologetically, thinking about the couple of occasions in which she’d joked about the teacher’s manners and she talked like one of her students. “Is it the one you were going to marry when you were serving in Iraq?” she asked whispering back, unwilling to be heard from the kids considering she had no idea how much they had indeed been told.

“That one,” Owen replied tensely as he watched the twins go back to the toys they had been playing with prior to their mother’s arrival.

Over the years, Owen had shared so many of the most intimate things about his life and his past with his wife that he liked to think there wasn’t anything they couldn’t talk about. Surely some things were more difficult to discuss than others, and some topics Owen would much rather avoid if it could be helped, for various reasons.

It so happened that he wasn’t the least bit proud of the way he’d treated Beth in the past and talking about her only made Owen feel exposed in the worst way possible to perhaps the only person whose good opinion of him really mattered. So it was probably for the best not to dwell on that subject.  

“Are you okay?” Amelia asked, mistaking his reservation for discomfort. Owen had been acting a little quieter than usual lately and she was starting to wonder if something was indeed off with him.  “Did something happen?”

“No, it was just weird, that’s all,” Owen shook his head in denial, unwilling to stay trapped in his thoughts. “It’s past eight thirty already, I’ll get the kids upstairs to start their bedtime,” he proposed, crossing the distance between himself and his wife and giving her a kiss on the forehead. He’d already had dinner with the kids but had been waiting with them so that they could see Amelia for a while before going to sleep since she was working late that day. “There is a plate for you in the oven if you’re hungry.”

“I am starved,” Amelia confessed, already making her way to the kitchen. “I will catch up with you guys soon.”

The neurosurgeon had dinner and a shower at the same time Owen got the kids ready to bed. She then tucked Megan in, which didn’t take five minutes, and later spent nearly half an hour with Thomas lying on his bed as they read together until he finally fell asleep.

After giving the boy a kiss goodnight, Amelia proceeded to Lucas’ room. She made him promise he would turn off the TV after the anime he was watching was over and also got a hug and a kiss before finally turning off the lights in that bedroom.

That only left the twins’ room to go check and Amelia expected to find both boys already asleep. Nonetheless, she would go in to give them the kiss goodnight she always gave all her children.

To her surprise, she found out the bedside lamp was on and Owen was sitting between the children’s beds on a tiny stool that made him look even bigger than he already was. Even though he had his back turned to her, Amelia could tell he was reading the boys a bedtime story and she couldn’t help but stand against the doorframe and watch the scene from a distance with a smile on her face.

“Dad,” Danny’s voice echoed in the room as he contained a yawn right when his father finished reading a chapter of the story. “Did you misbehave?” he asked very seriously, but at the same time Owen noticed his son was looking at him with an empathetic, forgiving glance.

“Did I what?” Owen tilted his head to the side as he gently spoke back, confused by what Danny really meant.

“He meant when Ms. Whitman was your teacher,” Robbie offered some explanation to what was going on in the twins’ minds. “Were you in timeout a lot?”

Amelia had to contain a chuckle from where she was standing.

“No, buddy, that’s not what happened,” Owen calmly explained, smiling at the boys’ logic. “She is not old enough to have been my teacher. I knew her from before because she used to be my friend.”

Since Danny had asked if he’d misbehaved, it didn’t go unnoticed to Owen that the boys had assumed their teacher for some reason disapproved of their father. The additional question about him being sent to timeout corroborated that. They had probably picked up the animosity in the air, despite the adults’ effort to tone it down as much as they could. It made sense that the six year olds had related Beth’s attitude with misbehavior, the likely most common cause for the kids in their class to get frowned upon by their teacher.

Well, they weren’t totally in the wrong, Owen had to admit. Except that his past with Beth was more complicated than talking during class or forgetting to hand in his homework. It was true that he was going through the worst moment of his life at the time everything had happened but it didn’t make Owen feel any less awful for realizing now the pain she’d had to endure, something that at the time he couldn’t see very clearly exactly because of his own traumas.

“She’s not your friend anymore?” Danny asked with confusion and a glimpse of disappointment.

“I haven’t seen her in a long time,” Owen replied evasively. The details were too difficult to try to explain to two kids. “But what makes you think Dad might have misbehaved?” he asked Danny with a patient smile, leaning over to pull the covers on his son.

Owen noticed how the twins looked at each other, as if communicating in their own secret language before Robbie opened his mouth to answer the question that had been directed at his brother.

“Ms. Whitman seemed upset,” Robbie confessed, confirming Owen’s theory. “It was like…” the six-year-old hesitated, unsure of how to phrase what he wanted to say. “It was like Amanda when I told her that I can take care of Casper much better than she can,” the boy explained, referring to their class’s goldfish. “She can’t even reach the bottom of his tank, Dad,” he added, as if the argument absolutely proved his point.

“And Amanda was upset about what you said?” Owen raised his eyebrows with amusement, correctly supposing their sons were talking about a fellow first grader.

“She was! She didn’t want the strawberries mom put in my lunch box even though I said I would share them with her!” Robbie confided with outrage at what he apparently considered a big offense.

“I see,” Owen smiled at the dynamics of two six-year-olds innocently trying to socialize. “Maybe she just doesn’t like strawberries. How about you offer her some other kind of fruit next time?” he proposed with a playful smile. “Or even better, when grandma bakes a batch of chocolate brownies, maybe you can pack a big slice and take it to school for Amanda?”

“That’s a perfect idea, dad,” Robbie cheerfully agreed. “I bet she is going to love it!” he said with confidence. Everyone loved his grandma’s brownies.

“Maybe you can take some to Ms. Whitman too, Dad!” Danny promptly intervened, sharing his brother’s impression. “Maybe then she will like you again!”

Owen frowned, pensively. Apparently, he had reached the perfect conclusion by assuming the boys had picked up on some animosity in the air and figured that their teacher wasn’t all too pleased with their father.

“Ms. Whitman and I didn’t have a fight, Dan,” Owen said assuredly even though it wasn’t entirely true. “The only thing is that I hadn’t seen Ms. Whitman in many, many years,” he explained as he closed the book and placed it on the nightstand next to the lamp. “But it doesn’t change the fact she was a wonderful friend, and I know she is a wonderful teacher so I am glad you guys have her this year,” the surgeon added with a smile, knowing that his approval would mean a lot to the boys. Danny and Robbie liked the teacher very much and to have them so much as think their father might see her differently could conflict their heads. Owen was determined not to let that happen because his kids had nothing to do with his past and shouldn’t pay the price for his mistakes. “It’s late now, close your eyes, buddy,” he said, ruffling Robbie’s hair affectionately before pulling the covers to tighten them around his body.

Amelia chose that moment to make her presence noted and it was with smiles that she was welcomed in the room. After staying with the twins until they fell asleep, she was escorted by her husband back to the hallway.

“I am so tired I had to give my everything to resist calling it a night and just crashing on Danny’s bed with him,” Amelia confessed with a playful grin, putting both arms around herself and rubbing them to fight off the cold and exhaustion.

“Was your shift that bad? I thought you would come home after the surgery you paged me to,” Owen confessed with an understanding glance, pulling the covers on her side of the bed first so she could crawl in. After he got a positive nod in response and realized Amelia was too exhausted to elaborate an answer, he added, “I was kind of hoping we could start that show about the hostages trapped on an island on Netflix tonight,” he joined her in bed. Unlike his wife, Owen didn’t feel the least inclined to fall asleep. It had been happening quite often lately.

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Amelia agreed with a yawn. “I actually should start drafting the paper for my new research but, nope, not gonna happen.”

“If I put on the show, you’re going to fall asleep five minutes into it,” Owen shook his head with playful disapproval as he turned on the TV with the remote anyway. After returning the object to his nightstand, he used his arm to capture his wife by the waist and pull her closer.

Amelia didn’t protest but rather sought the warmth of his embrace. She’d had a really long day with back-to-back surgeries and a lot of unexpected bureaucracy to deal within her department. The following days promised to be just as busy as she once again planned a new and complicated research within her department but at least for now she could enjoy the comfort of her husband’s familiar embrace and relax while he gently stroked her hair as she lay against him with her eyes closed hearing the sound of the TV on the background.

The neurosurgeon was nearly asleep when something her husband had said earlier that night came to her memory and she suddenly couldn’t put her mind at ease again.

“What was weird?”

Owen seemed very confused by her blunt question and Amelia instantly figured out that she hadn’t explained herself very well.

“When I arrived from work today… You said that running into your ex and finding out she is teaching Robbie and Danny was weird,” Amelia reminded him, slightly rolling her head to the side and opening her eyes to meet his gaze. “Why would you think that? It’s not a word you use very often.”

Owen seemed to think for a while before he opened his mouth to reply.

“I meant to say I didn’t see it coming, I guess,” he said with a low, patient tone of voice while looking straight into his wife’s eyes. Amelia still felt his fingers gently caressing her hair and that combined with the sincerity in his gaze as he maintained eye contact with her made her sure that Owen was being honest. “It just took me by surprise… I hadn’t seen her or heard from her in years.”

Amelia took her time processing his answer. It made absolute sense that Owen would be surprised with the news. But somehow, there seemed to be more to it. As if he wasn’t only surprised, but also shocked and intrigued.

“You don’t talk much about her,” Amelia mentioned the most casually she could. Robbie and Danny had obviously gotten the impression that their teacher was upset with their father, even though he’d denied it. Amelia could only wonder what that meant.  “I mean, you never really told me what happened between the two of you.”

“There isn’t much to tell,” Owen said, hoping it wasn’t too obvious he was avoiding going deeper into that conversation or else it would only raise a flag for Amelia to ask further questions. He didn’t want to go into the subject because deep down, it ashamed him to admit to his wife how he’d treated his ex-fiancé in the past. Even though Owen supposed he had to cut himself some slack considering how unwell he’d been at the time, he still couldn’t come to terms with his realizations from that day. “We met when we really young and as we grew older, I got wiser and eventually I realized that she wasn’t the right woman for me, so we broke up,” he summed up, hoping Amelia’s tiredness would prevent her from asking further details.

Owen should suspect he wasn’t going to get away so easily, though.

“Why?” Amelia moved in his arms and gently turned her head up to maintain their eye contact. “I mean, how did you come to the conclusion she wasn’t the right one for you?”

Even though she was very serious about her question, Owen was determined to skip all those painful, unnecessary parts of his past that would probably only serve to disappoint Amelia nearly as much as he felt disappointed in himself for his past behavior.

“Because she wasn’t you,” Owen said with flattery as he possessively chucked her under the chin and stared into her eyes with a trace of playfulness before stealing a kiss from her lips.

Amelia saw right through him and his plot.

“Oh yeah?” she pretended to be on board with his game. “And are you so smart that you’ve reached that conclusion and broke up with her before you even met me?” she asked with a challenging smile.

“Exactly. I am glad you’re able to acknowledge how smart I am,” Owen brought his other hand to her face and caressed her, mesmerized by the way she looked at him and everything he saw in her eyes. “I was just killing time while waiting for you,” he added with a teasing voice.

Amelia laughed right through his exaggerated sentimentality and before she could grill him, her husband decided to share a little more.

“Okay, so… When I started dating Beth, I was this idealistic, fresh off college guy who saw the world much the same way she did,” he explained. Back then Owen hadn’t known many of the hard truths he later on had learned about life. “But then I went to war and it changed me. Beth stayed and she remained the same person. As you can see, it was only a matter of time before our perspectives collided,” he added, being as evasive as he could without being dishonest. “Especially when our relationship was already on the rocks because of the distance and everything... So that’s why it never had much of a future.”

When Owen took a deep breath and slowly let it out, Amelia wondered if she really should be pushing him to talk about that subject. She knew that even after all those years, talking about his deployments and what had happened during the time he’d been at war was still hard on her husband. If he had to relive all of those things to talk about his ex-fiancé, it was no wonder why he was avoiding the subject.

“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up some hard memories. I know you don’t like talking about the war,” she considerately said.

Owen gave her a doubtful sideways glance, suspicious about the intention of her last statement considering how much in the past Amelia had used her power of persuasion to get him to talk about his time in service.

“Alright, I know I grill you about it, but only when it is for your own good!” she justified her manners, getting a playful glance in response.

“It wouldn’t be you if you didn’t,” Owen commented lightheartedly, although deep down he hoped the conversation about Beth was over.

Owen didn’t have to think about it for much longer because sooner after, Amelia finally gave in to exhaustion, quickly falling asleep next to him.

Knowing he wouldn’t be as lucky as his wife to successful rest and put his mind at ease, Owen was once again confronted by memories of his past and his misdoings.

From everything he’d learned that day, he had to admit that finding out Beth apparently hadn’t gotten married or had kids was by far what had blown his mind. Her vague answer about her life at present time and indirect admission that she didn’t have any kids was still conflicting Owen. He hadn’t seen a ring on her finger either and didn’t fully understand why that got to him.

He and Beth had spent apart the majority of the time they were a couple, mostly because Owen had been deployed. But that didn’t mean Owen hadn’t gotten to truly know Beth and what moved her.

During his life, he’d met all kinds of women. Some dreamed of being doctors, some wanted to be business owners, a few had no idea what they really wanted. And Owen knew that people’s dreams and goals changed overtime. But ever since he’d known Beth, the only thing she had ever truly wanted was to be a mom. So to find out she had made it this far in life without fulfilling that dream made Owen feel strangely sad, and to some degree, even accountable.

During the time they had been together, all Beth ever talked about was getting married, having kids and being a stay at home mom. And Owen knew that dream wasn’t just something she considered for herself but rather something she felt like defined her. Kind of like an ideal she based her entire life on, according to the teacher’s own admissions. And even though Owen knew it could very well have changed over the years, based on what he’d seen earlier that day, he had a bad feeling Beth’s life aspirations hadn’t really changed at all.

But soon enough, the surgeon wondered if that perhaps he was being too arrogant and giving himself too much importance.

What did he know, really? Maybe Beth had indeed tried. For all he knew, she could have met half a dozen guys after him and moved on with her life as he honestly wished she had. Beth could have even gotten married. Just because apparently it hadn’t worked out, it didn’t mean she hadn’t tried, he told himself.

But before Owen could control it, his gut feeling told him that it probably had not been like that. Beth was very selective. She wouldn’t be jumping from guy to guy looking for a Prince Charming. And she definitely wouldn’t marry the first guy that came along considering how much of a romantic, idealistic girl she had always been.

Up until now, Owen had never really given any thought about how much he’d affected Beth’s life by breaking up with her and leaving her alone to deal with her dying father. Maybe he was overestimating the importance of the role he had in her life but judging by how dependent Beth had been on him at the time and the spoiled, naïve and sheltered way with which she had been raised, it was only fair to assume that he’d put her through so much heartbreak that perhaps he’d played a bigger role into turning the woman into a cynical than he’d initially assumed.

You made me lose my ground, Beth had said. That wasn’t something a person who’d experienced a common heartbreak confessed. Her suffering had probably gone beyond that. And Owen knew he had a big load of responsibility for putting her through it.

It was absolutely true that he couldn’t have forced himself to love Beth in the way she wanted him to love her. Owen was in peace with that. But there were a lot of things he could have done differently.

He could have broken up with her earlier on when he’d first realized they didn’t want the same things instead of postponing it and unknowingly doing it in the worst possible moment… Just before her father got sick.

He could have called to check in on her after she’d learned the truth.

Hell, he could have at least asked about her father and offered help if she needed any kind of medical assistance…

It stung to realize this only now, but maybe for Beth, being engaged to him and getting married to him meant more than it did for the surgeon. Owen had failed to realize just how important their relationship was to her at the time. Perhaps he might have ruined her life more than he imagined, more than he’d ever considered himself capable to.

While drowning in his own guilt, Owen failed to realize that he hadn’t really been herself back then.

If he shared some of the thoughts that were torturing him with his wife, she would have rightfully pointed out that he had just been through something huge by the time everything unfolded. After going through perhaps his worst army deployment, Owen had not been in a condition to make any good decisions. In addition to that, he had already accepted that by the time he’d put an end to his relationship with Beth, he didn’t love her in the way she deserved. And frankly, even back then her presence in his life and constant badgering had already started to annoy him. He knew Beth did it with the best of intentions, but Owen just wouldn’t have put up with being questioned constantly and forced to confront his experiences in the Army, much less talking about them.

If Owen had stayed with Beth, he would never have given her the opportunity to help him, no matter how much she would have wanted to. Her attempts would increasingly irritate him, perhaps to the point where everything would backfire, causing more pain and heartbreak. Owen could be quite difficult when he was pushing people away and it was likely he could have hurt Beth even more if he’d forced himself to be around her.

Years later, it was easy to look at his past and judge himself after assuming he could have done better or tried harder. But truth was, Owen couldn’t have seen any of that at the time because he was struggling with his own demons and focusing too much on the outcome of his decisions to really see the bigger picture.

Exactly in the same way he was functioning right now.

Owen took another deep breath, trying to process everything. He couldn’t change his past and the way he’d hurt other people, no matter how much he wanted to. The burden weighing on his chest felt especially heavy after the truths he’d learned recently. Sometimes it was just too hard for him to forgive himself.

One look at the woman sleeping peacefully by his side made Owen want to try and see the silver lining. All his misdoings and mistakes, even the worst ones, had led him exactly to the life he was living right now. That was something he couldn’t take for granted. As he lay awake in bed, forcing himself to clear his mind of all those thoughts, Owen realized that he was sorry for many things. Some of his choices had been absolutely dreadful and if he could go back on them, he would.

But if there was something he wasn’t sorry about it was definitely the person lying next to him and everything they had built together. His family was by far the most important thing he had and it was his responsibility to take care of them and make sure they were okay.

Owen had hurt a lot of people on the course of his life but he would never forgive himself if he did the same to Amelia and the kids. Just the thought of it made him cringe, and the surgeon immediately closed his eyes rejecting the idea, more determined than ever to protect them from anyone and anything.  

Even if that included himself.

--

#omelia #myboys #myboysfanfiction #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #omeliafics #omeliafanfiction #omeliafanfics #omeliafic #owen x amelia #amelia x owen #amenff

[omeliashipper]

The solution to our problem Part 3

Special thanks to @cizavilation as always for supporting and for being an awesome beta reader. Her advice make my story even better.

Part one: https://omeliashipper.tumblr.com/post/153186227891/the-solution-to-our-problem-part-1

Part two: https://omeliashipper.tumblr.com/post/161472376741/the-solution-to-our-problem-part-2

Secret Santa(same universe): https://omeliashipper.tumblr.com/post/154106278856/double-date

****************************************************************************************************

On this particular Wednesday, Owen was having a slow day in the ER and was wishing he had thought of asking for the day off since Amelia wasn’t working, when he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled out his phone to find a text from his wife “911 Dana called”

It had been a few months and they hadn’t received news of a child for them. They spoke to Dana a couple of times and she informed them that it took time to get matched to a child and that she would call as soon as she got news.

Owen needed to know and didn’t want to wait the 5 hours he still had left on his shift. He spied April placing a tablet in the charging station and walked towards her. “Hey Owen! Is something wrong? You look worried” She told her friend when he reached her “I don’t know. Amelia just texted me that the social worker wants to talk to us. Do you think you can handle the ER without me?” Owen asked. April exclaimed “Oh my God! Of course! You need to go! I hope it’s good news for you two!” as she gave him a quick hug and pushed him toward the door.

Owen called Amelia from his truck. “Amelia, I’m on my way home. Did Dana say anything?” He said. He hadn’t realized how nervous he was until his wife picked up the call. “Owen! I’m glad you’re on your way. Meet me in Dana’s office. I told her I was going to see if I was able to get ahold of you and call her back. She just said she needed to talk to us in her office." Amelia answered as she tried to grab everything she needed before she left to Dana’s office. She felt like she was forgetting something but was feeling equal parts excited and nervous and really just wanted to get to Dana’s office and hear whatever she had to say and she knew she couldn’t do it without Owen next to her “Babe, I’m really glad you called and that I didn’t have to go get you at the hospital!” she said.

Owen and Amelia sat at Dana’s desk waiting for her to go and talk to them. Owen was running his hands nervously up and down the tops of his thighs and it melted Amelia’s heart to see how much he wanted this. She tried her best to give him a reassuring smile as she hoped for the best. Dana sat across from them and opened a file. "We have a 17-year-old pregnant girl who chose you to be the parents to her baby boy.” Amelia gasped at the news and turned to look at Owen, who looked absolutely elated as he looked back at her. “Now, she’s 38 weeks pregnant, which means she could be giving birth any day now. Do you think you can be ready when the baby gets here?” Dana asked them. Owen answered immediately “Absolutely!” Amelia giggled and said, “My sister owns the freaking hospital, I’ll make sure I get maternity leave”. “OK then, the birth mother has asked not to meet with you and wants a closed adoption and she left a letter for you, which I will leave with you so you can make a decision. Once the child is born and the 72 hours that we have to wait by law for parental right termination have passed, we will call you so you can pick up your son if you so decide. I’ll give you a moment to read the letter” Dana handed Amelia an envelope and walked out of the office. Amelia held the envelope with shaky hands and turned to see Owen looking at her. He gave her a reassuring nod and she opened it and started reading.

“Dr. Shepherd,

               I chose you and your husband to be this baby’s parents because I’m no way prepared to give him his best chance. I also decided to give him to you to give myself my best chance.

I wasn’t planning this. I was 16 and living a pretty wild life with parties and guys. I didn’t realize I was pregnant until I was too far along to terminate because I was so far gone I didn’t notice the changes in my body. I assumed it was hangovers. I didn’t find out I was pregnant until I was showing and went to the doctor to figure out what it was. I stopped the partying after that, but don’t worry. The doctor told me I didn’t hurt the baby. He has a clean bill of health and he moves around like he gets paid to do it.

I had given up. I didn’t think there was more that I could do other than party my life away. I didn’t think I was good enough to do anything else, but your story gave me hope. You turned your life around and you save lives! You work on brains! You give me hope that maybe I can turn my life around and be more than a party girl.

So, this baby is a second hope, for you to be parents and for me to have a real shot at life, if you’ll have him.

The birth mother

Amelia had tears running down her cheeks as she finished the letter and Owen’s eyes were shiny with unshed tears. They were going to have a baby! “Are you ok with this?” Owen asked Amelia, who was for once in her life speechless and nodded eagerly

Dana cleared her throat and said “You are both doctors and know that the baby will probably need a few extra checkups because of the alcohol and drugs that may have been used by the birth mother early in the pregnancy. Are you both willing to deal with that?” Owen nodded and said “We are. Luckily the day care is in the hospital and we are around in case it is needed.”

Dana smiled and said “Ok, then! We’ll finish the paperwork and will let you know when you can pick him up”

Amelia stood up and hugged the woman and they left the office in disbelief of what was happening. They drove home in silence, both still wrapping their brains around the fact that they were going to be parents. Such was their shock that they forgot they had arrived in separate vehicles and had to return for Amelia’s car a few hours later when realized it wasn’t parked in the garage.

The next week was a flurry of activity. Both managed to get leaves at work and spent their time getting the nursery ready. The furniture in the study was moved into storage and they painted the wall in a beautiful light blue. They spent what Owen called an obscene amount of money on baby furniture and clothes. They bought a crib that could later be converted into a twin size bed when the boy outgrew the crib. Amelia decided to decorate the nursery with a space theme. Owen built the furniture while Amelia placed golden stars all over the walls.  She found a beautiful solar system mobile for the crib and a lamp shaped like a cloud. Amelia and Owen were enjoying being able to get a nursery ready since it helped then adjust to the idea that they would have a child soon. The nursery helped make it real for them. “I read it’s called nesting” Amelia explained to Maggie when she came to visit and help decorate.

Within a week they had the nursery ready and all the tiny clothes put away in the drawers and all they had to do was wait. They waited patiently with their hearts full of love for their son.

#amelia shepherd #owen hunt #owen and amelia #omelia #omelia fanfiction #omelia fics #omeliafics #omelia ff #amen #amen fanfiction #amen fics #amenfics #amen ff #omeliaff #amenff #grey's anatomy #greys anatomy

[the-hunts]

My Wife

Prompt: The first time Owen refers to Amelia as, “my wife.”

I’m baaaaaack. Well, kind of. I don’t really know much, but I know I missed writing. A

Owen Hunt was not one to flaunt his relationships all over town. He appreciated the intimacy of a bond shared between two people, the closeness it brings to the couple. At the same time, he also had a very hard time not mounting his wife every second of the day. The way her scrubs molded against her shapely ass, how the vee of her collar would gape when she bent over, revealing a delicious view of her cleavage.

He was a firm believer in feminism and he knew firsthand that Amelia could stand up for herself, but occasionally he couldn’t help it. When a stranger’s eyes would linger on her petite frame a little too long he would slink an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Or when the waiter at dinner would shoot her a grin, Owen would reach across to intertwine their hands, making sure to flaunt her white gold band.

But Amelia Shepherd was not going to stand around while he figuratively peed all over her. She was no one’s territory to be marked, and he knew that damn well. Yet he had an inkling that a small part of her enjoyed his jealousy and possessive nature when it came to her. The glint in her eye, and the super hot sex, were a dead giveaway that she wasn’t completely against his behaviour.

The first time it became very apparent that he was a jealous husband was a short two days after their wedding. While they had debated stay-cationing in Seattle for their honeymoon, the dreary weather and familiar faces of their coworkers pushed them to travel somewhere else. Somewhere warm, sunny and carefree. Preferable somewhere far.

Somehow they managed to plan their wedding and book a vacation package for Maui despite their short timeline. Amelia had scoffed at the extravagance of the trip, rolling her eyes as Owen selected the largest suite and a plethora of amenities. After she finally finished complaining he turned to her,

“Are you done yet?” he had asked, his voice on edge.

Astonished, she turned to him, “Pardon?”

He sighed greatly, “Are you done complaining yet? Because all you’re doing is wasting your breath.”

She humphed adorably, an angry pout settling on her face.

Owen couldn’t help but release a small chuckle and grin, “Amelia, look at me.”

His stubborn fiancee reluctantly gave him her attention.

“How many honeymoons are you planning on having?” he asked seriously.

She looked perplexed, “Pardon?”

“I asked how many honeymoons you planned on having. Because personally, I’m only planning on having one - with you. All I want is to soak up the sun with my wife, and preferably she’ll be wearing a skimpy bikini. And if that means paying an arm and a leg, so be it.”

Amelia relaxed under his gaze, a blush creeping up her cheeks, “A skimpy bikini, eh?”

He smiled sheepishly, “A guy can dream?”

She leaned in slowly to press a kiss to his lips, pulling away ever so slightly.

“A wife can turn dreams into realities,” she whispered huskily before sashaying away, shooting him a wink over her shoulder.

If Amelia Shepherd was anything, she was true to her word. So after a morning romp in the sheets on their first day of their vacation, she had sent him down to the beach, promising to meet him there after a quick shower. He had protested originally, wanting to spend no more than a second apart but she enticed him with the thought of the warm sun and sand, eventually coaxing him to relent.

As soon as he left, a sly grin spread across her face. She showered carefully, meticulously scrubbing her body with a natural sea sponge, letting the citrusy body wash glide down her wet frame. Once she was done, she stepped out into the steamy bathroom and wrapped a plush towel around her body, enjoying the soft cushioning of the fabric. Raising a hand, she wiped the condensation off the mirror before reaching back to let her hair out of its bun. As she reached up to fix her hair, her newly adorned ring glinted in the light, and her mouth quirked into a smile. Amelia dropped the towel on the bathroom floor before going into the bedroom to rummage through her suitcase for Owen’s special surprise.

Owen had booked a cabana for them on the beach, equipped with a soft canvas mattress and curtains to draw around the whole bed. He had tied the curtains to the posts, enjoying the soft morning breeze coming off the water while he read his book. The dipping of the bag as the settled down her bag alerted him to her arrival. He slowly peeled his eyes away from the book to glance at her, his mouth going dry at her appearance.

In front of him was Amelia, wearing barely more than the blinding smile on her face. She was wearing on of the tiniest bikinis he had ever seen. It was dark blue, with small white stitching around the edges and playful tassels the ends of the strings. The triangular cups looked full with her small breasts, and the bottoms were barely there. Owen took his time dragging his down her body, appreciating the way that the suit had accentuated her features. Unconsciously, he bit his lip between his teeth, releasing a soft groan.

“Like what you see?” Amelia asked playfully, a lilt of amusement in her voice.

Owen nodded, sitting up and scooting to the edge of the bed. He reached his hands out to hold her hips, fondling the string of her bottoms between his fingers. Naturally, her hands came to rest on his shoulders, gently tickling the newly formed freckles she found there. Owen’s thumb swiped across the fabric at her hip, the smooth fabric gliding easily across his skin. A cheeky smile formed on his face as he looked up at her.

Amelia eyed him with a grin, “What?”

Owen chuckled quietly while moving his fingers across the top of the suit towards her ass, “I can’t help but wonder what the back of the suit must look like.”

“You’re incorrigible,” she laughed, before turning around.

Owen reached to cup her bottom, “And you love me for it.”

She looked down over her shoulder, “Damn right I do. Now enough feeling up my ass, let’s go swim!”

Owen allowed her to drag him by the hand to the water, where they proceeded to kiss and frolic through the salty waves.

The couple slept on the mattress in the cabana, exhausted by their early morning efforts and their play in the water. Amelia woke first, mewling softly as she stretched out across the warm fabric. She rolled her shoulders before crawling to the end of the bed to draw open the curtain facing the water. She eyed the pair of loungers outside of the cabana longingly, wanting to enjoy the heat of the sun directly on her skin, but she knew her sun lotion had been washed off by the ocean’s spray. She turned to glance at her new husband, who was gently snoozing. Amelia decided to risk it, and grabbed her book and sunglasses before going to rest on the lounger.

As the sun moved, Amelia moved with it, moving her lounger to further away from the shady cabana to sit more fully in the sun. She was so absorbed in her book that she did not notice the person approaching until a shadow loomed over her body. Startled, she looked up at the intruder, finding a handsome face staring down at her.

“Hello there,” he crooned with an easy southern drawl.

Amelia gave him a strained smile, “Uh, hello.”

“Hello darling,” he smiled, pulling up the other lounger to align them, “Anyone sitting here?”

As she began to answer he cut her off, “Great, I’ve been looking for a spot all day and what luck to find one with such a lovely lady - ” he paused, waiting for her name.

“Amelia,” she obliged.

“Amelia, beautiful face for a beautiful girl,” he smiled, “I’m Sam.”

Amelia nodded before reaching into her bag for her sundress. The stranger watched closely. Once he realized what the item was he piped up again, “No need to cover up for me, honey.”

She smiled curtly, “The sun is getting a little too warm on my shoulders.”

As she reached up to pull the dress on he grabbed her arm, halting her progress. She startled and turned to face him.

“How about I help you with a little lotion then? Your shoulders are looking a little pink,” he offered with a leer, his fingers wandering up her arm teasingly.

Amelia shrugged her shoulder lightly, dropping his hand from her frame, “I’m fine, thanks.”

His hand went back to her shoulder, gripping tighter than before, “Really, I insist.”

Amelia’s voice got lost in her throat as an unsettling feeling crept into her gut. Sam got up to stand behind her, his hands heavy on her skin. She froze in her place her stomach dropped further. Sam swept her hair to one side, and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “I’m going to need some lotion for this to work, love.”

As Amelia faltered and pulled her knees to her chest, the hands were suddenly pulled from her body.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Owen seethed at the stranger.

Sam released his hands from Owen’s grip and shoved the taller man back, “Lay off bud, we’re busy here.”

Owen tensed, his tall stature looming over Sam’s, “I suggest you leave, right now.”

“I’m helping out with a little sun protection, that’s all. Besides, I got here first dude,” Sam scoffed, turning his attention back to Amelia, who remained frozen in her seat.

Owen’s hand clamped firmly on Sam’s shoulder, his fingers pressing against the muscle. He leaned in and lowered his voice, “I’m only going to ask you one more time. Get your hands off of my wife.”

Sam winced as he surrendered, “Alright, alright. Sorry, man. She never mentioned being married or anything.”

Owen scoffed and gestured to Amelia’s left hand, “The ring on her finger not proof enough?”

The other man glanced at the ring and rolled his eyes before walking away, “Didn’t notice. No harm, no foul brother.”

Amelia snapped out of it as Sam walked away. She quickly turned to face Owen, her breath evening out as she saw his baby blue eyes staring back. He walked around to sit and the end of her lounger.

“Mia? Are you alright? What happened? Who was that guy?” he questioned rapidly, his eyes searching her face for answers.

She was at a loss for words, “His name is Sam. He uh- he came to sat here, and he cut me off when I tried to tell him about you. And then he touched my arm and…”

Owen’s eyes filled with concern for his petite wife, “And what?”

“I froze. I- I didn’t know what to say or do” she whispered.

Owen put a hand on her foot, and gestured for her to come closer. Amelia slowly released her legs, scooting over to sit beside Owen more fully. She pulled one of his hands into her lap, playing with the large digits. She rested her head against his broad shoulder, and he leaned down to press a kiss to her salty hair as his hand wrapped around her waist.

After a while, Owen broke the silence.

“Sorry,” he murmured, a guilty look in his eye.

The brunette’s head turned to face him, her loose waves brushing across his chest, “What?”

Owen shrugged softly, “You know, for peeing all over you and stuff. I know you can stand up for yourself and well, I’m sorry.”

Amelia squeezed his hand before settling it on her thigh. She reached to hold his face, turning his gaze toward her, “Owen, thank you.”

His eyebrows gathered in confusion, “For what?”

“For telling him off. Getting him to leave,” she replied.

Owen’s eyebrow raised, “You’re happy I did that. You know, peed on you or whatever?”

Amelia laughed softly, “You need to word that better. But yes, I guess I am.”

He quirked a smile, “So you like it when I do that?”

Her eyes sparkled as she pretended to ponder the idea, “Maybe.”

A grin spread across Owen’s face. He reached over to pull her lithe body onto his lap and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “So you like it when I tell the world that you’re mine?”

A shiver ran down Amelia’s spine, goosebumps forming across the surface of her skin.

“When I tell people to stop staring at you, because only I can do that?” he continued.

She nodded mutely, her breasts rising and falling as a flush spread across her chest.

“When I tell people to get lost because you’re my wife,” he crooned.

Amelia turned, grabbing his face in her hands before putting her lips on his. Owen smiled as they kissed, his hands possessively gripping on her ass while her fingers raked through his short hair. His scruff tickled her as he kissed a line from her mouth down her jaw, nipping on her tender skin here and there. She moaned gently, turning her head to catch his mouth again. Amelia moved her legs to straddle his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as she softly rocked her hips against his. Owen dug his fingers into the flesh of her ass, grinding her harder on him. Amelia pulled away slightly, her voice breathy as she whispered, “I think it’s time you take me back to our cabana.”

Owen groaned at her words, dropping a quick kiss to her lips, “Anything for my wife.”

#omelia #omeliaff #omeliafanfic #omelia fanfiction #amelia #amelia shepherd #owen #owen hunt #owen and amelia #owen x amelia #grey's #ga #grey's anatomy #fanfiction #amen #amenff

[omeliatrash]

I would sell the world to find you

A/N: I started this without a plan, what I want to write and how I want to write. But now I am pretty happy with it. It’s not that long; it is not that good, but I kind of like it and want to share this with you. And I finally get how to add a read more. *cheer* Enjoy! Xo T.

 I would sell the world to find you

Owen opened the door to their One-Call-Room. It was the one downstairs, next to the kitchen, in the last corner of the hospital. Some might not even know that it exits. He saw her petite frame on the bed. Her body curled up. She hugged an extra pillow, just needed something to cuddle.

“Hey..” he got onto his knees next to the bed. Just then he realized her shoulders are trembling, “I found you.”

He pressed soft kisses along her wet cheeks, over her nose, to her other cheek. Owen softly stroked the brown hairs out of her face. Her shoulders were still trembling, same her lips. Tears were running down her rosy cheeks.

The Ginger man sighed and laid down next to his love, he pressed her back into his chest. Trying to protect her from whatever is going through her mind – Trying to protect her from the world. A whimper left her red lips. He catches her hands in his and held them near to her body. Her back of her knees against his knees, her mind trying to calm down. But in his protective arms, she loosed it even more.

“Hey Sweetheart, do you want to talk about it?”, his mouth brushed against her creamy neck.

“I… I do…kind of… I don’t know… Owen. Save me, I’m lost. ”

He smothered her neck with soft kisses. It hurts to see her like this, his heart breaking into a million pieces.

“I found you. I would sell the world to find you.”

_

“Maybe she just needs a minute for herself. Okay, maybe a bit more. I really don’t know what the Problem between you two is again, but just, let her alone for the rest of the night.”, Meredith tried to stop him, from going into Amelia’s room. She was small and she might be even thin but the life as a surgeon has brought her strength. Strength she needed just to get a patient from one bed to another. So for Meredith it wasn’t really difficult to push Owen a few Meters backwards.

_

Owen saw her small frame standing on the nurse station smiled and handed a tablet to one of them. He appeared behind the brunette and laid his strong hands on top of her hip. Amelia jumped a little and breathed out heavily.

“Sorry that I had to go earlier, had an emergency in the ER. Can we talk now?”, he whispered next to her ear.

“They can see us. We said we are going to keep it professional at work.”

Amelia breathed out heavily through her nose, crumbling the well-formed it.

“Yeah sure, because I can keep this professional after my girlfriend broke down in my arms earlier.”

Owen stroked her hairs aside, so he can see her face better. Her lips are pressed together, to one thin line. Eyes are closed, lashes long, formed and black. Her cheeks are rosy. She is looking good. She is looking like she is wearing a mask.

“Your mask is great, you know? Nobody can see how broken you are. No one else can see it, but me.”

She turned around to face me, adding a fake smile. Her dimples aren’t even appearing.

“Can’t you just stop? Stop talking about what has happened earlier.”

Her pager went off. Amelia looked at it and then looked  back to him, over and over again.  Her blue eyes are piercing him.

“Don’t you dare go know, Amelia. We have to talk, talk things to death, because that’s what you need. I know that, I really know it.”

Owen touched her elbows, rubbing his thumb up and down. The couple just stood there for a Moment; a few seconds staring in each other’s eyes. The world around them was in slow mode. Save pools meet blue broken ones.

“It’s 911, I have to go.”, Amelia whispered.

_

The Ginger man sat down on the big, grey and maybe a little bit too comfy couch. He rested his head inside his big hands, breathing in and out heavily. It wasn’t easy to love that hard, to care that hard. He couldn’t really understand how other couples are getting this done. Maybe even don’t care at all. But Owen did, Owen cares, Owen loves deeply. He won’t let her go, loose herself. He will ever find her again, that’s the promise he gave her.

“Do you want some coffee?” Meredith asked him.

“Water would be fine.”

After a few seconds, the blonde mother came back, putting a bottle of water and a glass on the table in front of him. She sighed and watched her friend sitting on her couch, kind of lost. He is trying to protect Amelia so hard, that he is going to lose himself in this fight.

She remembered what she promised to Cristina, his Ex Wife, her person. She would never let him get dark and twisty. But as long, Amelia is suffering he is. He is dark and twisty, or bright and shiny. She can’t really choose anymore. Love is a good thing, sometimes. Actually it should be.

But what is when the feelings are getting’ so strong it’s more than hard to control? She can remember how it was, when she and Derek finally got back together, after the relationship with Rose - the little Bambi woman.

Meredith had those dreams, that he would die and she can’t quite remember how exactly she got over it and pushed the dark side aside, to finally see the sun, the rainbows and the very end of an endless tunnel.

“Owen will you tell me, what’s going on with Amelia? I know it’s not my business, but I care. I really care about my Sister-in-law and it is hard to hear those break-downs when she thinks everyone is asleep.”

“I really don’t know what the Problem is. A few days ago, she was all happy, she was laughing and giggling.” Owen paused for a second, to breath “And this morning she broke down in my arms, crying without a pause. She was burrowed into me and she lost herself.”

“And all you want to do is find her again?”

“Exactly.” Owen rubbed his unshaved beard, tried to think how after she don’t want to talk to him. Women are difficult. Sometimes it’s hard to understand the happy, fluffy talking that is coming out of their mouth. But it can be exact the same other way around. Even if men don’t like it, no hate it, to see their woman struggling, there is sometimes no choice to understand.

“When Derek went lost, it was the same. He just threw my engaging ring into the woods, the one I gave to you for Amelia. He just got a baseball stick and batted it away. For a moment I thought the ring is the symbol for our future together.” Meredith laughed heartily at this memory “But it wasn’t. We made it work and so can Amelia. I believe in you two.”

“I believe in us as well, but sometimes all the problems of her past are rushing over her in a wave of hurt. All I want to do is protect her and bring her back to the ground, when she is trying to fly away from here. That’s my job. I knew it before this relationship I knew it all, stuff you don’t know. And her strength has made me fall in love with her harder than I thought it would be possible. All this nausea in the last time and…” He went quiet. His eyes went wide and his mouth is forming an “Oh.”.

“Owen what is it?” the mother of three looked at the Ginger as she wouldn’t understand the world anymore. He was talking about how strong she was; she knew that. Even if she and Amelia hadn’t had the best relationship in the past, she knew that her Sister-in-law has been through a lot.

Owen stood up from the couch, mumbled an “I am Sorry” and ran in the direction of the stairs. She wanted to shout, that he shouldn’t be that loud, but he was a man with a mission and nothing would bring him to listen now

_

Owen opened the door to her room. The light was turned on; she was sitting on her bed, lost in a book, with her headphones on.

She looked up confused, arching an eyebrow. Her peaceful moment, with no one than her, her romance novel and Coldplay in her ears was now dead. She didn’t even know why exactly she is reading this book, she had an own romance, a pretty good one if she is going to say the truth. She laid the Novel aside and looked at her boyfriend.

“You are pregnant!” he spoke, like a rocket.

A quiet, “Oh!” left her mouth.

“Sure you are. You are throwing up in the morning and you are crying. You are crying because you are afraid, to lose our baby as well. But we won’t. We won’t lose our baby, because it will be fine. You are not the same anymore. Our Baby won’t die.”

While he was talking, Amelia stood up from her place on the bed. She walked into his arms, hugging him tight. She felt safe in his broad embrace. She always did.

“I think you just won the jackpot Daddy, tugging one with one together.” a soft giggle leaked her lips. “Little do you know; now you’re stocked with me for a lifetime?!”

“My bad, we are getting a baby!” Owen hugged the small brunette even tighter dotted flashes against her face. Amelia felt loved, so loved. Earlier, she wasn’t really sure what to do or what to think, but now she exactly knew what she wants. She wants a house, a dog, a great big family, with this Ginger man in front of her. He was her future and she can’t wait the future to start.

#omelia #owen and amelia #omeliaff #amen #amenff

[tabeaamenwriter]

"Did we loose it?" Part 1

Hey you. It's me. I'm new here and this is my first Fanfiction so don't be that Hard with me. I hope you'll like it. Xoxo The Pain inside me grows with every breathe I took. She just layed there on the cold Hospital floor, with blood runs down inside her legs. Her face was white like the snow outside. Her dark brown, curly hairs around her head lost the shine her breathe went to slow, against mine it was in slow motion. ____ "She had an miscarriage! Deluca we need some A negativ! She've lost lots of Blood.", Kepner shouted. Owen was shocked. His brain was dead. He couldn't think and he couldn't focus. The only thing he knew, the only thing he was sure about was that Amelia had an Miscourage. The only thing he was sure about was that that she losed her Baby. Mabye their Baby! "But she have the Bloodgroup AB!", Owen whispered broken. "Ok then go and search for some AB, page Robbins and get him out of here!", while she hung Amelia to the infusion. Tears run down Owen's face while Deluca tries also to accompany him. "I don't get out. I can't loose her. I can't loose her! It's my fault!", Owen shouted desperately. "Owen listen to me. You can't help her right now. Not in this state! So get out of here. We are good. We are really good. When we could help her. And we only can help her when you get out of here! Please. We will take care of her." His Hand run though her dark shineless hairs, letting her cold, pale hands going. "Stay with me. I was an Idiot. I can't lose you. I love you to much. So please stay with me and don't die.", he whispered while his warm lips pressing on her cold, freezy ones. Tasting the salt tears of him on her lips. Then he let go and went outside. He dropped on a bed in the On Call Room, letting his tears go. He really can't loose her. And it was his fault. His damn fault! He haven't cared, he just have cared about his own Problems. With Riggs and his Mother. He have shot her out and that wasn't what he was supposed to do. He should care and talk things to death with her. His damn fault!

#omelia #amen #omeliaff #amenff #Omeliafanfiction #Owen and Amelia #I'm a unicorn

[jordan202]

My Boys Drabbles: Just a Feeling (Part Two)

hey everyone, thanks for the amazing responses!

Chapter One is HERE

I hope you guys enjoy this one! 

.

My Boys Drabbles – Just a Feeling (Part Two)

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you staring at me?”

“I am not staring,” Owen contradicted his wife.

Amelia had noticed that even though Owen had had his eyes fixated on her for the past minutes, his gaze seemed lost, as if his thoughts were wandering far from there.

“Right,” she playfully rolled her eyes, giving up having a reasonable conversation with her husband, and gently pushed the covers with the intention to get up so she could get on with her morning chores, but halfway through her movement she was captured and swiftly pulled back to bed.

“I was actually just admiring how pretty you are,” Owen declared with a shameless smile while tightening his grip around her waist.

“Oh, so you were staring?” Amelia raised both eyebrows but couldn’t help giggling when he covered the side of her face with kisses.

“Only a little,” Owen gave in, determined to make sure she didn’t leave the bed again for at least another hour.

Innocent pecks on the side of Amelia’s face were slowly replaced by much more demanding kisses that kept her busy until Owen decided to explore the length of her neck with his lips.

“I couldn’t wait for this all day yesterday,” Amelia confessed with a long, loving sigh as she ran her fingers through her husband’s hair.  

“Me too,” Owen mumbled against her skin before he captured one of her breasts between his lips, earning a moan in response.

“No, I mean it,” Amelia added when she finally gathered enough strength to come up with a coherent thought. “You were away for two weeks and when I saw you coming home by surprise the first thing I wanted to do was to be with you,” she took a long breath and exhaled slowly, too affected by the wonderful sensations Owen was provoking in her body to properly speak her mind. “But I had to go to work and even though I was focused on what I was doing there, on the back of my mind this was all I could think about…” she whispered with her eyes closed right before Owen moved to her top and kissed her, eager to please her with his touch as much as she was pleasing him with her words.

Even though they’d had amazing sex the night before, Amelia knew that the first time after so many days without seeing each other always felt a little rushed, almost as if their bodies were racing for physical release in a pace their connection couldn’t keep up with. And once it was over, they had both fallen asleep out of exhaustion quickly after. Personally, she had longed more for the following morning because she knew it was when they would take their time to put in practice what they had already perfected over the last years and then, once the sex was over, they would stay in each other’s arms not really doing anything other than being together, talking about nothing and everything. Amelia absolutely cherished those moments.

“Were you thinking about this when you were in the OR yesterday?” Owen teased his wife with a tender smile right before kissing the outline of her belly button, on purpose tickling her.

“Yes,” Amelia laughed with amusement at his provocation, even though they both knew he was joking.

“What about this?” Owen continued with his game, seductively running his forefinger on the outline of her panties before using it to pull off the object in an agonizingly slow pace. “Were you thinking about this when you were at work?” he asked seductively.

Amelia felt his warm breath against the skin of her lower abdomen. Closing her eyes, she unconsciously tilted her head back against the pillow and held her breath, anticipating the touch that surely would come next.

“Yes,” the neurosurgeon whispered, completely on board with his sweet persuasion.

“I bet you were thinking about this too,” Owen smiled, too satisfied with himself as he watched the reactions he was causing in her body when he kissed the smooth skin on the inside of one of her thighs.

“A lot,” Amelia agreed, already too out of her mind to be thinking clearly.

“Then I guess I have no other choice other than to…” Owen playfully bit her skin right before moving his lips upwards and causing an explosion of pleasure in his wife’s body.

Soon after, Amelia took her turn focusing on him and returning the amazing sensations her husband had given her. A while later, she was lying underneath him still recovering from the second orgasm Owen had given her that morning.

“You know, I have a confession to make,” Amelia smiled looking into his gorgeous crystal blue eyes. “Yesterday when you arrived and maybe this morning too I thought you still had your head in Charleston and the training camp, but after what you just did I have to give it to you,” she joked, unaware of how correctly she’d just read her husband. “You’re more present here than ever, aren’t you?”

“I am always here for you,” Owen grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, unconsciously breaking eye contact with his wife.

He hadn’t told her about the discovery he’d made right before heading back home and Owen wasn’t sure he was going to. The situation was yet too confusing even for him and he wanted to dig more information about it. Not only that, but everything had happened years before he’d even met Amelia. So, if he wasn’t able to process how things had unfolded despite being there and actively participating in the event, how in the world could he expect her to understand or even help him? It was probably for the best if he didn’t get her involved, he thought. Amelia was likely to worry excessively for him by thinking he was too affected and Owen didn’t want to burden her with nonsense ideas.

“How about some coffee?” he suggested while touching his forehead to hers.

“I will take care of the coffee if you make your mom’s French toast recipe,” Amelia bit her lower lip, grinning adorably at him.

“Deal,” Owen kissed the tip of her nose and swiftly got up, heading to the bathroom and being promptly followed by his wife.

.

“You know, I am not sure if I have ever asked this,” Owen casually commented while taking a sip from his coffee half an hour later. He frowned while watching what his wife was doing. Amelia had just walked from the laundry room adjoined to the kitchen with a full basket of their children’s clothes and now she separated them in four different stacks with such speed and efficiency that it caught his attention. “How in the world do you keep track of whose underwear it is? You’re not even hesitating as you sort them out in piles,” he pointed out, visibly intrigued.

Amelia looked up to meet his eyes with a serious expression.

“I have a very complex system,” she replied mysteriously.

At first, Owen was inclined to believe her but he couldn’t be fooled. Not five seconds after his wife’s response, he spotted a mischievous smile growing on the corner of her lips and laughed, busting her. It was no secret that doing laundry was perhaps the only domestic chore that Amelia actually enjoyed doing. As she kept on separating and folding the boys’ clothes, once again she looked up at Owen and then explained with a playful smile.

“Lucas gets the blue ones, Tom the whites,” she pointed to the piles. Despite some pieces having stamps and different shades, Owen noticed they indeed followed the pattern of color, “Danny, the yellows and Robbie, the greens,” she explained with a proud smile.

Owen narrowed his eyes as he noticed that her system was far from complex and playfully shook his head in disapproval.

“Wait, is that how it has always been?” he tilted his head, confused. How come had he really never noticed?

“Yes,” Amelia laughed as she read the unasked question on his face. “That’s how it has always been.”

“Do they sell kids’ underwear by color?” Owen furrowed his brow, even more puzzled.

“No. I buy the packs and sort out the pieces among the boys according to the colors,” Amelia explained unaffectedly, still folding the clothes.

“But…” Owen was clearly intrigued. “They don’t wear the same size,” he pointed out.

“I know,” Amelia smiled charmingly. “Like I said, it’s a very complex system.”

“Oh, now I see,” Owen hid his smile behind the coffee mug and stood behind his wife’s chair, giving her shoulder a gentle rub before adding. “And what do you do with the grey ones?” he asked with a teasing tone. “Do you throw them away?”

Amelia looked up to meet his eyes, instantly noticing the amused expression on his face.

“I save them for emergencies,” Amelia improvised, unable to contain a fit of laughter when Owen gave her a pretend judgmental look. She moved a couple of feet to the side so he could take the chair next to her and read the morning paper. Only when she was done sorting out the clean laundry, Amelia interrupted his reading. “The kids are not up yet, do you want to go to April to pick up Tom and Luke or do you want to stay here with Megan and the twins while I go?”

“It’s not even nine in the morning yet, I seriously doubt Thomas and Lucas are up,” Owen wisely pointed out without taking his eyes off the sports section. “But I will give April a call and tell her to let me know when they’re ready so I can go surprise them.”

Since their oldest sons hadn’t been in the house by the time of Owen’s arrival, they had no idea their father was already at home.

Despite Owen’s resolve to go pick them up, once she was awake Megan insisted that her father stayed with her. When the little girl claimed that she missed her dad, Owen was incapable of saying no to her request to play with her in the living room, leaving to Amelia the task of picking up the oldest boys while he stayed at home with the younger kids waiting.

Amelia was in a good mood when she left the house later that morning but much to her dismay, her car wouldn’t start despite several attempts. Wondering what could be wrong with it since it had been working perfectly well until the day before, the neurosurgeon settled for taking her husband’s truck, which didn’t exactly please her considering how Amelia felt even smaller inside the big cabin.

But once she had Thomas and Lucas with her, her thoughts weren’t on Owen’s car but rather on how surprised the boys would be to come home and unexpectedly find their father already there. Amelia was having a hard time keeping the secret but once Owen welcomed her sons in their front yard, the boys’ happy faces reminded her that her struggle to remain silent about it had been totally worth it.

.

Hours later, after they’d already had Sunday lunch together, Amelia spent most of her afternoon alternating between some reading and helping out the twins with their homework for the following day. As soon as the boys were done with it, she found herself eager for some quality entertainment.

The neurosurgeon was distractedly going through the refrigerator, mostly because she was bored rather than hungry when she heard the sound of laughter mixed with metallic noises coming from the backyard.

“What are you guys doing?” she asked as she stepped outside holding a bottle of water in one hand, carefully inspecting the scene in front of her.

Crouched down by the grass, her husband and two oldest sons had their hands dirty with grease as they seemed absolutely engaged in whatever it was that they were doing with tools and a large car part.

“Dad is showing us how to replace a piston,” Lucas looked up from the car engine to his mother and then back to the heavy object.

Amelia didn’t succeed at getting any more than a quick glance from Thomas and Owen either.

“What happened?” she asked with genuine curiosity as she went around them and inspected the scene more carefully.

Owen finished dissembling a small part of the engine before he finally gave his wife his full attention.

“What happened is that someone forgot to add coolant to the car radiator, despite constant reminders,” he gave her a censoring look before adding, “and as result, the car overheated so now there is a melted hole in one of the pistons.”

A short silence followed.

“How unfortunate,” Amelia acted innocent, even though she was well aware that only in the past month Owen had reminded her at least three times to do preventive maintenance on the car. “When do you think you’ll be done?” she sneakily changed the focus of the conversation.

“I am not sure, we are still going to check the oil levels and replace the water pump which is pretty wrecked too,” Owen informed her, subtly shaking his head in disapproval as if unable to believe she’d actually failed to follow his instructions to properly keep the car in good shape.

“That sounds pretty boring.”

“It’s your car, Mom,” Thomas chuckled and gave her an incredulous look, believing she should be more interested in what was going on with the car exactly because it belonged to her.

“I know, that’s the whole point, why don’t we just take it to the repair shop and then we go do something fun?”

By the expression on Owen’s face, Amelia instantly noticed that she had asked the wrong question. The neurosurgeon wasn’t sure whether it was because he considered taking a car to a repair shop an insult to his fixing abilities or simply because she had dared to imply that what he was doing with the boys didn’t qualify as having a good time.

After a little more than a decade of marriage, Amelia was well aware that Owen was the kind of guy who would resist getting professional help for any chore around the house he considered himself able to do. That included mostly anything related to plumbing, carpentry, mechanics and any other kind of common house repairs. In the vast majority of the time, her husband actually succeeded in fixing whatever needed to be fixed or replaced and Amelia knew he took great pride in being able to do most things himself. And now that the boys were growing up, it had become a habit for Owen to try and teach them as much about those useful skills as he could.

“We are doing something fun,” Lucas looked at his mother with a confused expression, as if he couldn’t understand where her comment was coming from.

Seeing she was fighting a battle that was long lost, Amelia raised her hands in a sign of surrender and sighed heavily before finally walking back to the house.

“I will be inside whenever you guys get tired of that,” she informed them. “Take a shower before getting anywhere near me.”

“Only if you promise that from now on, you won’t forget to add coolant to your car,” Owen replied in a tone that was supposed to sound disapproving but couldn’t hide his amusement.

“Deal,” Amelia replied from a distance.

“You know what, I don’t even know why I bother,” Owen rolled his eyes as he spoke to himself, knowing too well that his wife was most likely not going to follow the instructions.

“Dad, she is never going to do it,” Thomas pointed out. “Why don’t you just do it and spare yourself the trouble?” the boy asked with the usual perfect logic.

“Because,” Owen replied, knowing that in that lesson he was just teaching his sons more than just about car mechanics. “If mom hadn’t forgotten to add the coolant, the car engine wouldn’t have broken and then I wouldn’t be here showing you guys how to do something you boys eventually have to learn to do yourselves. So, it’s the chance we have to squeeze the good out of something bad.”

“Yeah, but what if Mom had been in the car by the time the engine fried?” Lucas raised his eyebrows playfully. “I mean, that would seriously be a problem.”

“There can still be an upside to that, buddy,” Owen winked playfully, teaching their sons another valued lesson with a lighthearted smile. “Never underestimate the opportunities you have of saying I told you so in a marriage,”Owen added.

Their sons would never know about this but even though their mother was pretty upset to be cornered regarding the car engine at that moment, soon enough she would fall into her senses, take notice of the potential risks she’d inadvertently exposed herself to and realize that it had been her husband the one to rescue her from her own misdoings.

And Owen couldn’t wait for that part because while his wife was terrible at properly following rules and maintaining a minimum overall discipline level, no one was better than her at actually showing gratitude and returning affection. And with that, Amelia always made every trouble she put him through absolutely worth it.

.

Owen was so focused on finishing a straight suture line on a patient’s leg that he barely noticed when his pager went off.

“I am not sure I am overstepping, doctor Hunt, but aren’t you supposed to answer that?” the teenage boy asked, studying the concentrated surgeon who seemed deeply engaged in fixing the cut on his shin.

Owen was brought back to reality, noticing with alarm that he’d really missed the loud sound going off.  After informing the boy he wasn’t supposed to resume his workout practices for at least a couple of weeks, the trauma surgeon finally got to the pager, seeing his wife was requesting his presence in her OR.

Even though he’d been back to work for a couple of weeks now, Owen was aware that since his trip to Charleston, he’d found it a little more difficult than usual to adapt back to his regular routine, much more so than in any of his previous trips to serve the Army as a consultant.

The trauma surgeon refused to consider that the discoveries he’d made in the Post back in South Carolina might have something to do with his unusual lack of focus because Owen was convinced that there was no changing the past. There simply wasn’t anything he could do about what he’d heard, and on top of that, the subject was a matter of the past. That’s where it should stay.

With a heavy sigh, Owen massaged his left temple as he entered the elevator and checked his wristwatch. He would very much like to go home but to his dismay, he still had a meeting with the Chief Surgery to figure out what they would propose to the Board of Directors and other Heads of Department as a plan for remodeling a couple of rooms in the ER which were in desperate need of renovation.

“Hey, you paged me?” Owen held a mask in front of his face as he walked into the OR.

He noticed instantly that Amelia was caught up in the middle of a procedure, but everything seemed okay enough that she wasn’t facing any emergencies that might require him stepping into the field as he’d expected.

His wife took her eyes from the heavy equipment in front of her and looked in his direction. When Owen noticed the almost regretful smile on her face, he knew she was about to ask him to do something he probably wouldn’t agree with. He’d seen Amelia smile like that many times before.

“Are you busy downstairs?” Amelia asked with a sheepish smile that over the years had been adjusted with perfection to purposefully melt his heart. “Do you think you can leave a little earlier today?”

“I can’t, I have a meeting,” Owen replied with a suspicious expression, despite softened by her charming manners. “What do you need?”

When Amelia let out a heavy sigh that wasn’t meant to be audible, Owen realized that wasn’t the answer she was hoping to hear.

“I just got a call from the school reminding me about this parents/teacher meeting in the twins’ class that I had totally forgotten about… I was hoping you could make it,” she gazed at him expectantly. When met by his silence, Amelia pushed it with a shameless grin. “Well, can’t you?”

Owen looked his wife in the eyes to see if she really meant it.

“Amelia, are you serious?” he frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before? I would have cleared my schedule to go,” he explained patiently, trying to think of solutions. “Why don’t you just re-schedule it? I suppose the school will understand that we got caught up-”

“I already rescheduled it,” Amelia bit her lower lip behind her surgical mask, hoping Owen would take that lightly. “I just completely forgot about it,” she explained calmly.

The neurosurgeon knew how disciplined and organized her husband was and how much effort he put into making sure they didn’t miss anything important when it came to their kids, who were always a priority in their lives.

“When was this?” Owen looked at her with a furrowed brow. “I don’t remember you telling me about this before. If you rescheduled it, then-”

“They had asked me to go there while you were away in Charleston nearly a month ago and I had them change the date for a day you would be here so we could try to both be there,” she interrupted him and explained. “I know I shouldn’t have forgotten about it but amidst taking care of five kids on my own while you were gone, this one detail slipped my mind,” she pushed her case, knowing it would work like magic.

It went exactly as planned because the moment she said the words, Amelia noticed how Owen’s expression softened as he took a deep breath. Resorting to the guilt he felt for leaving her alone with the kids for two weeks whenever he went into one of his Army excursions always did the trick. Amelia mischievously smiled even though no one could see it. It was true that she supported Owen to pursue that second job and didn’t regret it, but in moments like these, she didn’t mind using it to her advantage.

“Alright,” Owen shook his head, knowing he couldn’t blame her for forgetting. Even though he didn’t like to be caught off guard with avoidable things that disrupted his schedule, he was well aware that Amelia actually made the impossible happen by juggling everything at home and at work. It was actually surprising those things didn’t happen more often and he shouldn’t be so critical that as parents, sometimes they got overwhelmed. “I will check with Bailey if I can push my meeting with her, but are you sure it��s okay that I go alone in this? Surely the teacher would want to speak to us both?”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Amelia explained, already with her eyes back on the surgical field. “It’s just a standard thing they are doing with first graders. Since their teacher is on leave and there is a new one, she is slowly getting to meet the parents and updating us on the children’s progress,” the neurosurgeon added as she made a move to control a minuscule bleeding vessel. “I already met her a couple of times while you were away and she has nothing but good things to say about the boys, I think this is just the opportunity for the school to have us together there but as you can see, I can’t make it in time.”

“Alright, I will figure it out, then,” Owen was already mentally calculating when would be the best time to meet Bailey without the delay ruining his plans and interfering with his Board Meeting later that week.

“If I finish here early I will come meet you in the school,” Amelia informed him. “Just so you know, this is the teacher Danny kind of has a crush on, so go prepared to hear many compliments.”

“Oh, it’s that one,” Owen remembered the countless times over the past couple of weeks when his son had spoken about the teacher with absolute adoration in his eyes.

“Yeah, be ready though, she is really nice but she talks like a six year old. No wonder why Danny is so dazzled. When you meet her you’ll see what I am talking about,” Amelia explained, already fully concentrated on the field.

“Alright, I will catch up with you later, then,” Owen informed her. “Call me when you’re done here.”

After dealing with Bailey and talking her into rescheduling their meeting, the trauma surgeon repeatedly checked his wristwatch to check whether or not he’d make it to his sons’ school in time for the meeting.

When Owen finally parked his car and made it to the first grade classroom, he was only five minutes late but it was enough that all the other kids had already been picked up by their parents and only his sons were waiting in the company of the teacher.

Through the glass on the door Owen noticed how a blonde woman crouched down to Robbie’s height said something that made the boy laugh. He then replied to her and the woman affectionately stroked the six year old’s hair before getting up.

Owen noticed how the twins seemed comfortable in the presence of their new teacher and the realization pleased him very much. So far, the woman was doing justice to the description Robbie and Danny had made of her for the past weeks. It was obvious both kids really liked her and she reciprocated their feelings.

As Owen gave a gentle knock on the door to announce his presence, his twin sons instantly caught sight of him and got up from their chairs to run in his direction.

“Dad!” Danny’s eyes were gleaming as he pulled his father by the hand into the classroom. “You came to pick us up!” the boy added, excited to show his father everything around. “Look, dad, that’s Casper, our class’ goldfish. And this is my desk,” he proudly pointed to it. “That right there is my...”

“Dad, come meet our teacher!” Robbie stepped in the way, interrupting his brother, just as eager for his father’s attention. “This is Ms. Whitman.”

Owen was finally able to actually enter the classroom and for the first time, he looked directly at the teacher their sons had spoken so much about, only to find out he was already familiar with the face.

The surgeon couldn’t hide his surprise as he found out that the woman teaching his sons was someone he knew, and too well. Even though time had passed, very little about her appearance had really changed.

Owen took a few seconds to recover from the shock of that unexpected encounter and only when he remembered he was inside his kids’ classroom he finally looked into the eyes of the woman he had once intended to marry.

“Beth.” Owen’s mind still tried to process the information as he slowly connected the dots. Ms. Whitman. Beth Whitman. First grade teacher. Of course. Maybe he should have suspected it sooner? “It’s really you.”

---

#omelia #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #myboys #myboysfanfiction #omeliafics #omeliafanfics #omeliafic #omelia fics #greysanatomy #greys anatomy #owen x amelia #amelia x owen #amenff

[jordan202]

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon - Chapter 18

Hey guys, here goes the penultimate chapter of this story :) thanks to everyone who’s stuck till this point!

Link to previous chapters is HERE

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon – Chapter Eighteen

JD tried to pay attention as two junior girls did their best to hold his attention with small talk and flattery as the group waited next to a vending machine in the school external patio, but all his eyes could focus on was the way Megan Hunt was nearly smashing something that resembled a label maker as she organized three stacks of paper and properly tagged them using the tool she had.

For some reason, the prospect of teasing her and invariably get into yet another discussion with Megan excited the boy more than listening to two girls shower him with compliments in order to hold his attention. Excusing himself, JD nonchalantly left both juniors behind and walked towards the table Megan was occupying.

The outdoor area was nearly empty at that early hour in the morning, with only a few students hanging back to finish a cup of coffee or chocolate before the first class. It was unusual to see Megan without her parade of best friends and fans all around her, which was also why JD couldn’t let the opportunity pass. He supposed that the people who usually hung out with the girl had already gone to their classrooms whilst she had stayed back, which was uncommon as well considering how she was often one of the first ones to arrive to class, sometimes even twenty minutes before it was set to begin.

As he approached the girl, JD could tell she was tenser than usual, which could explain the way she was violently handling the object in hand. This time around, he couldn’t think of something he might have done to set her off like that, but it was better to be careful anyway.

“Are you trying to label your fingers?” JD smirked as he took the seat in front of her without the need for an invitation. “Because you’re one step away from gluing them to those papers.”

He watched as Megan smashed the object a few times more, properly labeling whatever it was she was organizing before taking a breath and then finally bringing up her eyes to look at him. JD had noticed that organizing things was a way for her to deal with stress and he found it quite amusing.

“What do you want?”

Her dry remark sounded more resentful than he would usually associate with the girl, but JD took it as a wrong impression. After all, nothing out of the ordinary had happened between them over the last few days.

“You’re skipping first period?” he asked with curiosity. It was very much like him to cut class or be late for it, but not Megan.

Since the girl didn’t answer his question, settling instead for resuming her task, JD could only assume he had indeed done something to get to her nerves. He was just having a hard time remembering what exactly.

Megan remained in silence, hoping that her response would make him go away. JD Callaghan, his provocations and the way he was always trying to set her off had already cost her too much. It had been a couple of days and she still didn’t understand why Aaron was so jealous of the guy, considering how much she didn’t like him.

“What is it? You’re unusually quiet today,” he pointed out with a pestering grin. “You’re not going bite me back? Are you sick?” JD asked with a silly smirk, finding her behavior very unusual. “Oh, I know! Did you have a fight with Softie? Is that why you’re acting so weird?”

He noticed he’d hit the right nail on the head when Megan immediately raised her eyes and furiously looked back at him.

“Don’t you dare talk about Aaron,” she demanded.

JD noticed that her reaction seemed exaggerated for the comment he’d just made. The boy had made fun of her boyfriend several times before and even though it had always bothered Megan, reason why he kept doing it, never had it earned such an icy, resentful response.

The teenage boy narrowed his eyes, trying to think through the situation. It was obvious something had happened between Megan and the guy, or else she wouldn’t be so upset. And she seemed especially angry with him, so there was a good chance his name had been involved as well.

Almost instantly, JD thought back about the week before and the teasing in the locker room. He’d heard that after his incident with Megan in the mud, some of the guys in the football team had made fun of their quarterback by insinuating that his girlfriend might be changing offense for defense. Usually, JD would add fuel to the fire but he knew that if he went through with the provocation, it would probably make things worse or even really upset Megan. So he’d asked his teammates to stop, but it was very likely Aaron Cole hadn’t been pleased with the situation from the very beginning.

Some guys had even gone as far as to say that Aaron was jealous of JD because he was a more successful player and got more attention from others.

Yet now, looking at the blue-eyed girl with a thunderous expression on her face and that cute stubborn nose, JD realized that Aaron had to be a damned fool to actually believe he was a runner up at something that really mattered.

It was Aaron who was the lucky one and he had to be an idiot not to know it.

“You know what, why don’t you go back to your girlfriends and leave me alone?” Megan asked, feeling her throat constricted. She’d noticed that both girls who’d been with JD before were sitting on a table across the patio, but wouldn’t stop throwing glances in their direction. Megan didn’t want to deal with him right now because everything he represented and had caused was too confusing and too painful. JD had already cost her relationship with Aaron and that had left her heartbroken. She didn’t need him to cause any more problems.

“You’re being especially sour today, but I know you’re craving my company,” JD flashed a smile, knowing he was provoking her.

Megan saw the way his green eyes sparkled as he smiled and she hated herself for noticing it. JD rarely smiled, for he was always teasing and torturing her. But whenever he did, she couldn’t help but think he had one of the most beautiful smiles she’d ever seen and the realization tormented her, drowning Megan in a spiral of guilt and self shame she didn’t know how to get out of.

“I am craving your company?” she heard herself saying in a bitter tone, one she didn’t remember ever using before. Megan was tired of people accusing her of that. She rejected the idea with every fiber of her being. “You are insufferable! That’s why no one is friends with you,” Megan exploded, irrationally taking out on him all her built up anger and confusing at her unresolved and much too strong feelings. “If even your parents didn’t want you around, why would I?”

The words left her mouth before Megan could think them through, but the moment she heard her voice, the girl instantly regretted having said them.

The shock was stamped on her face and Megan grew paler. It was as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just said, but at the same time the girl was so scandalized that she froze, unable to rectify herself.

“JD, I am sorry, I didn’t…”

“You’re right,” the boy replied as he got up. Megan noticed he didn’t seem furious as she expected him to be, but rather merely disappointed. The realization made her loathe herself and her cruel attitude even more. “I am sorry I bothered you.”

“JD, wait, I didn’t mean to…” Megan tried to follow him, but the minute she left the table, the loud bell announcing the beginning of the first morning term rang, giving Megan no choice other than gathering her things while hoping that JD would show up at music class later that day.

.

Thomas knocked on the familiar suburban door, anxiously checking his wristwatch. It was very early in the day, but since it was a weekday and the lights on the kitchen were on, he knew people in it were probably up and getting ready for work.

“Tom, hey,” Jo Wilson seemed surprised to find the young man standing on her doorway at eight in the morning but that didn’t prevent her from smiling at his unexpected appearance. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is good,” Thomas replied with a relaxed smile. Jo could tell by the serenity in his eyes that he was doing a lot better than during their last encounters. “I know it’s not exactly the best moment of the day, but is there any chance I can see Kate?”

“She is sleeping in her bedroom, but go ahead and make yourself at home,” Jo cleared the way for him to get inside the house. Thomas had knocked on her door looking for her daughter so many times before in a lifetime that she didn’t feel the need to guide him inside. “Alex and I are leaving for work but she will be happy to see you.”

“Say hi to Dr. Karev for me,” Thomas nodded as Jo Wilson left, glad she wasn’t asking him any questions about why he wasn’t at the hospital performing his duties as an intern like he was supposed to.

Thomas waited on purpose until he heard a car noise leaving the garage and made his way to the upper floor of the house. Very silently, he opened the door to Kate’s childhood bedroom.

The lights were off but from the little he could see, Thomas noticed that just like he remembered, everything was decorated in gentle tones of lavender and white. Next to Kate’s study desk, a pin board was still hanging on the wall, except now it had several more pictures and notes added to it than last time the boy had been there.

And on the opposite end of the room, snuggled between a pillow and a teddy bear Thomas identified as one he’d given her for a random Valentine’s Day, Kate slept peacefully in her old bed.

Unable to contain a smile, Tom approached her, carefully inspecting every detail on her face. Kate was always so energetic and relentless during the day that sometimes he forgot how knocked down by sleep she could get – and how radically her features would change then. Looking at her now, she seemed almost ordinary, but only Thomas could attest how much of a true force of nature the girl could become whenever she set her mind to something. Kate was her own person and she made no apologies for it. And that was one of the reasons why he’d been in love with her forever.

Not really planning what he was doing, Thomas took off his jacket and shoes and joined her in bed, gently sliding on the covers.

A sharp mind drifted between consciousness and sleep as chestnut eyes struggled to open, ultimately remaining wide alert to look back at him.

“I am sorry,” Thomas mumbled against her shoulder as he wrapped one arm around Kate’s waist, being promptly held back. There were probably a thousand ways he could start that conversation but right now, those words seemed the most fitting. “I didn’t get it before but I get it now,” he affirmed, holding her so tightly in his arms almost as if afraid he would lose her again.

Kate ran a hand through the soft locks of his silver blonde hair and smiled with a mix of satisfaction, happiness and love. She had definitely been caught off guard and was still trying to regain all her senses, so the girl couldn’t understand exactly what was going on. But whatever had happened to prompt that change in Thomas, she definitely approved of.

“I know,” she turned her face in the darkness and kissed his forehead longingly, yearning just the same to have him near again.

Thomas stayed in silence for the next minutes, enjoying the soothing touch of her fingertips on his head as Kate caressed his hair. The side of his face was resting on her chest because everything about Kate, from her smell to her warmth was so familiar and just damn amazing that he didn’t want to let go.

“Kate,” Thomas finally gathered the strength to partially raise his head and meet her eyes with his. His voice faltered a bit as he obviously hesitated, but ultimately, the intern finally managed to say it, “I talked to my dad yesterday.”

“Yeah?” Kate smiled positively, instantly picking up that said conversation had probably been the game changer in his behavior. Instead of acting defensively and pushing her away, this time around, Thomas had come looking for her and he was obviously interested in making things work between them again. Moreover, his expression seemed less uptight and in a way, even his smile was more relaxed, reminding her of the same old Thomas who she’d known and loved all her life.

“He’s helped me see things,” Thomas summed up. Reaching out for Kate’s hand, he gave it a squeeze before kissing it and bringing it against his chest. “I am so sorry that you left without me,” he breathed out slowly. Kate knew he was talking about her trip to Europe. “But I couldn’t go with you.”

Kate noticed that at the moment he spoke the words, a single tear started to form in his eyes.

“Oh, sweetheart, I know,” she said, taking both hands to the sides of his face and gently stroking his hair. “I know that…”

“I wrote you an email every day,” Thomas confessed, feeling a clog forming in his throat when confronted with her understanding. He wasn’t lying, he had indeed written a bunch of emails. “But I never sent them.”

Kate frowned, processing the information.

“Why didn’t you?”

Thomas slowly got up, sitting on the bed against the bedframe as Kate did the same. He needed to take a couple of deep breaths before continuing with his explanation.

“I don’t know, Katie… I guess… I guess I thought you were maybe doing too well without me and I wasn’t,” he finally met her eyes again. “I wasn’t doing well at all alone in Boston, but then I got your emails and your postcards and I thought… Well, maybe you are good without me,” he shrugged, confused. “Perhaps, even better? I don’t know…” Thomas shook his head, still confused. “And I think I was so mad at you for so long because of that that I failed to notice the obvious, you see?”

“I was a mess, Tommy,” Kate shared, amused with his adorable awkwardness. “I cried every day of the trip for the first two weeks,” she confessed. “Once in Amsterdam, I actually had to leave a pub because I saw a guy playing the bass guitar and he reminded me too much of you,” she shared with a smile, happy that she could laugh about it now.

“Then why did you stay there?” Thomas asked her, holding her hand with loyalty. He didn’t want to imagine Kate crying every night, longing to be home. They had been through a tough time but never for a moment had it been about their relationship. The two of them had always been fine but when their careers had mixed with some traumatizing personal events, Thomas and Kate had taken different views on how to deal with a turning point and that had caused a split. But they had never officially broken up, which had made their separation even more complicated and difficult to deal with. “Why didn’t you come back?”

“Because I felt like I needed to survive on my own first,” Kate informed him with caring eyes, knowing that while for Thomas that could be a difficult concept to grasp, for her it made more sense. “And you did too. We needed to be fine on our own first.”

Thomas smiled sheepishly, chucking her under the chin to make Kate look back at him.

“Are you saying that because everyone is always nagging us about how we pretty much never dated other people, we…”

“No,” Kate interrupted him with lighthearted contentment. “Not because of other people,” she corrected him. “Because of us. Tom, think about it,” she proposed. “We are together all the time,” Kate pointed out. “There were times I was finding it hard to figure out who I was and what parts of me were really just an extension of you,” she teased, watching him smile because it was obvious he felt the same way. Over the years, their individuality had fallen to the background because everything had slowly turned out to be about them as a couple. “I think no matter how painful this whole experience was, it ultimately served to remind us that we are not two halves of something but rather a single individual and that we can, and should have different responses to things if we want to,” she explained. “But what it showed to me is that regardless of how differently we might see things sometimes, it doesn’t mean that we don’t want to be with each other.”

“We can be fine on our own,” Thomas smiled, making sense of her point. He agreed entirely with what Kate was saying. “We just don’t have to,” he leaned over and touched her forehead with his.

“Well, I don’t want to,” Kate wrapped her arms around his neck as she climbed on his lap. “But it’s good to know that I can.”

Thomas laughed with enchantment and pulled her closer, finally kissing her lips to seal their newest agreement. It made perfect sense that they could live life without one another while simply choosing not to.

After that, he went on to explain to Kate the arrangement he’d made with his father. After agreeing to stick to the hours of his contract and not extend his workload any longer by staying extra time, even in the moments when the opportunity might seem incredible, Thomas shared that Owen had also set up a weekly meeting for him with a medical counsel who would guide him as he got his life back on track.

Once he was done giving his testimonial, Thomas noticed that Kate bit her bottom lip nervously, as if unsure whether or not to share something of her own.

“So, as you can see, I have it all figure out now,” Thomas playfully exaggerated as he played with her fingers between his. The fact he was making jokes about it showed how at ease he was with the new turn things had taken and Kate loved seeing it.

“Yeah, about that…” the girl hesitated, clearly not as comfortable or decided about that aspect of her life as she was about mostly everything else.

“What is it?” Thomas asked gently, rubbing her back in support.

“I know I have postponed my residency, but I am not sure I want to start the surgical program next year,” Kate confessed, looking at him almost as if apologizing. She didn’t notice she avoided his gaze and looked down as she continued, “I was thinking and maybe I…”

“You want to apply to a different program, don’t you?” Thomas read her with an understanding smile. “Dermatology, is it?”

Kate looked appalled.

“How do you know?” she asked, torn between relief and shock.

Thomas chuckled, kissing the tip of her nose.

“I’ve known you all my life,” he pointed out. “I was there with you while we were getting our education. I think I can safely say I have a good grasp on what makes you happy,” he explained understandingly. “I think surgery isn’t one of those things.”

It was clear on Thomas’ tone that he didn’t mind it one bit and Kate picked up on it too.

“Katie, the idea of you choosing your own medical specialty seems perfectly reasonable to me. I know we made plans all our life to become surgeons, but plans change, we saw that. You don’t have to be worried about disappointing me,” he looked into her eyes, knowing that even though Kate hadn’t said it, she was probably bothered with the idea. He hoped that since they’d already covered him, they were finally getting to the bottom of what had been bothering her too for the last few months. “And now that we’ve made it clear it clear I won’t love you any less if you become a dermatologist,” he teased her, nudging his nose against her face. Kate could foresee the many jokes and teasing remarks that would invariably come for the rest of her life if she chose that specialty. “I think it’s time that youare comfortable with discarding surgery from your life too,” Thomas wisely added, pulling her in for quiet, comforting hug that was truly all the support Kate needed to go on with her decision.

.

When music class began, Megan was anxiously waiting at her seat hoping that JD wouldn’t skip it. She wanted to apologize for the uncalled cruel attack in his direction earlier that morning, which had only served to make the girl feel even worse about herself.

As Megan tried to get her feelings in order, she watched as the boy at last arrived and took his usual seat opposite to her. She expected JD to be mad, or even to plainly ignore her, making it more difficult for the girl to reach out to him. But to her surprise, he treated her with courteous simplicity throughout the period, asking Megan to please pass him the folder with the music sheets as Mrs. Julian happily explained a few notes using a whiteboard and then even thanked her when Megan picked from the floor the pencil he’d accidentally dropped as they were gathering their stuff to leave.

More perplexed than ever, the girl tried to study his expression but JD’s closed off façade reminded her of the way he used to act when they’d first met. It was as if he had distanced himself from the world and nothing could get to him anymore.

What Megan had said about his parents rejecting him had been a cruel, absolutely dreadful attack and she knew it. Especially because the girl had no idea why JD had really been sent to live with his grandma in the first place. The mere idea of her own parents rejecting her made Megan sick to her stomach and she hated herself for using something about JD’s past against him, especially when she didn’t even know what was true or not. The notion that his current behavior, shutting down again in what felt like a step back might have everything to do with him being hurt by her words filled Megan with shame.

“Are you okay?”

His question was Megan’s undoing and for a moment, she forgot about the other students who were on a hurry to leave the classroom or even about the teacher, who was still picking up her things from her desk.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Megan had to bit her lower lip to control her emotions. She had never felt guiltier in her life than she did now. “I was horrible to you. I don’t deserve it.”

JD seemed surprised by her question, but not really affected. He shrugged with disregard before simply stating as he put the guitar he’d used back in its place.

“I am not being nice to you,” he explained. JD was doing his best to keep it civil but he had stopped trying to hold a conversation with Megan, or even pester her anymore. “I am pretty sure you said what you said in an attempt to get to me,” he made eye contact with her as he spoke. “But it doesn’t mean that it is any less true,” JD added. He admired the fact that Megan spoke her mind, unlike most people. At least she was honest, so he had to respect that. No matter how awful the truth was. “So I am respecting your wishes and from now on, I won’t bother you anymore.”

At that point, everyone else had left the classroom and Megan found herself alone with the boy.

“Surely you don’t believe that,” she blocked the way, stopping him from exiting. “It’s not true, really!” Megan insisted, watching as he tried to go around her to get to the door. “I didn’t mean what I said! You can’t honestly think it’s true,” Megan’s breathing got heavier as she grew horrified with the idea of him actually believing it.

JD stopped at his tracks and looked deeply into her eyes, studying her expression. He was starting to believe that his demise bothered Megan more than it bothered him, but he didn’t want to fool himself into once again think she was actually any different from anyone else he’d ever met.

“Why do you care, anyway,” JD shook his head, too fed up with everyone to have any energy to deal with it. “Please, get out of the way, I don’t want to push you,” he added unable to disguise his irritation.

Megan stood up to the guy, frantically trying to make him listen and most of all, believe her.

“JD,” she held him by the arm when he tried to go around her. “You have to believe me,” Megan insisted. “I don’t mean what I said.”

The boy hesitated for a moment, but took a deep breath, regaining control.

“Which part?”

His question surprised Megan and she frowned, visibly confused with his unexpected comeback. The girl had spoken about his parents not wanting him around and then about herself sharing the same desire. It was very important for JD to know which part exactly she hadn’t meant.

“What do you mean, which part?” the girl tried to process what he was saying. “Any of it, I didn’t mean any of what I said.”

JD studied her blue eyes, defensively looking for hints of why he shouldn’t trust her or believe anything she was saying. But Megan seemed honest and the realization bothered and infuriated him because it would just be easier to hate her than to process what he was feeling right now.

“Yes, you are right, Megan, they didn’t want me around,” JD furiously hissed, building every wall around his heart that Megan had somehow managed to overcome without him knowing. “Is that what you wanted to know? That my father kicked me out after my mother died because he couldn’t stand me? Is that what you meant? Because like always, you were right, Miss Perfect,” JD’s jaw was clenched as he looked at Megan with so much built up anger and hurt that for a moment she was actually afraid he might say or do something irreversibly stupid. “But you know what, that’s fine. I am fine. I am through with him. I can live with that, alright?” the boy glared at her, hating to feel so vulnerable at her every movement. JD had long before decided not to let anyone else have this kind of power over him but before he could control or contain it, Megan Hunt had developed the ability to hurt his feelings and the notion infuriated him. He didn’t even know how she had managed to do it, but there the girl was, getting under his skin. “But don’t bullshit me, okay? Not you,” he looked deeply into her eyes, leaning over the girl with an intimidating glance that only made Megan realize the full extent of his pain. “Don’t come to me saying one thing and then say you didn’t mean any of it just because you have a guilty conscience,” JD pushed it, firing every word. “It only makes me lose my respect for your honesty. I don’t want and I don’t need your pity,” he looked deeply into her eyes, watching as Megan was shocked with each word that left his mouth.

The girl’s face showed just how shocked she was. Megan felt her heart aching in her chest, hating that she had so many times been so horrible to him. His entire behavior made so much more sense now… How he kept everyone at a safe distance, the way he pushed people away the moment they got too close. Megan had once called him a cliché and yet she had been the one who’d failed to see the obvious.

“I didn’t know that,” Megan kept on trying to make him stay, knowing that the more she pushed it, the more he would probably get angry and snap. “I didn’t know about your dad or your mom… I am so sorry,” the girl added.

JD shook his head, as if disregarding her words.

“Yeah, like I said, I don’t need your pity,” he scowled and forcefully got out of her grasp, walking into the hallway despite Megan’s attempts to make him stay.

It felt like her heart was breaking in tiny pieces when Megan lost control over the situation and had to watch him walk away, knowing that there was a big chance he might never speak to her again. The notion devastated her. JD was annoying and frustrating, but Megan had just found out how much she really cared about him.

The boy was already half way through the corridor when muffled sobs reached his ears.

Usually, the sound of a girl crying wasn’t enough to invoke any feeling in him other than annoyance mixed with impatience. But strangely enough, despite his best effort to think Megan’s display of emotion was fake, JD couldn’t believe it in his heart that she was actually making a scene or pretending to feel something she didn’t, especially when she had no idea she could be heard.

Megan was still curled up on her seat with her face buried between her legs trying to contain the sound of her cries when she felt a warm hand rubbing her back in a soothing caress. When the girl brought her face up, it was with shock that she found intense green eyes staring back at her.

“Don’t cry,” JD pleaded, feeling his heart constrict by the sight of her face drowning in tears. Seeing her hurting affected him more than he thought it ever could. “You can call me names and tell me to go to go hell or whatever but please, just don’t cry.”

Megan slowly raised her head and noticed he had his eyes closed as he said the words, in an attempt to get control of his emotions. Once again, they had had a big fight, possibly the worst one they’d ever had and even though she was the one to blame and the one who’d said the most hurtful things, it was JD who was trying to comfort her.

Grabbing his hand to stop him from walking away again in the eventuality he might try, Megan decided to ignore all her confusion and opened her heart.

“I was very angry with you when I said all those horrible things, but it had nothing do with you,” she confessed, using her free hand to dry her eyes. “It wasn’t your fault. Truth is… Aaron dumped me,” the girl tilted her head to the side and shrugged, helpless in face of the situation. “And I blamed you for it because he blamed you for it,” Megan tried to make sense of things. “It was wrong of me and I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have let you get to my head again. You didn’t deserve it. I am sorry.”

JD nodded his head, accepting her apology but it was the content of her confession that caught his attention the most, rather than the apology.

“I am sorry that he gave you up,” JD smiled, using his knuckles to wipe a remaining tear from her face. When Megan stared back at him with those big blue eyes that resembled two moons, he smiled with amusement. “I always thought he was too insecure for you, anyway,” the boy teased out of habit and because he didn’t know how else to deal with the impending avalanche of emotions that followed the information Megan had just shared. “I’ll tell you what… If you’re okay with my company now, I will consider buying you ice cream.”

“Don’t joke about that,” Megan censored him, still feeling horrible about what she’d said, even though she had already clarified she hadn’t meant it.

“You also have to do something about that face because you look horrible,” JD smirked, much more comfortable with teasing and provoking her, especially now that she was slowly getting back to acting like herself once he’d criticized her appearance. “I don’t want to be seen around you if you look like that,” JD added, putting both hands inside his jacket pockets while throwing Megan a side glance to hide his smile.

“You’re an asshole,” Megan decided, smoothing her hair in an attempt to fix her looks. “It’s me who should be buying you ice cream, you know, Justin, because since you have no friends, you…”

“Shut up,” JD interrupted her with a chuckle.

He waited until the girl gathered her things and then finally opened the door to what he hoped wasn’t only the exit to the music classroom, but also the start of a better relationship with Megan.

.

Emily felt the first thin droplets of the rain hitting her face and wrapped her coat tightly around her body. The cold weather in November wasn’t unusual in Seattle, but something about the open field next to the Stadium area made it seem like the wind was chillier than ever.

Or maybe the way she was shivering had more to do with the conversation she was about to have than with the air temperature.

When Lucas left the training area inside the stadium towards the parking lot, he immediately noticed the short woman standing next to his car. His teammates kept talking about their upcoming match on the weekend, but Lucas wasn’t listening to them anymore. His eyes were focused on the auburn haired girl who looked more adorable than ever nearly disappearing beneath a caramel cashmere scarf and an elegant knitted hat.

After saying goodbye to the other athletes, Lucas went in her direction, noticing how she rubbed her gloved hands together after blowing on them, trying to get warm. There had to be a reason why Emily was waiting for him outside and with one peek, he could figure out why.

Next to her, he saw on the floor a small carry-on wheeled piece of luggage and a matching handbag. It was obvious she was going somewhere and Lucas didn’t have to think very hard to know where.

“I’ve been trying to call you,” he finally stopped walking in her direction and stood a few feet away from the journalist, facing her. Despite his serious tone, Lucas’ expression was friendly.

“Yeah, I know.”

“You didn’t give me a chance to apologize for what I did.”

“I know,” Emily repeated, this time with an apologetic nod. For the past couple of days, ever since Lucas’ childish discussion with Peter in her mother’s house she had been ignoring his attempts to get in touch with her. Her ex-fiancé had left to New York just hours after the incident, but it wasn’t until today that Emily was finally going back to the city too. “I am sorry I didn’t call you back.”

“What’s changed?” Lucas asked, looking from the depth of her eyes to the bags and then to the girl again.

Emily seemed hesitant and even a little guilty before she opened her mouth to explain.

“I came to say goodbye.”

It wasn’t all there was to it and Emily knew it. Truth was, if she’d allowed herself to answer one of Lucas’ calls or even agree to see him before she left, she wasn’t so sure anymore that she’d go on with her resolution to leave with such determination, or at least so much certainty.

The journalist was still very angry at the way Lucas had discussed with Peter, and even more upset at how he’d spoken about their first time together as if using that to compete with the guy. But after cooling her head and processing the whole situation, Emily couldn’t help but realize that it hadn’t been until Peter had wrongfully given the impression they had spent the night together that Lucas had turned into a dick.

Lucas had expressed his desire that Emily didn’t leave, but she knew that even though his intentions were the best, there were simply no guarantees about anything. The only thing concrete was that he was experiencing amazing success playing for his childhood team, the one he’d always dreamed of playing for, whilst Emily’s source of stability and solidness remained in New York, the place where she had a steady job and a career of her own. Other than that, every other line was too blurry to risk anything.

And yet, Lucas still didn’t know that she had called off her engagement. Even though she had her mind made up about leaving, Emily wanted to be good terms with him and hopefully keep in touch if possible. And she also couldn’t get herself to leave Seattle, quite possibly for good this time around, without so much as saying goodbye.

Judging by the look on his face, the confession that she’d come to say goodbye seemed to hit him pretty hard and the realization made Emily want to give in to tears.

“I am so proud of you,” she heard her own voice and involuntarily reached for his hand, grasping it between hers with a mix of affection and joy. Lucas saw through the tears that were now building up on her eyes, but it was her genuine smile that touched him the most. “You’ve made it so far and I….” Emily’s voice faltered as she embraced his hand against her chest, sniffing soundly. “I never doubted you would,” the girl raised her hazel eyes to meet his and smiled between tears. “I always knew.”

Lucas noticed how much she was struggling. The context they were in was so bittersweet that it made his heart pound inside his chest. That moment felt too much like a goodbye and in as much as he hated to think it might be the last time he would see Emily, he couldn’t help but feel touched by the meaning of what she was saying.

Emily had always believed in him. When very few people had… when he himself hadn’t. Back when they were seventeen, with all her strength and bright light, Emily had made Lucas discover his own worth and believe that he could take control of his life. As a result, he’d followed his dreams and five years later there he was living the life he’d always thought about having.

Except Emily wasn’t in it.

“You’re not doing too bad yourself, you know,” Lucas couldn’t contain a smile and teased her when Emily gave in to tears and hid her face on his chest. He wrapped both arms around her tightly before whispering against the soft fabric of her knitted hat. “The exception is that no one is surprised,” he added with a mischievous voice.

“Don’t berate yourself,” Emily censored him disapprovingly.

“Don’t use words like berate,” Lucas replied in a lighthearted tone, smiling with affection at how clearly emotional she was. It was obvious Emily was having a hard time leaving, but he didn’t plan to make it any easier for her.

The sound of her sheepish laughter filled his heart with love and Lucas took both his hands to the sides of her face, rubbing her cheeks with his thumbs as he gently forced eye contact with the girl.

“I am sorry about what I said to your fiancé,” he said to his dismay. Lucas hated relinquishing Emily, but he also didn’t want her to stay if she wanted to be with another guy. As painful as it was, he would just have to learn to deal with the rejection. “I didn’t mean to be such an asshole.”

“You were ridiculous,” Emily rolled her eyes, thinking back about his childish demeanor. Even though Lucas had done something as scandalous as saying to her ex-fiancé that he had been the first guy in her life in the middle of what should have been a civil conversation, the fact he’d pulled that stunt also didn’t surprise her. “And Peter is not my fiancé anymore,” she finally confessed. “I called off my engagement.”

Lucas took in the information, waiting for her to say something more while he analyzed whether or not he’d heard it correctly.

“You’re not marrying that guy anymore?” he asked with a frown, trying to process what it meant not just for Emily, but for them as well. “What happened?”

Emily seemed to read his mind because she splayed both hands on his chest and looked deeply into his eyes.

“I realized so many things,” she smiled between tears. “It feels as if… As if once again, you walked into my life and you helped me see the light,” the journalist closed her eyes with force, struggling not to give into tears. “I wasn’t happy and when you asked me that question, it really made me think and find out the truth.”

Lucas smoothed a few loose locks of hair from her face and placed them behind her shoulder.

“And now you are?” he asked with genuine interest. “Now you’re happy?”

“I am trying to be,” Emily nodded, determined to chase that resolution. “It feels like I am getting there, anyway… I am trying to figure out what to do and the first thing was cutting out of my life the things that are notmaking me happy,” she explained. “My engagement was one of them. Now I have to get back to the job I love and have stability in my career again,” the journalist added. The uncertainty of not having a steady job was really unsettling for her and knowing about her background and the family she had been raised in, Lucas could easily guess why.

“Don’t leave,” the athlete wrapped both his arms around her waist, desperately trying to get her to stay. “I know you have a job and I know it might feel like I am asking for too much, but don’t go… We can be happy here. We should be together,” he tried to convince her. “It’s you and I, Emily. It has always been,” Lucas reminded her. Through all the ups and downs, they always found themselves in the same place. “You can go back and forth all you want but you’re always going to end up right here,” Lucas smiled with his eyes closed as he touched his forehead to hers. “And we can figure out together what your happy means.”

Emily sniffed, genuinely torn. God, why did it have to be so hard… so damn near impossible?

On one hand, there was stability, the prospect of going back to a job she really loved and the safety of an apartment she had made for herself. On another, there was the risk of staying and giving up everything that was certain for the prospect of being happy with Lucas.

And even though being happy with him represented and was worth a whole lot more to Emily than everything else combined, it was exactly the risk of it all that scared the hell out of her. Sometimes it was better to have what was certain than to risk everything and end up with nothing at all. Life had taught her that the hardest of ways.

“You have made me so happy already,” Emily smiled and touched the side of his face, rubbing it affectionately. It was true. No one had made her happier in a lifetime. “I love you. I have always loved you and I always will,” the girl noticed how Lucas’ eyes sparkled with her confession. He was right. It didn’t matter how much she avoided it or tried to deny it. He was the one and probably would always be. Even if they weren’t meant to be together. Unable to help herself, Emily stood on the tip of her toes and kissed him on the lips longingly. “But I can’t stay.”

When she pulled apart, Lucas searched in her eyes for an answer but found only heartbreak and something that resembled regret. Emily had always been rational, too much for her own good. Sometimes, it was better not to think about things but rather just to feel them.

Encouraged by that thought, Lucas once again rubbed his lips against hers in what began as a gentle caress but quickly became a deep kiss as soon as Emily relaxed in his arms. He felt the tight grasp of her hands around his neck as Emily stood on the tip of her toes to mold her body to his when Lucas pulled her against him.

Emily knew that letting Lucas kiss her like that wasn’t a good idea and would probably only make it harder for her to leave. But how on Earth was she supposed to resist it when all she wanted was to kiss him back with the same passion?

And God, how long had it been since all her senses had been ignited like that? One kiss… that was all it had taken… Just one kiss and it felt like Emily had found her happy place again.

The thin droplets of rain slowly became thicker and before they had the time to make sense of things, a heavy shower was pouring on their heads. Lucas looked around and noticed most cars in the parking lot had already left, which meant they’d been there for a while now.

“I am not going back to New York because of my job,” Emily affirmed with conviction as she reluctantly pulled apart. She hoped that he at least knew that much. Maybe someday she would be able to reconsider turning her life around but right now, she needed the stability she could only find back in the city she had built her life in. It was getting late and she should probably get going to the airport if she didn’t want to miss her flight. They were soaking wet now and her teeth were chattering from the cold. “I hope you know that.”

“I am not sure I am in any condition to rightfully think through anything right now,” Lucas confessed honestly, running a hand through his hair with frustration, noticing how wet he was.

He wanted very much to believe Emily and he supposed deep down he did, but it just hurt so much to accept that she wasn’t going to stay that Lucas had to hold onto to some kind of excuse not feel like he was really being left behind.

“And I didn’t sleep with Peter.”

At her random confession, Lucas raised his head, making eye contact with the girl. Emily read the question on his face and explained.

“I know it’s not relevant for my decision to leave but…” Emily hesitated, embarrassed. “I just thought you should know that.”

Even though he was still devastated about her inevitable departure, Lucas was very satisfied to learn that Emily hadn’t spent the night in her ex-fiancé’s arms. Like he’d suspected and hoped, ever since they’d reconnected, their feelings had come to surface and just like him, she probably hadn’t felt the desire to be with anyone else ever since.

“You know, I don’t get it,” Lucas said as he watched Emily hailing a cab on the street next to them.  As the first yellow cab pulled over, the journalist stacked her luggage inside of it, making Lucas’ heart shatter all over again when he realized it really was goodbye. “You said you broke things off with that guy but you’re going to New York anyway… And I know you have a life there and it is a lot more than just him,” Lucas explained, nodding his head in denial. A mix of jealousy, disappointment and heartbreak was getting the best of him but it was the lack of control over the situation that really made him feel powerless and deeply hurt. “After everything we’ve been through this past couple of months… It just feels like you are choosing him,” Lucas added, hating himself for thinking that since Emily was going back to the same city as the guy, he was going to have the chance to maybe reconnect with her while Lucas was getting left behind.

“I am not choosing him, Luke,” Emily affirmed with conviction before she kissed him on the lips one more time and got into a cab to finally board a plane to New York. Her eyes were still filled with tears and apprehension when she added with the fierce determination that was so typical of her. “I am choosing me.”

--

If you want to torture yourself, this is the song that put me in the vibe to write the last scene. 

#omelia #myboys #myboysfanfiction #omeliafics #omelia fanfics #omeliafic #amenff

[jordan202]

Maybe This Time - Part 8 (Finale)

Hey guys!

thank you so much for everyone who’s been through this with me. I am very grateful for every comment, every ask, every note, every message. I loved the feedback for this story and I hoped you guys had a good time with it as much as I had fun writing it. Here goes the last installment of this sweet ride! thanks for sticking with me until the very end :)

Link to previous chapters are HERE on the masterpost 

Maybe This Time – Part 8

“I think I might be pregnant.”

“Owen, this is the part where you say something,” Amelia tried to get him to speak after long seconds of silence.

But Owen looked like he was in shock. He kept staring at her frozen in time, unable to fully process the meaning of the news she’d just unexpectedly dropped.

Unbeknownst to her, Owen was trying to contain a nearly instinctive reaction of smiling and celebrating the news. He’d wanted for that to happen so badly and yet had been in that position so many times before only to ultimately be let down that he didn’t allow himself to rejoice in it just yet.

When his ex-wife had given him similar news, years before, Owen had been naïve enough to believe that his heart’s biggest desire might actually come true. The series of events that had happened after had only served to remind him in the cruelest way that sometimes, life could be taken before it was even given a chance.  He’d learned to mourn the loss of someone he’d never even got the chance to meet. And then years later, when he and Amelia had revisited the idea of parenthood, at first he’d been thrilled. Owen could remember all the details of the evening he’d gotten home and found her waiting for him with a pregnancy test. Back then, the trauma surgeon had kept his expectations high because he’d really believed that Amelia wanted it as much as he did. When the test turned out to be negative, Owen had taken her introversion as disappointment and had tried to console her, pointing out that they had just started trying and would have many chances to actually conceive a baby.

But then Amelia had unexpectedly changed her mind about the topic and left home, making him wonder how much she’d meant what she’d said in the few times they’d discussed becoming parents. From there on, their marriage had fallen apart, culminating with the discovery of her tumor. Little by little, they had been able to pick up most pieces. But up until that day, they hadn’t yet the discussed the idea of children. Owen had no idea where Amelia stood in it. Deep down, he knew he’d never truly give up on it, but the trauma surgeon had long ago told himself that he simply must learn to move on with his life and be happy even if he never got to be a dad because the possibility of that never happening was actually the likeliest one.

Owen knew Amelia was probably just as confused as he was about the news she’d just shared. Just as he knew her sudden change of heart about having a baby during a time they were together had probably been equally hard for her to understand. The details of her past remained blurry to him, but he was aware his wife had lost a son once. And while Owen was very good at obliterating his feelings, he wasn’t foolish enough to think that a person could come out of a situation like that and not have any scars. He supposed Amelia’s fears and hesitations had everything to do with the trauma of her past.

“Are you okay?” he gently tilted his head to the side, looking at her with concerned eyes.

Amelia couldn’t quite tell why, but she felt her heart sinking inside her chest.

“I… I don’t know,” she confessed with honesty.

“When did you find out?” Owen asked, gently reaching out to touch her so he could help Amelia sit on the patient’s gurney inside the room. Once she was properly settled, he pulled a metal stool and sat in front of her, not letting go of her hand.

“I just considered the possibility as I was filling out the form for the MRI scan. I realized it makes perfect sense,” Amelia confessed, feeling more anxious than when she’d first walked into that room. Owen’s reaction wasn’t anything like she’d anticipated and she couldn’t even tell why, because she didn’t know what she expected in the first place. “I didn’t confirm it yet.”

Owen instantly picked up on the fact she’d immediately come to him when she’d confronted the notion and that made him feel slightly better about the whole thing. But still, he didn’t dare to make anything out of the situation just yet.

“Do you want to find out for sure?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

Amelia was grateful for his obvious concern and for the way he was caring about her. She didn’t expect any less. But at the same time, the way Owen was keeping his distance was unnerving and very distressing.

The neurosurgeon narrowed her eyes, trying to understand him. It was hard to make sense of what he was feeling when she couldn’t figure out her own response to the situation. Was it possible that she was disappointed?

Was it possible that he was?

Owen had always wanted a child… Amelia had no idea how she felt about the entire thing but from the short trip from the radiology department to the ER, a thousand questions had run through her head. She had several doubts. But only one certainty: Owen would be thrilled.

She had been so sure of that that it was absolutely distressing to face his current reaction. Owen wasn’t indifferent. He was definitely apprehensive, so there had to be something there. But he hadn’t expressed any personal thought or emotion about the news she’d just shared and the slightest possibility that he might not be absolutely delighted with it made Amelia more agitated than she considered she could be.

Up until now, she hadn’t allowed herself to break down and be terrified for the single reason of having Owen there. They had talked and made up and realized that they loved each other and wanted to be together. No one was better at being there for her than he was. Amelia wasn’t sure if she was ready to face her fears with a new pregnancy but if a baby was already conceived, then there was no other alternative. And the only thing that kept her sane at that moment was to know she could lean on Owen.

But if he wasn’t fully on board with the idea then…

“Amelia?” Owen rubbed his thumb on her hand, trying to get her back from her thoughts. “I asked if you want to go to the lab? Or I can draw your blood here if you want?” he proposed. “Or if you want something less invasive we can try a urine test? What do you think?”

Amelia bit her lower lip. She didn’t know. She had no idea.

Why wasn’t he happy about this? Why wasn’t he thrilled and laughing and telling her everything was going to be okay, all the while making plans for them? That’s the only thing she expected… It was all she could think about at the moment.

“How far along do you think you should be?” Owen asked, realizing this time around it was her that seemed lost and shocked.

“I don’t know,” Amelia breathed in and out, trying to remain calm, but her distress became more obvious. “I don’t know, Owen, I don’t…”

“Shhh, it’s okay, calm down,” Owen got up and gently wrapped her in his arms, watching as Amelia buried her face in his chest and sniffed. She was obviously tense and he wished he knew more about how she felt so he could help her. But Owen really hoped this wasn’t another situation where he would have to convince the woman he loved to keep his baby. Because no matter how much he loved Amelia, if she really was expecting his child and decided not to take it forward, Owen didn’t have it in him to comfort her for the pain of making that decision.

Swallowing hard, he asked the universe for strength and straightened himself up, trying to remain as rational as possible. It just didn’t make sense… Everything he knew about Amelia and her personality, how caring and maternal she was… Owen knew the trauma of losing a child could shape a person, but he still couldn’t see her as someone who would reject a baby just because she feared losing them. It just didn’t make any sense.

“Amelia, look, I know you’re in way over your head right now,” he pulled apart just enough to look into her eyes, seeing they were sparkling with tears she stubbornly refused to shed. “But we need to know for sure, ok? We need to know for sure so we’ll know what we’re dealing with here,” he added, mistaking her pain for fear of actually being pregnant.

Amelia nodded affirmatively with her head, wiping her eyes as she listened to what he was proposing.

“We don’t have to go anywhere just yet,” Owen pointed with his eyes to a portable ultrasound machine inside the exam room. “Do you want to find out? We can do it here. Together.”

Amelia looked at the machine and then at him, unconsciously holding her breath. God, that was scary. It just felt so soon… But at the same time, it could be good to end that agonizing doubt if they could.

The neurosurgeon took a few seconds of hesitation, finally agreeing to his suggestion with a shy nod.

Owen tried not to think of what it would mean for them if she were indeed pregnant – or if she wasn’t – and kissed her head quickly before getting up to go get the machine. As he pulled the object towards them, Amelia lay on the table, awkwardly untying the knot on her scrub pants and slowly pulling it down to her underwear level at the same time she pulled up her top.

“You ready?” Owen asked, holding the transducer with one hand. When Amelia met his eyes and slightly nodded, he applied gel on her lower abdomen, unconsciously holding his breath too.

He had no idea what the result of that exam would mean for the two of them, both individually and as a couple. Owen didn’t realize his usually steady hand was having a hard time staying still so he could freeze a perfect image window. He couldn’t really focus on anything because just as he’d identified Amelia’s bladder, he was also able to find her uterus and the minuscule image that kept coming in and out of the screen as he moved the probe.

Amelia had thought about not looking at the screen, too scared about what she might find, but she simply had to know. As Owen ran the exam, she found herself in the position of a mere spectator, watching the images going in and out of the screen as she frantically moved her eyes, trying to make sense of anything.

It seemed very obvious what that little white image in amidst all that black meant.

A growing seed of hope? A better future?

But it was too good to be true.

Amelia had to know. She couldn’t live with the agonizing doubt any longer.

“Is that… Is that a baby?” she asked, at last breaking the heavy silence in the room.

When Owen turned his face from the screen to look at her, Amelia noticed how wet his eyes were. Long gone was his resolve to remain neutral to that situation. Owen had finally reached his limit and he couldn’t contain himself anymore.

“That’s our baby,” Owen answered with a whisper, looking into her eyes. When Amelia met his gaze, the intensity of the situation caught up with her and she was instantly overwhelmed.

Her silence alarmed him and Owen felt more anxious than he’d felt in a lifetime. Seeing that tiny image on the screen had messed more with his emotions than he ever imagined it would. His heart was bursting with joy and love and hope but he had no idea what to do with all of those because his fate – and the baby’s – depended entirely on Amelia’s reading of the situation and he wasn’t sure he could cope if the truth was that she wasn’t nearly as enchanted with that discovery and new prospect as he was.

Owen was very confused but when Amelia lifted her eyes and stared at him looking more fragile and vulnerable than he’d ever seen her, he realized that was just the beginning.

“Do you want the baby?” she asked with a sheepish voice, reaching out for his hand, as if afraid of his answer. “I know it’s not what you had planned right now.”

Owen looked at her hand, fiercely holding onto his and then into her eyes, trying to make sense of what she was asking.

“Do I want the baby?” he frowned, confused. “What do you mean, do I want the baby, of course I want the baby, Amelia…!” he dropped the ultrasound machine and held her in his arms, coming closer and he intensified his stare so she could see he meant what he was saying. “I want you and the baby. What are you even saying… How could I…”

When she broke down crying with what look like relief, Owen’s eyes grew wider in alarm and for a second, he had no idea what to do. But when he noticed Amelia really was anguished about the situation, he didn’t hesitate before standing up and wrapping his arms around her.

“Amelia,” Owen pulled apart just enough to look into her eyes, seeing they were drowning in tears. The way she looked so broken absolutely destroyed him. “What are you asking me, exactly?” he rubbed the side of her face with his thumb affectionately, expecting her to be as honest with him as she had been in the past few weeks.

His wife bit her lower lip in a mix of embarrassment, guilt, and insecurity. Owen gave her an encouraging half smile, hoping she would open her heart.

“It’s just that I… When I told you I thought I was pregnant, I thought you’d be happy,” she confessed. “I thought this is what you wanted.”

“This is what I want more than anything else I’ve ever wanted in my life,” Owen let her know.

“But you didn’t celebrate it,” Amelia’s voice faltered and she felt embarrassed for feeling like she was demanding something of him when she had no right to.

Owen furrowed his brows, trying to process the meaning of her words. She was opening her heart to him and being honest. The least he could do was to do the same.

“I wasn’t sure if I should,” he admitted. When he saw she hadn’t understood him, Owen hurried to explain. “You see, I didn’t know if youwanted it,” he exposed, gazing at her with what he hoped was comprehension instead of judgment. “I still don’t,” Owen confessed. “And it would be very hard for me to take such immense joy out something that would make me so happy but bring you more pain than happiness. What I’ve always dreamed of is for us both to want it... I thought you did too. But then everything happened,” he paused, taking a breath. Amelia knew he was talking about the way she’d left home after their pregnancy scare and how their marriage had derailed from there on. Never again had they ever brought up the baby issue and it was long overdue. “I know the news caught us off guard and I know it’s a lot to process but I am here for it, Amelia. I am here for it and for you. I want this baby and I want you,” he held her face between his hands, looking deeply into her eyes. “You two are everything I’ve ever wanted. Not just the baby,” he suggestively placed his hand on her lower abdomen. “But you too,” Owen breathed out, whispering in her ear at the same time he pulled her into an embrace. “I want us to be together. I want us to be in this as a family.”

Amelia held onto him with force, wondering if Owen had any idea how much it meant to her to hear what he was saying.

“I want that too,” she wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on the tip of her toes to make up for their height difference. “I am so done being sad, Owen. I want us to be happy… I want us to have everything we planned,” Amelia knew they were locked in an exam room in the middle of a workday, but she didn’t care. A lot of doubts and questions were running through her head, and she still had a million what ifs that probably wouldn’t let her sleep anytime soon. But to know that she had Owen there, come what may, was all the reassurance she needed at that moment. “We’re having a baby,” she broke apart and looked into his eyes, smiling with sheer joy between heavy tears.

Owen chuckled, unable to believe that was actually happening. He wanted to scream, shout, laugh, hold her and never let go, all at the same time.

“We’re having a baby,” he repeated, almost as unable to believe it.

“Are you sure you saw it?” Amelia asked with a lighthearted tone. “I mean, I think I saw it too, but I…”

“I am not a radiologist but it was there, I saw it,” Owen interrupted her, frowning. “We should probably get a proper exam scheduled, though. Just to see if everything checks out.”

“Yeah, we should,” Amelia agreed, unable to stop smiling. She loved how he’d said “we” instead of “you”. The little subtitles in Owen made the entire difference and she loved him for them. “You know what, we should also work. I just realized I have a department to run. It’s almost noon and I haven’t begun my day upstairs yet.”

Owen reluctantly let her go. He wasn’t sure how he was going to focus on anything else other than the amazing news he’d just found out that morning, but the trauma surgeon was sure he was going to figure something out. Not only Amelia was pregnant with his child, but she was also fully on board with the idea of building a future with him. The two of them still had a lot to process but it felt like a new chapter of their lives was just about to begin and even though it seemed sudden and fast, at the same time it felt like it was long overdue. And Owen couldn’t wait for it.

.

When Amelia went home from the hospital that evening, she had a million questions running through her head. Once again, she was driving through the familiar streets that led to the house she’d spent the past weeks in. What would that pregnancy mean for she and Owen going forward? Even before Amelia had found out about it, the neurosurgeon was aware that’d be just a matter of time before she fully moved out of Meredith’s house back in with Owen again. Right now, it just felt like she had the best motivation to speed things up.

She thought back about the way Owen had held back right after she’d told him about her suspicion and her heart constricted inside her chest. It made perfect sense now… He wanted to be happy about it because just like she’d anticipated, having a baby was one of the things Owen longed for the most. But he had been disappointed so many times before that it was obvious he’d guard his heart this time and not build his hopes up again until he knew for sure what he should actually expect.

There was just so much to process… As Amelia parked the car in the garage, she took her hand to her lower abdomen, instinctively trying to protect what she didn’t even know yet but already loved more than life itself. God, she just hoped everything worked out this time around. She wasn’t sure she would be able to cope with another loss.

It was still early in the evening and she found the house empty. A couple of hours later, Owen arrived and the big smile on his face when he came through the door vanished every doubt Amelia could still have about whether or not he was excited about this. It was quite obvious now that Owen was having a hard time hiding just how absolutely delighted he was.

“So I was thinking,” he started, insisting that she just relaxed and let him prepare dinner. Amelia had a feeling that for the next months, she would have to remind him she was not in an invalid state but rather, simply pregnant. “Last time we thought about turning the office into a nursery, right? I mean, I suggested it. But I was thinking maybe we could just have the baby in our room with us for the time being… maybe until he or she is done waking up every couple of hours. Just so we won’t have to go from room to room in the middle of the night,” he kindly proposed.

“Okay,” Amelia agreed with a smile, even though she hadn’t really given it much thought. The brightness in his eyes as he spoke about it and went on making further plans completely captivated her attention and she couldn’t focus on anything else. To see Owen so into that new experience and realize she wasn’t alone in it made her completely in awe.

They had dinner still making plans and trying to discuss the changes that the new addition would cause in their lives. Owen noticed how he was doing most of the talking, but even though she was acting uncharacteristically introverted and guarded, Amelia seemed genuinely on board with the ideas he was suggesting. He could tell by the smile on her face that the idea of being a mom filled her heart with love and excitement, but at the same time, Owen could catch a glimpse of sadness lingering in the back of her eyes while they discussed the subject and that broke his heart. He couldn’t stand seeing her in pain. Especially because Owen had an idea, but didn’t fully know what was behind it.

But now it was time he understood it better.

He and Amelia were starting something amazing together and he didn’t want anything else standing on their way. Owen wanted them to be completely honest with each other and he knew she felt the same way. He wanted Amelia to know she could trust him for anything, and he also knew that in order to understand her better, it would do them good if he could fit every piece of the puzzle together.

The trauma surgeon on purpose waited until they went to sleep that night. Amelia lingered on the bathroom to brush her teeth, but once she came out and crawled in bed next to him, very suggestively leaning over to give him a peck on the lips and initiate something, Owen gently held her shoulders, keeping her within his grasp instead.

“I want to ask you something,” he started, not giving her the chance to protest. “And before I do, let me just say that it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about this now. We can wait until you want to… I would very much like to know, but if you feel like you don’t ever want to bring up this subject, it’s okay too… I am going to respect that,” he said, looking into her eyes so she could see he meant it.

Amelia found the seriousness in his tone of voice quite strange. She had been preparing herself to celebrate with him the amazing discovery they’d just made that day. His somber expression contrasted completely with what she expected.

“Owen, what is it?” Amelia asked with concern, trying to find the answer in his eyes.

The dim lights inside the room weren’t helping her vision much, but at the same time, they were enhancing Amelia’s every other sense. She felt the touch of Owen’s hand on her skin as he adjusted in bed, sitting up straight before asking with a low, caring voice.

“I am asking you about your son.”

Amelia wasn’t really expecting the subject to be brought up and her initial reaction was a mix of surprise and heartbreak at the mention of the subject. Owen noticed how she broke eye contact with him, apparently trying to process his question and maybe even think of what to say. He didn’t want to force her into a topic she didn’t feel comfortable discussing, but at the same time, he felt like it would be good for them if Amelia trusted him with the details of her past. He wondered if she ever discussed it with someone and if there was one thing he’d learned was that storing feelings, pain especially, could backfire in the worst possible way. It was better to let it all out. And if she could do with someone she felt comfortable with, who loved her… that should make an impossible situation a little less difficult. He’d learned that when Amelia had comforted him right after he’d found out about his sister being found alive.

“I know you lost a child but we never really talked much about this and… Well, I just figured that now, with us expecting a baby it would bring up all these painful memories that you probably try to forget,” he added, rubbing her arm affectionately. Amelia finally turned her head back and when their gazes met, Owen noticed that her eyes had accumulated heavy tears in mere seconds. The realization made him feel horrible about his resolve. Wondering if he just wasn’t being selfish, he hurried to add.  “You know what, I am sorry I brought it up. It was very insensitive of me, I shouldn’t be speaking about such a personal, difficult subject in a moment like this,” Owen saw she was in pain and immediately regretted putting her through all those memories again. “We can focus on-”

“He died the day he was born,” Amelia interrupted him, biting her lower lip to stop herself from crying. She’d barely begun but her throat already felt clogged. But she didn’t regret speaking. No matter how excruciating those memories were, she couldn’t describe how grateful she was that Owen had asked. Because deep down, she felt like she should have shared this with him long before and yet it was too hard for her to talk about it. Being a private, quiet guy, Owen had never really asked about it either and sometimes, Amelia wondered how much he was sparing her or how much he just didn’t understand or didn’t care. To consider he might lack interest had always hurt her, so to hear him asking about it meant more to her than he could ever imagine. “He was… he was born with anencephaly.”

Owen frowned, taken by absolute surprise. He knew Amelia’s child had lived briefly but he had no idea what the cause of death had been. Even though he had never really stopped to think about it, he had just assumed her baby had been born prematurely and hadn’t made it because of that.

“Amelia, I am so sorry,” he held her closer, making the connections. If Amelia had lost a child in that condition, it made a lot of sense she would fear getting something similar again in a future pregnancy. “I can’t imagine how that must have been like…” he confessed, looking into her eyes. “Was the father the man you told me about?”

Amelia nodded with her head, knowing Owen was talking about the time they were on that same bed and she had shared different confessions with him. At that time, they had made plans not to wait anymore and have a baby. A rollercoaster of events had happened in between. But now, everything they had dreamed of was finally coming true.

“Yes,” Amelia confirmed it, feeling the first tear rolling down her cheek at the memory of how difficult it had been for her to go through the pregnancy. “He died without knowing about it. I only found out that I was pregnant in my fifth month. It was very hard coming to terms with it,” she said. “But then what came afterwards was insanely harder.”

In the following minutes, Amelia took her time detailing to Owen what she’d been through and how she’d had her baby and fought to donate his organs. He listened very attentively, holding her in his arms through the entire time. The look on his face and the security of his embrace made Amelia feel more compelled to open her heart than she’d ever felt.

She didn’t remember crying that much in a long time. When Amelia was done sharing her memories, she then confessed all her reservations about a new pregnancy. And once Owen knew more about her past, he was finally able to fully make sense of her behavior during the entire past year.

“Sweetheart, I am so, so sorry,” he kissed her head, feeling awful about the way he’d treated her before. “I wish I knew this before. If I’d known this, I never would have…”

“Don’t,” Amelia smiled amongst her tears, touching her forehead to his. “You forgave me, and I forgave you, remember? We are done with the mistakes and the guilt, and all that. It was you who said it,” she closed her eyes and nudged her nose against his, smiling with renewed optimism. Owen let out a long breath, struggling to forgive himself just like he’d encouraged her to forgive herself once. “You know what’s the best thing about me being pregnant this time around? What’s making the entire difference now?” she asked, opening her eyes to meet his.

“What?” Owen asked with a hoarse voice.

“You,” she said with a girlish smile that completely stole his heart. “You are,” Amelia repeated, moving closer to sit between his legs. “Because I know you’re here and you want this baby like I do and that makes me happier than you can imagine,” she grasped Owen’s fingers and took his hand to her lower abdomen. It was still flat and none of them could feel a thing. But the vibration coming from their bodies was hard to miss and more powerful than any of them could ever have imagined. “What are you doing?” she laughed when Owen swiftly dipped his finger in her bellybutton.

“I am holding hands with the baby,” he smiled at her. It was such a silly, proud smile that it made Amelia giggle. “It’s a family hug.”

Amelia threw her head back in a fit of laughter. Owen was so enchanted with the idea of being a father that it was utterly adorable how he simply couldn’t hide it. She covered his hand with hers and idly played with his fingers between her own before asking while lost in thought.

“What are your expectations?”

“What do you mean?” Owen retorted, still focused on her inexistent baby bump.

“For the baby…” Amelia tried to explain. “How do you think he or she is going to be like?” she bit her bottom lip, containing her excitement. “Do you think they will be calm or naughty? Will they take after you or me? I just keep thinking about what kind of personality the baby will have and how exciting it will be for us to find out and see it taking shape… I know it’s soon but…”

Owen met her gaze and smiled widely in return. He knew exactly what she meant.

“I was wondering the same things,” Owen confessed, looking into her eyes with a mirthful smile. Amelia chuckled with delight. That was a detail about a pregnancy that was entirely new to her too. She felt happy and grateful that she could share that with him.

“Do you want a boy or a girl?” she asked with a teasing smile, knowing it was an impossible question.

Owen looked at her with glowing eyes, drowning in love.

“Are you really going to let me have a say in things?” he playfully kissed the side of her neck, watching with pleasure as it caused her tickles. “Because if you leave it up to me, I will say I wanted the opposite of what we’re getting,” he looked into her very mischievously, “just so you think I am disappointed and then I get you pregnant again,” Owen concluded, with a pretend serious expression. “We can do it once a year.”

Amelia cracked up laughing, not doubting for a second that he meant exactly what he was saying.

“Once a year?” she raised her eyebrows, trying to sound horrified.

Amelia didn’t notice that her previous desire to seduce Owen into making love with her was long forgotten. For now, she was too satisfied and focused on lying beside him in bed, listening to the steady beats of his heart as she rested her head on his chest and he caressed her back while they made random plans for what was about to come. And she took satisfaction exactly in hearing what their daughter or son might turn out to be like or not.

.

Over the course of the following weeks, Amelia set up her consults of pre natal care. On the following week, she scheduled an ultrasound appointment with a technician, in which Owen was present, and much to their surprise they found out she was carrying not one, but two babies.

The news took them completely off guard and Amelia imagined she’d never forget the look on his face when they discovered they were having twins. It was as if Owen was so happy that nothing could ever make him sad or disappointed again in a lifetime. His excitement was contagious and soon enough, Amelia saw herself embarking on his plans to renovate the house. As it turned out, they had to turn the office into a nursery to accommodate better their newest family additions.

Even though Amelia was still terrified that something might be wrong like the last time she was pregnant, not only she knew that chances of recurrence were low, this time around she also had a lot of distraction to keep her busy. Every day she would come home from work and join Owen, be it for a shopping trip for a new project or just for staying at home cooking dinner. His presence and his support were comforting, reassuring and soothing. Whenever Amelia had doubts or her pregnancy symptoms got particularly bad, he was there for her.

A couple of times, she had to admit she felt pretty bad for taking out on him the result of her crazy hormones getting the best of her but Owen never took it personally. Like the time she’d accused him of not caring enough about her just because Owen had changed the bed sheets to a set she didn’t particularly like.

When Amelia was around her fourteenth week, she was finally able to put her biggest fear to rest when, through a sonogram, it was confirmed that none of her children suffered from the same condition as her first son. During the scan, Owen held her hand tighter, knowing this was probably the moment she’d been dreading and fearing the most.

“Owen, look at them,” Amelia smiled, feeling like she was suppressing a giggle. “They are both perfect,” her vision got blurry through the tears. “They are so perfect!”

“They are,” Owen looked back at her, unable to believe what he was seeing either.

It was still too early to tell the babies’ sexes and since there were two placentas, there was the chance that they were non identical twins. Amelia didn’t really have any preferences but she was so anxious to find out that she could barely wait any longer.

The neurosurgeon shared the news with Maggie and Meredith on the same day that she finally finished packing the rest of her stuff from her sister in law’s house. As expected, both women were thrilled for her.

A few months later, on a warm Thursday afternoon, Amelia gave birth first to a girl and then a boy. It wasn’t until she saw their healthy little faces and counted the fingers and toes on each of their hands and feet that she actually believed they were real and perfect and absolutely wonderful, in a way she couldn’t have imagined in her wildest dreams.

The sleepless nights that followed fell short in contrast to the fulfillment and happiness that both Owen and Amelia took from being with the babies. They had quickly become the center of their parents’ universe and both adults didn’t regret it one bit.

“Look, it’s dad,” Amelia whispered to the fussy baby in her arms. Her daughter was still breastfeeding, but at the sound of her voice immediately opened her eyes. She was with the babies inside the bedroom but had heard the sound of Owen arriving at home.

“Hey,” Owen entered the room with a low voice, trying to be discreet. It was past nine and he knew there was a big chance both babies were asleep. At six weeks old, they would still wake up in regular hours to be fed, but the twins were relatively calm and didn’t usually cry unless they were hungry or needed to be changed. “Hey princess,” he gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead, enchanted when she looked at him with her big blue eyes. “How are things today?” Owen looked at Amelia, gently placing a lock of hair behind her shoulder.

“As good as usual,” Amelia replied with a satisfied smile. She was still on maternity leave. Even though she missed work, she didn’t plan going back to the hospital for a while, at least until the twins were old enough that they didn’t need to be exclusively breastfed. “Can you take her?” the neurosurgeon asked, carefully moving the baby from her arms to Owen. “My bladder is going to burst,” she chuckled, hurrying to the bathroom.

Owen took the baby and didn’t resist breathing her in. Babies just smelled so damn good. His babies especially. And his daughter was gorgeous. No matter what anyone else said or what other parents thought, he was convinced that his daughter was the most perfect little girl on the planet.

He settled her in his arms in a standing position, giving the baby gentle, soothing pats on her back as he took a step to the cradle inside the bedroom so he could check on his sleeping son. He was the second born, but within weeks his boy had grown to be bigger than his sister.

“Wow, so this is what walking around the house without carrying a human being in my arms feels like,” Amelia said in a lighthearted tone when she made her way back, drying her hands in a towel.

Owen looked at her with a smile. In the quick space of a few months, Amelia had become the most amazing mother he’d ever seen. Not only she was caring, affectionate and put their children’s well being above everything else, she was selflessly doing one hell of a job taking care of two babies at once. At first, he’d taken a couple of weeks off work to help, but ever since Owen had come back to the hospital, she would spend the majority of days alone with the twins and not once had she complained about it.

“I feel bad that I can’t help out more,” Owen sighed, watching as the baby in his arms quickly fell asleep.

“One of us has to work,” Amelia grinned, teasing him. “It won’t be me,” she smiled, knowing that if he could, Owen would love to spend more time with her and the twins at home.

“That’s unfair,” Owen retorted, pretending to be offended. He couldn’t keep his act much longer though and soon enough, both he and Amelia burst out laughing.

“Come here, I want to show you something,” she insisted.

Owen gently placed their daughter next to their son on the cradle and tucked her in. The twins liked snuggling together and their parents loved encouraging it. Once he was done, he turned around to find Amelia going through the closet and looked over her shoulder.

“What’s up?” he asked, narrowing his eyes to try and see it. “What are you doing?”

“Got it!” she finally gave him her attention, keeping her hands closed around something. “I was taking some time to unpack some boxes while the twins were sleeping this afternoon…”

“Because you’re not busy enough already, right?” Owen interrupted her with a playful smile.

Amelia didn’t say anything about his teasing remark but grinned and carried on with her explanation.

“And I found this in the box of things that I’d brought from my drawers at Meredith’s,” she bit her lower lip, adorably nervous about something. When she finally exposed what she’d been holding on the palm of her hand, Owen understood why. It was the wedding band that had once been on his finger. “I was wondering if… you know…” she looked up from the object to his eyes with a mix of embarrassment and love in her smile.

“If I want to put this back on?” Owen smiled widely at her, obviously on board with the idea.

“Yeah,” Amelia agreed. “If you want to marry me.”

He laughed, delighted and wrapped one arm around her waist at the same time he gave her his free hand so she could slide the wedding ring back on.

“I am already married to you,” he reminded her. They had never gotten divorced and for the past months, they had been living together like a married couple. The formalities were already taken care of. The only thing they hadn’t actually done was talking about it.

“Yeah, but I want to know if you want to be married to me forever,” Amelia held his face between her hands, kissing the smile on his lips.

“Forever?” Owen raised an eyebrow, unable to stop smiling.

“That means you can’t ever take it off,” she explained with an adorable grin. “Ever.”

“I do,” Owen said with conviction, pulling her closer. “Forever, then.”

“Well, where the hell is my wedding ring, then?” Amelia complained, playfully grabbing the collar of his shirt in pretend retaliation. “I put all this effort into being romantic and you…”

“I sold it,” Owen joked, trying not to laugh at the instant frown on her forehead. “Since you’re not working, I figured we could use the extra cash,” he made an effort to keep a straight face. “It was twenty four carat gold.”

“Silly,” Amelia pouted, knowing he was just messing with her.

“Come on, let’s go get it,” Owen suggested but didn’t let go of her waist. Instead, he led the way, gently guiding her in his arms.

Once he finally placed the wedding ring back on her finger, Amelia smiled with utter contentment. That past year had been one hell of a ride. Not only had she found out about a brain tumor and it had nearly destroyed her marriage, it had also served as a chance to start over and realize that some of the answers she needed didn’t lie in the tumor, but within herself.

Amelia was deeply grateful for everything she had accomplished. Right after she and Owen had decided to separate, never would she have imagined that they would be standing where they were today. But after a long road, here they were. Just like the first time, it had been work that had brought them closer together. It was thanks to her husband’s help that she had been able to take forward an ambitious project that had once saved the life of a little girl who meant a lot to Amelia and that now, helped to save lives of many other patients across the country who came looking for her.

Amelia’s career was skyrocketing. Her husband had believed in her and encouraged her. She knew she was a great surgeon, and whenever she commented with him that her newest project was soaring and she was grateful for his help, Owen would say that since she was the one doing all the work, the credit was entirely hers. But Amelia was humble enough to admit that Owen had had a great participation in that. His Polymer idea had been the seed that she’d needed to come up with the many roots and branches that now gave her recognition and a lot of satisfaction in her job. They were a great team together. And not just at work.

Because at home, once they’d partnered up, something even bigger and a thousand times more amazing had happened. Looking at her twin babies, Amelia knew that no professional accomplishment in the world would ever come nearly as close as making her as happy as those two little babies did. Her family was her everything.

If on one hand, Amelia couldn’t fully credit Owen for the success of her career, she was absolutely sure that her personal life had never been better either. Except this time, Amelia could safely say that her husband was entirely to account for.

--

thank you!

#omelia #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #maybe this time #owen x amelia #amelia x owen #omeliafics #omeliafic #omelia fanfic #omelia fanfics #amenff #greysanatomy #greysanatomyfanfic

[jordan202]

Maybe This Time - Chapter 7

Thanks for the support to everyone who's asked for an update for this story!

this is most likely the penultimate chapter so I am very excited to share what happens in this one and the one to follow (which I will start planning soon). 

HERE is a link for the masterpost with previous chapters. 

happy reading, guys!

Maybe This Time – Part 7

 Amelia opened the front door with a loud thud, trying to ignore how sore her muscles felt. Earlier that week, she’d come to think that her emotions being apparently out of control again could indicate a recurrence of her brain tumor, but the main concern on her mind at the moment was making sure that nasty cold she’d obviously gotten didn’t get much worse than it already was.

During the entire day, Amelia had pushed through and she had to be honest and admit she looked forward to having a free weekend. A comfortable bed was the only thing she craved at that moment. The neurosurgeon was absolutely sure that after a good night of sleep, she would be restored, which meant there was no point worrying anyone. So when Owen had called her earlier that afternoon to inform her he’d be working late to cover the ER, he’d invariably provided her with a reason not to go to his place that evening, but rather to Meredith’s.

“Amelia, are you okay?”

Maggie’s voice distracted Amelia from her thoughts, making her realize she’d just spent the past few seconds unable to gather enough force even to lock the front door.

“Yeah,” she lied.

The hoarseness in her voice added to the dark circles around her eyes gave away her lie. But it wasn’t until she coughed that Meredith stepped into the conversation, looking at the neurosurgeon as if Amelia was a contagious threat.

“You really shouldn’t be standing there, Amelia, you look like you’re going to faint. Go to bed. And please, just make sure you don’t get anywhere near the children,” the general surgeon added with her typical lack of sympathy. “The last thing we need is for them to catch whatever plague you have.”

“Thanks,” Amelia replied, more bitterly than she would have liked. The neurosurgeon then glanced over at Maggie, seeing she was dressed in her work clothes and looked ready to leave the house.

“Maybe I can get someone to cover for me so I can stay with you,” Maggie suggested. Amelia really did not look fine and she was growing worried.

“Don’t worry about it, Maggie, I am fine,” Amelia insisted, making an extra effort to keep her confidence as she walked to the stairs but a sudden fit of lightheadedness nearly made her nearly lose balance. “You go to work, I will be fine. I just need some rest.”

“You sure?” Maggie squinted, visibly uncomfortable to leave Amelia in those circumstances in the company only of Meredith and three young children.

“Yeah, I will go take some aspirin and lie down,” Amelia forced herself to smile and made a herculean effort to climb the stairs.

Her legs felt as if they weighed twice their usual load and her head was bursting with a throbbing headache. Amelia didn’t know how, but she still managed to get a quick, hot shower before finally collapsing in bed with an empty stomach.

.

Owen got out of the attending’s lounge bathroom feeling reinvigorated. After a nasty trauma case in which a ruptured artery had soaked him in patient’s blood, he had finally had the time to go clean up and change.

He was still finishing drying his head with a towel, feeling readier than ever to go home when a short woman ran into him.

“Hey, Maggie.”

“Owen,” Pierce’s voice sounded distressed. There was no one else in the room, so she had obviously gone inside with the intention of finding him. Owen found the notion rather puzzling, considering he and Maggie hardly ever had any topic in common. Unless she wanted to talk to him about a patient. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, are you going home?” she asked and the trace of insecurity in her voice didn’t go unnoticed to Owen.

“I am, but I can stick around for a while if you need me for a consult or…”

“No, this is actually about Amelia,” Maggie explained, enlightening Owen about the reason for her restlessness.

“What’s wrong?” Owen asked with a heavy frown, immediately concerned. “What happened?”

“I left the house a while ago just as she arrived from work a couple of hours ago,” Maggie explained. “She didn’t look so fine to me, I think she has a cold or something,” the thoracic surgeon added, seeing the relief on Owen’s face when she explained it wasn’t anything serious. “But she isn’t picking up her phone or replying my messages and I am not sure she is fit to take care of herself. You know Amelia…” Maggie hesitated. “I was just wondering if you could…”

“I’ll stop by to check on her,” Owen answered before Maggie could even ask.

Both surgeons exchange a head nod of gratitude and mutual understanding. Satisfied with herself and relieved that her stubborn friend was now probably not going to escape properly taking care of herself, Maggie left the room, ready to resume work. Determined to make sure Amelia was fine, or at least as fine as it could be, Owen hung the wet towel back on the bathroom rack, not bothering changing back to his street clothes before he left the hospital.

.

Amelia was still oscillating between sleep and conscience when three gentle knocks made her open her eyes. Assuming it was Meredith, she rolled over with her back opposite to the door and mumbled, irritated:

“Go away.”

Amelia had already closed her eyes again, oblivious to the tall figure that had entered the room engulfed in darkness. It wasn’t until Owen gently lay next to her making Amelia’s body shift with his weight on the mattress that she finally took notice of his presence.

“I have to say, that’s not the welcome I expected,” his deep voice sounded like music to her ears. “But if you want me to, I can leave.”

“No!” Amelia growled, immediately regretting having said such unwelcoming words. She made the effort to turn around in his direction and pull his shirt, stopping Owen from getting up, but that only served to cause another fit of heavy coughing. Too embarrassed, both by her pitiful state and by the nasty way she’d retorted when she yet didn’t know it was him, Amelia buried her face on the crook of his neck, unconsciously seeking comfort. “I didn’t mean you,” she explained as soon as she was able to breathe properly again.

Her skin felt hot to his touch, even a little feverish, Owen noticed. He pulled apart just enough to look at her. At this point, Owen’s eyes had already adjusted to the nearly total darkness, so he could identify the indisposed expression on her face. Amelia looked drained. Her voice was merely a whisper, her eyes were swollen and puffy and even her nose looked like it had suffered enough with a lot of itching and sneezing.

“Did you take something to alleviate the symptoms?” he asked, kissing her forehead before gently pulling a few loose locks of hair from her face and smoothing them on the back of her shoulders. There was no magical cure for a common cold but bed rest, hydration and a couple of pills would probably help her feel better a lot faster.

Amelia nodded her head positively but Owen had a feeling she was lying.

“I swear you’re worse than a kid when you’re sick,” he commented, trying to come off strict but the trace of amusement was clear in his voice. “Come on,” Owen added with as much kindness as determination. “Let’s get you home.”

Amelia wasn’t feeling strong enough to refute him, but even if she were, she probably wouldn’t. The way Owen had deliberately implied he was taking her home had made her feel looked after, taken care of. At this point, she knew there was no one better than him at that, but it still made Amelia feel uneasy to let go completely and surrender to the very inviting idea of jumping in with both feet in their newly rediscovered relationship, considering they still had a lot to talk about regarding what they wanted and expected moving forward.

Amelia loved him. She had no doubt about that. Just as she knew Owen loved her back the same. But even though they had been clear about their mutual feelings, she had no idea if he was still willing to be a family with her. In fact, she had no idea where she stood on the matter.

Amelia could very well close her eyes and picture herself and Owen surrounded by children of their own in a few years time. On the long run, the idea seemed amazing, idyllic even. But truth was, in order to get there, she knew there was a lot she needed to deal with and Amelia just wasn’t sure when exactly she would be able to work on that.

And it was exactly her incapability of providing Owen – and herself – with an answer for those lingering questions that set her off the most.

Because if they decided to be together for real and pick up where they’d left off, it wasn’t fair to Owen that he stayed in a marriage where she knew she wanted to give him kids, but had no idea if she’d ever be able to. Just as it wasn’t fair to her to live with that lingering pressure hovering over her head. That was definitely something they would have to talk about at some point and Amelia had a feeling they couldn’t keep delaying it much longer.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Owen asked as he helped Amelia get up. He’d noticed the subtle changes in her expression as her eyebrows furrowed as if she was having a hard time making up her mind about something.

“It’s nothing, it’s just… My throat is a little sore, that’s all,” Amelia smiled at him at the same time she placed a hand on his cheek and affectionately rubbed it, touched by his concern.

Owen looked into her eyes at the same time he grabbed her slim wrist, giving her a kiss on the palm of her hand before pulling away.

“Stay right there, I will get an overnight bag for you. I think there are some of your clothes back at the house but we are yet to wash them.”

Amelia drew an excessively steadying breath, clearly mocking him.

“I really have to go for the whole weekend, don’t I?” she joked, sending him a flirtatious glance even though she felt awful. “You can barely manage to do your own laundry.”

“You’ve always been better at it than me,” Owen joked, turning on the lights in the bedroom to then grab a small duffel bag and opened Amelia’s closet.

“Why are you wearing scrubs?” Amelia asked with a puzzled expression, for the first time noticing it.

Owen suddenly remembered about the literal bloodbath he’d taken.

“Don’t ask,” he chuckled. “I will tell you that story later,” he settled for saying, focusing back on the shelves.

Owen gazed at the many pieces and frowned, wondering why on Earth had he ever thought of himself fit for the task of preparing an overnight bag, considering how little he knew about women’s clothes. With a shrug of shoulders, he grabbed a handful of the items on top, sorting out the ones he assumed were most comfortable.

Did people really fit in that size of clothes, he pondered, after grabbing what he discovered was a dark green low cut women’s tank top. Judging by the label, Amelia dressed a size S, but was that really an adult size? Owen was surprised at himself that he wasn’t sure. From now on, he was probably going to have to start paying more attention to these things.

After he’d covered tops, Owen moved onto bottoms, grabbing a few pajama pants and leggings from the hangers inside the closet. At last, he aimed for the small sliding drawers, figuring she’d probably need underwear too.

Amelia had just finished finally getting out of bed and was changing from her pajamas to a pair of dark fleece pants when she spotted Owen with the silliest look on his face.

“What are you doing?” she chuckled, watching as he grabbed a couple of her panties and added them to a bag.

“How come I never saw this before?” he picked out a red lacy piece of lingerie from the top drawer and exposed it to her, looking at Amelia as if he was personally offended for not having seen it.

Once again, Amelia’s delightful laughter mixed with a fit of coughing and sneezing.

“Maybe you just haven’t been paying enough attention,” she teased him.

“I very much doubt I’d miss this,” he said, pointing to the seductive object with his eyes. Owen could vividly imagine Amelia dressed in nothing but the sexy red lingerie, her white porcelain skin fiercely contrasting with the vibrant color as she moved on top of him, driving him crazy as… Well, he doubted he’d ever overlooked that. “When you’re feeling better, you owe it to me to put this on.”

“I’ll think about,” Amelia tried to keep a serious face but couldn’t hold her laughter. “What are you doing?” she repeated her question after noticing he had no intention of returning the piece of lingerie back to the drawer.

“Let’s take this with us, just in case,” Owen decided, adding the item to the overnight bag. Amelia smiled at him as she nodded her head in playful disapproval. The neurosurgeon was still busy changing her clothes, enough that she missed the exact moment when Owen finally closed her drawer.

But as he did so, something golden and shiny glimpsed with the movement, catching his attention. Intrigued by it, Owen pulled back the drawer just enough so he could see what it was.

There amidst Amelia’s most intimate belongings, he found the wedding band that had once been on his finger. Owen couldn’t quite figure out why, but the unexpected finding caught him completely off guard, giving him a mix of emotions he struggled to identify.

“Are you done playing with my panties or have you made a new stop at the bras?” Amelia joked, distracting him from his thoughts.

Owen turned his head over his shoulder, gazing at her with newfound affection and tenderness.

“I had totally forgotten about the bras,” he admitted, taking a step in her direction, unable to resist the urge to plant a kiss on the top of her head. “You women have way too many different pieces of clothes.”

“So, you’re saying you think I should wear fewer clothes?” Amelia laughed, raising her eyebrows in indication she felt otherwise.

“That’s exactly what I am saying,” Owen played along, touching his forehead to hers. “But only when it’s you and me, of course.”

“Of course,” Amelia rolled her eyes. “So it’s a private show?” she embarked on his silly game.

“The leads are you and that little red thingie,” Owen smiled shamelessly.

“Classy,” Amelia couldn’t contain her smile. “You don’t even know what it’s called.”

“I don’t need to know what it’s called,” Owen pointed out, his eyes sparkling with desire and affection. “I only need to see you in it,” he informed her with a mischievous grin. “You’re ready to go?” he asked, grabbing the duffel bag and helping her put on a jacket.

“Yes, I am ready,” Amelia smiled at him. It was nearly eleven pm on a Friday night and she was sick. Her body was sore, her throat was hurting and her head was throbbing but after being confronted with the prospect of not spending the evening alone in that bed anymore, but rather with Owen, enjoying his care and his company, she suddenly felt her disposition vastly improve.

“Let’s go, then,” he decided, opening the door before linking their hands as he led the way for them.

.

“Open up for a happy pill.”

Amelia unburied her face from the pillow, which was a sacrifice in itself, and opened her eyes to glare at Owen just as she did that.

“Back in the day,  happy pill meant something else entirely.”

Owen chose to ignore her wicked smile and the obvious reference to her addiction, but when their eyes met, he couldn't help smiling at how unbelievable she was. Once again handing over the ibuprofen tablet, he made another attempt:

“Don’t bite me,” Owen tilted his head slightly to the left, obviously making fun of her. “Take this.”

“I should bite you,” Amelia whispered because at this point it hurt too much to speak.

“You can barely form a sentence,” Owen reminded her, seeing that after the short drive from Meredith’s to his house, she seemed in even worse shape. “Take your medicine so your throat will feel better and you can eat something.”

“Are you going to stop giving me orders at any point?” Amelia rolled her eyes but did as told, reaching out for the pill and the glass of water he held.

“I will think about it,” Owen replied in a lighthearted tone, waiting until she was done with the medication to get back the empty glass of water. Amelia leaned back on the bed again, too tired to remain sitting up. “What do you want to eat? A sandwich or a-?”

“I am good, I think I am just going to go to sleep,” Amelia said, feeling drowsy.

“Not on an empty stomach,” Owen said, again with authority.

Amelia was too exhausted to fight him, so she settled for eating a sandwich he quickly prepared. At that moment, she didn’t know any better, so she simply assumed her nausea had everything to do with the annoying cold she had on.

Throughout the weekend, Amelia did nothing other than to enjoy Owen’s company. He spent the entire Saturday at home with her and most of Sunday too, leaving only for a couple of hours to go cover a colleague at work. When he returned, Owen came back with takeout from her favorite restaurant.

At this point, Amelia’s throat was feeling a lot better, same as her respiratory symptoms, but for some reason, her stomach was still struggling to hold anything down. At that particular moment, it didn’t feel weird to Amelia that she didn’t feel too excited about eating seafood, her usual favorite dish. Supposing her bothered stomach was probably a lingering trace of her viral infection, the neurosurgeon pushed through, eating a small portion mostly to please Owen than because she really felt like it.

Amelia didn’t let him know that she wasn’t feeling exactly hungry, just as she was trying her best to conceal the confusion she felt regarding her own emotions. For a few punctual moments throughout the weekend, she thought about talking to him and exposing her fears about that growing sentiment she had and wouldn’t pass. Something just felt different and even though rationally she knew it was unlikely and even absurd that her tumor might be growing back, Amelia just couldn’t convince herself that things were okay.

“What do you have there?” Owen asked when he came back from the kitchen after doing their dinner dishes.

Amelia was sitting on the couch in the living room with her feet propped up and crossed at the ankles. Her forehead had a heavy frown as she studied something on an iPad. As he came nearer, Owen noticed she was looking at a patient’s scans.

“Anything interesting?” he asked with curiosity. Amelia had spent the whole weekend without mentioning work once. Unless someone had contacted her about a case while he’d been busy in the kitchen, it didn’t make sense that she would randomly choose a Sunday night to study a file.

The neurosurgeon stopped looking at the screen when Owen sat beside her. She seemed to struggle for a while, but when Owen finally made himself comfortable, she finally took a long breath before saying.

“These are my scans.”

Owen assimilated the information, pondering what he should do with it. He looked at the files in her hands and checked the dates, frowning harder. According to the small letters on the screen, those scans were dated six weeks after Amelia’s surgery. Neuro wasn’t his field of study, but they looked alright to him.

“Hmm, these are your control scans, right?” he raised an eyebrow conspicuously as he gazed back and forth from the small screen to his wife, seeing she was nodding in agreement. “What is so interesting about them?”

Amelia made eye contact with him and Owen noticed how deeply she was staring at him. The realization alarmed him.

“I am trying to see if they are as clear as I thought.”

After a few seconds of carefully processing the meaning of her words, Owen scowled as if she was saying nonsense.

“If they’re as clear as…? What are you saying, of course they are.”

Then, as if Amelia needed factual proof, Owen took the iPad from her hands and zoomed in on the image, focusing on her frontal lobe. Weeks after the surgery, all the swelling had gone down. The only thing visible was the bone and soft tissue scars from the craniotomy, but her brain mass looked absolutely normal.

“Amelia, you had an encapsulated benign tumor which was completely removed,” he reminded her, frowning hard. Owen was sure she knew that better than he did. “You made a full recovery. Why would you for a second have any doubt that your scans aren’t as clear as you and your surgeon saw they were back then?”

Amelia felt tears building up on the back of her eyes at that exact moment. Damn it, why did she have to feel such an emotional mess all the time? That was it, she thought. She couldn’t hide it anymore. She couldn’t keep that to herself. It was consuming her too much and she had to share it with someone she knew wouldn’t judge or call her crazy for it.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” she confessed, biting her lower lip to prevent herself from breaking down in tears. “In one moment, when I am happy, I feel like I am the happiest. And then on the next, when I am sad, even if it’s for a silly reason, sometimes I feel like I could cry. But it’s not this black and white, you see, it’s subtler than that, I can’t explain it…” she sniffed, leaning over him seeking comfort. Owen wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, encouraging her to talk more. “I feel like I don’t have as much control of my emotions as I did when I started recovering from my surgery. Even though I was confused, I knew I got a hold of myself. And now… I don’t know… I can’t explain it,” she felt the first tear rolling down her cheek.

“Try,” Owen suggested, gently wiping it from her cheek with his forefinger.

“It isn’t like when I had the tumor, I think,” she said with sincerity. “Back then, I was completely out of control and couldn’t understand why I acted so impulsively. It was like I just did things and then I felt guilty that I’d done them but couldn’t understand why I’d felt the urge to do them…” Amelia took a long breath, trying to process her own emotions. “Now, I feel like I can control my impulses, so that is not the issue, but I just feel like things that wouldn’t normally make me want to cry now kind of do… And the closest thing I’ve ever experienced that feels like that is that goddamn brain tumor… so I freaked out and I just got this insane idea in my head that somehow it could have grown back, even though I know that medically speaking it makes no sense. Does that make any sense?”

Owen blinked repeatedly, trying to keep up with her fast speech. He settled for tightening his grip around her and planting a kiss on her temple.

“You’re fine, Amelia. I can tell you, you’re fine,” he assured her. “You know, for the past year when you were sick, you weren’t acting like yourself,” Owen informed her with a sad smile. He didn’t want to reminisce about that because it was painful, but luckily, it was in the past. They had already gone through those feelings and apologize for the harm they’d invariably caused, even though none of them had meant to. “We’ve been together for weeks now and not once you’ve given me any reason to believe you’re slightly different.”

Amelia closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she fully absorbed the meaning of his words. It felt like they had just taken a huge load off her back.

“God…” she sighed, feeling more relieved than she’d felt in days. Amelia laughed a little nervously, but only because she had never imagined how good it would do her to have that conversation with Owen. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear this…”

“How long have you been keeping this to yourself?” Owen asked with a censoring look at the same time his eyes were loaded with warmth.

“Too long,” Amelia confessed. “I know it’s probably crazy but… Do you think it would be too much if I got a new scan tomorrow, just in case?” she bit her lower lip, desperately in need of comprehension. “I know the new one isn’t scheduled for another few months but I just…”

“You probably won’t find anything in it but if it’s going to help you end this agonizing doubt once for all, then do it,” Owen said with an understanding smile.

 Amelia let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding and hugged him again, settling for spending the rest of the evening in his arms. There was something too comfortable and too secure about the way Owen held her that made Amelia think she wouldn’t be safer anywhere else. She should have gone to him sooner, she realized. The first moment that doubt had arisen, Amelia should have gone to him and shared her concerns. It was incredibly helpful to talk to someone who understood her because it really put things in a whole new perspective.

Feeling much calmer now, Amelia slowly dozed off, thankful not only for the heavy burden that had been taken off her shoulders and the cold symptoms that were almost gone now but mostly for the amazing man holding her in his arms.

.

On Monday, before she went to her department to start her activities at work, Amelia took the elevator straight to radiology. Owen had wanted to come with her but she had to repeatedly assure him there was absolutely no need to, considering they were both sure the scan would turn out to be negative.

After filling out a request for her own test, Amelia waited to be squeezed in the electives of the day and then she sat outside the MRI waiting area. A few minutes later, the neurosurgeon was given the standard form that every patient needed to fill out before being submitted to the exam, one that she’d filled out too many times before.

Amelia knew that unlike a CT, which contained radiation, an MRI machine worked with high magnetic fields, which could be hazardous for some kind of implantable devices, hence why everyone had to answer questions before it. As she crossed off the checkboxes with multiple questions about pacemakers, surgical history and medical diseases, her eyes distractedly scanned the familiar questions, automatically filling each one of them.

But it wasn’t until Amelia reached half the page that she suddenly furrowed her brows.

For female patients.

13. Date of last menstrual period.

14. Are you pregnant or is there any chance you could be pregnant?

15. Are you experiencing a late menstrual period?

More questions followed, but those were enough to make Amelia stop at her tracks and really feel her heart racing in a response that had nothing to do with the possibility of having a brain tumor.

Date of last menstrual period.

God, she couldn’t remember. It had probably been a couple of months ago? Amelia’s cycle was usually very reliable but ever since her tumor and the response her body had had to the trauma of surgery that had temporarily changed and she’d lost track. So she really didn’t remember.

Are you pregnant or is there any chance you could be pregnant?

No. There wasn’t, right? Or… Well…

Amelia felt her heart racing even faster.  Before their marriage, she and Owen had never really worried much about contraception because she’d had an IUD, which she’d gotten removed right after they’d decided to start trying for a baby. So basically, throughout their entire relationship, they had gotten used to having sex without having to worry about consequences. Right when the possibility of conception had become their goal, their marriage had collapsed, causing them to stop trying at all. But later, when they’d rekindled their romance, none of them had really stopped to reconsider that small detail, Amelia realized.

Oh God, she breathed out heavily. How could she have been so blind? She, who had always been so absolutely careful about contraception, especially after her first pregnancy?

Her palms were sweaty, her mouth dry and her vision became slightly blurry but Amelia forced herself to concentrate.

Could it be that, deep down, Amelia had sabotaged herself, she pondered? It was really hard to fathom that she would simply obliterate such an important detail like avoiding a pregnancy. And yet it had been exactly what had happened.

Perhaps if it had been anyone else, Amelia wouldn’t have done it. But Owen had his own special way of making Amelia feel so safe and looked after that maybe she had involuntarily risked it? Because deep down, she wanted it just as much as she knew he did and knew that if she’d simply waited for the right moment it might never come?

No, that didn’t make any sense, she thought.

Amelia dropped the form on the empty chair beside her and propped her elbows on her knees, burying her face in her hands. Her mind was boiling with a million thoughts per second. Her emotions were mixing and she only managed to get up and get herself together when she realized that she didn’t know if she was pregnant. The fact she had had unprotected sex did not mean she was pregnant.

Sure, she was experiencing some symptoms. But to go and say that a pregnancy was causing them was nearly as crazy as to say that a tumor was causing them… right?

But between and tumor and pregnancy…

Amelia was just getting cured of a cold. Surely that explained why she’d been relatively nauseous for the past week. It still didn’t explain why her emotions seemed to be shifting with more ease than ever, but still, that could be just an impression.

With a heavy sigh, Amelia cast those thoughts aside. She had to be practical. She had gone there to get a brain MRI to exclude the unlikely possibility of a brain tumor recurrence. She would get it. First things first.

But as she processed the situation and finished filling out her forms, proceeding to change her clothes to a patient gown to then be escorted to the exam room later, Amelia’s mind couldn’t help reminiscing.

Are you experiencing a late menstrual period?

As she lay on the table having her head positioned for the exam, Amelia tried not to panic thinking about the answer to that question.

Yes. Yes, she was experiencing a late menstrual period. In fact, considering all the craziness of post-surgical mayhem added to the effects the stress had had on her body, after a quick math she could assume her period was a couple of weeks late.

Even though the exam didn’t take more than fifteen minutes, for Amelia, it felt like two hours. Her palms were still sweaty and her heart rate accelerated when she went behind the computer screen to check the images. They were clear, as expected, but they weren’t the ones causing her fit of anxiety. Not anymore.

As she strode through the halls as if her own feet were guiding her, Amelia suddenly found herself in the ER floor, instead of the surgical wing. The neurosurgeon swallowed hard, trying to concentrate on what she had to do.

A tall, blonde man with broad shoulders and the most dazzling masculine smile was just laughing at something one of the residents had said when she took a few steps in his direction. But the lightheartedness quickly vanished from Owen’s face when he noticed the serious look on Amelia’s face as she walked in his direction.

Suddenly connecting her sudden appearance in the ER and mysterious expression to the result of the MRI he assumed she’d just had, Owen couldn’t help himself.

“What is it?” he asked, interrupting the residents, who all stopped talking all at once. “What happened?”

Amelia stopped at her feet, uncomfortable by the presence of the three virtual strangers who looked from Owen to her with a mix of apprehension and expectancy in their eyes. It was obvious her husband had just been teaching them something, but at that moment, she was too alarmed to care about the interruption.

“Can you come with me?”

Owen didn’t answer with words, instead, he followed her to the nearest empty exam room and closed the door after them. Amelia noticed the alarm on his face and instantly picked up on his assumption.

“My MRI is clean. It’s all good.”

The relief was visible on his face but only for a moment, since it was instantly replaced by a confused expression. Amelia kept staring at him, wanting to explain, but she had no idea where to start.

She needed to find out the truth soon. And this time around, for this particular exam, Amelia definitely needed Owen beside her as she waited for the results.

“Owen…” she took a step forward and reached out for his hands, squeezing them both to give and get reassurance. There was a big chance they might be in for the wildest ride of their lives and Amelia had feared that moment for far too long because she knew better than anybody just how wrong it could go. And that was exactly why she needed so much to know she could rely on him for whatever might come next. “I think I might be pregnant.”

#omelia #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #maybe this time #greysnatomy #grey's anatomy #omeliafics #omeliafanfics #omeliafic #omelia fics #amenff

[jordan202]

Maybe This Time - Part 6

hey guys, sorry about the delay with this one. I took up the suggestion of the small kitchen accident and Owen taking care of Amelia. I also added an insane amount of fluff upon request.

I still haven’t gotten around to make a masterpost of this story but I promise I will. Link to the previous chapter is HERE. In there you’ll find more chapters if you’re feeling like catching up. 

Maybe This Time – Part 6

“Hey, you busy?”

Amelia turned her eyes from the computer screen she’d been studying and noticed the look of uncertainty on Maggie’s face.

“Just checking some scans,” Amelia replied gleefully, logging off the system to give Maggie her full attention. “What’s up?”

The neurosurgeon noticed how her tense her friend seemed. Maggie was walking back and forth, hesitantly alternating between making eye contact with Amelia just to break it right after.

“It’s just that I…” Maggie’s voice broke off. She was usually very good at expressing herself but at this moment, words were failing her. The topic was embarrassing enough, but of all people she knew, Amelia was the one she felt the most comfortable with to discuss it. “I know you probably have never been through this, but I need your advice.”

“You need my advice?” Amelia grinned like an eight-year-old who’d just been told she was smarter than the fifth graders. “What is it?”

Maggie once again engaged in long seconds of trying to think of what to say.

“Oh, damn it, Maggie, just say it already,” Amelia rolled her eyes with pretend impatience, but she was still gloating that her friend had come to her for help.

“Well… You know Jackson and I are seeing each other, right?” Maggie took it from the start, watching as Amelia nodded affirmatively with her head. “It’s just that we… we haven’t really…”

“You haven’t had sex yet,” Amelia finished the sentence for her with sheer practicality. After seeing the look of surprise and relief on Maggie’s face, she explained, “yeah, I figured. You wouldn’t be this worked up about anything else.”

“I would be worked up about many other things, actually,” Maggie laughed nervously.

“You probably would,” Amelia joked, loving how embarrassed the other seemed. “But yeah, what about it?”

Maggie took a deep breath, finally settling for confessing what was bothering her.

“Well… You know, it’s just that things are evolving,” the thoracic surgeon sheepishly started. Amelia knew Jackson had taken her on a few dates over the past couple of weeks, which was actually very convenient for her at the moment because it meant Maggie wasn’t spending that much time at home and therefore didn’t notice how absent Amelia had been too. “I am pretty sure we will have sex soon. And at the same time, I really want to go through with it, I am nervous about it.”

“That’s completely normal, Maggie,” Amelia reassured her, seeing the look of confusion on her friend’s face. “I am sure you’re not the only one who’s feeling self-conscious about it. He probably is too.”

“I doubt it,” Maggie confessed, keeping her tone low. “I don’t have a lot of… experience. And Jackson! Well, it’s obvious he is very experienced, he is actually…”

“That’s not how it works,” Amelia smiled widely at the same time she put both hands inside her coat pockets. “Wait, is that why you said I probably have never been through this at the beginning of this conversation?” the neurosurgeon frowned with a mix of surprise and amusement.

“I didn’t mean it as a bad thing!” Maggie tried to fix it, mortified that Amelia might have been offended, but judging by the amusement on the neurosurgeon’s face, it looked more like she was having fun with the conversation. “It’s just that… I don’t know, I hate to confess this but I am afraid that Jackson will have all these expectations and I won’t know what to do,” she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and looked deeply into Amelia’s blue eyes. “And I doubt you’ve ever been through that… You know… because you’re good in bed and you are not afraid to say it.”

“Maggie,” Amelia laughed at Maggie’s impression and smiled with comprehension, suddenly assaulted by memories. “Of course I have been through that.”

The thoracic surgeon looked at her friend as if Amelia wasn’t making any sense. Even though she had the spontaneity of a child, Amelia was a very sexy woman and she always talked without inhibition about her sexuality. Maggie just couldn’t associate her with someone who was self-conscious about sex.

“Yeah?” Maggie frowned, doubtful. “Are you saying that just to make me feel better?” she asked with a smile, feeling extremely grateful for Amelia’s consideration.

“No, I am not lying,” Amelia chuckled, finding it funny how Maggie seemed bothered by the situation.

“You told me that when you lost your virginity you took charge of the situation,” Maggie recalled. Once, when they had been discussing their first times, Amelia had shared that her first guy had been her childhood neighbor who, despite older, also didn’t have any experience, prompting Amelia to take control. Amelia always talked about sex as if it was the most natural thing of the world, and she had no problem voicing out what she liked and what was a deal breaker for her. In Maggie’s eyes, Amelia’s self-confidence about sex and how good she was at it could be intimidating. The thoracic surgeon had never been like that.  “If even on your first time you were already getting a guy in the palm of your hand, when could you have possibly felt nervous about being with someone?”

Amelia smiled, for the first time in that conversation feeling slightly shy.

“In my first time with Owen,” she confessed. Maggie’s reaction was evident on her face.

“Really?” the thoracic surgeon frowned heavily.

“Of course,” Amelia bit her lower lip, touched by how hard it was for Maggie to hide her emotions sometimes. Straightening in her chair, Amelia took a deep breath before recalling the events. Maggie and Meredith still didn’t know she and Owen had been seeing each other for the past weeks, but back when Amelia had first married him, they knew how deeply in love she had been. “Maggie,” Amelia held her hands and squeezed them reassuringly, looking deeply into the eyes of the woman she considered a sister. “I’ve had a lot of fun in my life. A lot,” she smiled, knowing Maggie knew exactly what she was talking about, “but when you meet someone you like, suddenly it’s not only about the fun anymore,” the neurosurgeon recalled. “It’s more. Even though I had been with guys before and I was pretty confident about my sexuality, I still spent some nights losing my sleep over Owen,” Amelia confessed.

Maggie seemed to respond well to that, probably because it was something she could relate to, Amelia figured. Her friend was a romantic and Amelia knew it.

Unlike Amelia, Maggie had probably never dissociated sex from romantic feelings.

“It’s a thing I have learned recently,” Amelia shared, happy that she was having the opportunity to talk about an experience that she wasn’t exactly fully grasping just yet. “But I think the thing is, it wasn’t until Owen that I found out I could be equally attracted to a guy both with my heart and… well… the other organs in my body.”

“That was very romantic,” Maggie teased her, but it became clear to Amelia that her friend was relaxing a bit.

“I meant my brain,” Amelia shamelessly smirked.

“Yeah, I know you did,” Maggie played along.

Amelia chuckled heartily. Deep down it was true though. The human brain was the most powerful organ. It was capable of processing every feeling and every emotion. Owen had stolen her heart, but for some reason, it felt like he was deeply imprinted in her brain as well.

“Before, when I slept with random guys, I didn’t care much what they thought of me. I probably wasn’t going to see them again, anyway,” Amelia admitted with honesty. “But then I met Owen… I don’t know, it was different,” she took a deep breath. Just that morning, he had woken her up with a trail of kisses on her neck and a steamy mug of coffee, which they’d shared right before he finished undressing her. “When you’re with someone you actually care about, someone you have feelings for, then it’s not just about sex. So it really doesn’t matter if you are a dominatrix or a virgin, it’s going to be good because of the feelings and all,” Amelia recalled, seeing how her words were helping Maggie. It was probably what her friend felt but was too self-conscious to confess. “When Owen and I slept together for the first time, I wasn’t taking control of anything and everything like you seem to think I did every time I slept with someone… Hell, I was so nervous about it. I liked him so much that I wanted our first time to be perfect,” Amelia smiled shyly at her confession. “And I was terrified that he wasn’t going to like it.”

“That’s exactly how I feel!” Maggie sighed, utterly relieved that someone understood her.

“It’s going to be fine, Maggie,” Amelia smiled with reinvigorated affection for the friend she liked so much. “That is perfectly normal. I didn’t know this at the time because I had all those expectations for our night but I was really afraid that I wasn’t going to meet his expectations… but it turned out to be amazing and Owen was amazing,” the neurosurgeon didn’t realize she now had a wide, loving smile on her own face but it didn’t go unnoticed to Maggie. “When I talked to him about it much later, he confessed to me that he was nervous too, even though at the time it didn’t look like it,” Amelia recalled, thinking about how Owen had taken charge of the situation and completely seduced her, giving her more pleasure than she’d ever considered possible getting. “I guess it’s what happens when you care this much about someone,” Amelia tilted her head to the side, pensively. “If it doesn’t mean anything, then you won’t get all nervous about it… but if you are feeling this way, it means you like Jackson. He is probably just as insecure about it as you are, Maggie. Even if it right now it doesn’t feel like it. Trust me. I know.”

Maggie smiled at her with a mix of gratitude and something that resembled longing and sorrow.

“Thanks, Amelia,” she said with honesty. Hearing that her confident friend had once gone through exactly what she was processing right now made Maggie feel a little less awkward about the whole situation. But the way Amelia had spoken about it made her heart ache with sympathy. “I am really sorry that things ended like that for you and Owen… I know you guys are still friends, but you loved each other so much. I am so sorry it ended the way it did,” Maggie’s shoulders shrunk as she took a breath before adding. “Actually, I am sorry it ended at all.”

Amelia saw the honesty in her eyes. Maggie had always been supportive of her relationship with Owen. She had always been someone the neurosurgeon could count on. And just now, Maggie had been honest and opened her heart about something she was feeling insecure about. It was only fair that Amelia did the same.

She hadn’t yet told neither Meredith nor Maggie about how she and Owen had been seeing each other again because despite how happy she felt, Amelia still didn’t know what it all meant for them going forward. But maybe, she could find encouragement in Maggie’s action and actually seek out advice and help. It was hard dealing with all those emotions on her own, and she couldn’t really talk to Owen about it because being the object of her affection, he was directly involved. Maggie was someone who cared about her and Amelia felt comfortable sharing her feelings with, knowing she wasn’t going to be judged.

“Yeah, about that…” Amelia bit her lower lip, anticipating her friend’s reaction. She was sure Maggie would instantly support that new situation. “There is something I need to tell you.”

.

“Jesus Christ!”

Amelia heard her own shouting voice and struggled to keep her water glass properly balanced on her hand at the same time Owen’s laughter made her frown harder.

“I hate it when you do that,” she complained.

Owen wasn’t sure if she meant the way he’d sneakily surprised her from behind or the fact he’d just poked her belly, making Amelia nearly jump off her feet.

“That’s why I keep doing it,” the surgeon smiled at her, even more satisfied when he identified the adorable pout on her face.

“Why?” Amelia censored him. “It’s not funny.”

Owen wasn’t going to admit it out loud, but he found it adorably cute when she took her hand to her racing heart and her cheeks got flushed whenever he scared her like that.

“I disagree,” Owen unaffectedly replied and leaned over to kiss her, laughing when Amelia turned her head to the side in the last second, making him miss her lips by a quarter of an inch. “You’re a real piece of work,” he muttered with his mouth pressed against her cheek.

Amelia left her forgotten glass of water on the kitchen counter and placed her hands on his chest, fixing an inexistent wrinkle on his shirt as Owen playfully brushed his lips on the side of her face.

“I told Maggie about us today.”

The comment was enough to make him break apart and look deeply into her eyes, studying them to see what that information really meant.

“I slept at Meredith’s maybe twice in two weeks,” Amelia pointed out. “There are only so many excuses I can make up to explain why I am gone nearly every night.”

“Uh-huh,” Owen agreed with a head nod, unsure of what kind of response she expected from him. He knew Amelia’s relationships with Meredith and Maggie were important to her and didn’t want to get in the middle of that, at the same time he was happy Amelia had acknowledged their relationship to someone who was obviously close to her. “What did Maggie say?”

“She actually came to me asking for relationship advice,” Amelia loosely crossed her wrists around his neck and leaned back, feeling his arms do the same around her waist, keeping her near. “Can you believe that? I am a person who gives relationship advice,” Amelia delighted him with a childish grin, keeping a lofty, superior look.

“I actually can’t,” Owen teased her, loving the way she scrunched up her nose in what should be an angry scowl, but was actually the cutest reaction.

“And to think that I actually said nice things about you to Maggie,” Amelia retorted with a pretend serious voice.

“You did?” Owen raised an eyebrow, suddenly more interested in the conversation. Giving her a doubtful look, he asked, “and what nice things did you say, exactly?”

“I said that you are bossy and spoiled, and very often way too stubborn.”

Owen laughed heartily at the absurdity of her accusations.

“And those were the compliments?” he played along, unable to contain the smile that was tugging at his lips.

“Those were the compliments,” Amelia confirmed with fake superiority. “Don’t get me started on the defects. You’re not going to like it.”

“You impertinent little brat,” Owen pulled her closer, smiling widely. “You’d better show me a little more respect,” he teased her.

“Because I’m your wife?” Amelia asked with curiosity when he kept looking into her eyes with an expression of utter happiness.

“Because you are much smaller,” Owen playfully reminded her, only to be rewarded with the musical sound of her laughter.

Amelia narrowed her eyes, looking at him as if she was deeply offended.

“But I am much stronger,” she decided.

“Absolutely,” Owen laughed, unable to resist her any longer. Holding her face between his hands, he covered her lips on a kiss that started out sweet, but the moment Amelia took a step back bringing him with her, Owen held her in his arms, imprisoning her between his body and the kitchen counter.

“Do we have any couple things?” Amelia asked, interrupting him just as Owen was about to kiss her again.

“What?” he asked, opening his eyes at the same time he recovered his breath.

“I mean,” Amelia bit her lower lip, unaware of how adorable she looked when she did that. “It’s just that Maggie and I were talking today…”

“Oh, God, here we go,” Owen interrupted her, playfully rolling his eyes.

“…And she mentioned that she loves it when she’s with someone and after a while, there are these things that the other does that you don’t notice unless you’re in a relationship. Do you know what I mean?”

Owen really wanted to kiss her. But she seemed determined to have that conversation. Settling for delaying what he wanted to do to her rather than giving it up, the trauma surgeon breathed in before answering.

“I really don’t.”

Amelia’s cheeks had a charming pinkish tone as she confessed.

“It’s like when… I don’t know...” she chuckled, nestling on his chest. “It’s like when we’re walking together to the parking lot and you always walk on the outside of the sidewalk,” Amelia recalled, loving how protective Owen was of her.

“I didn’t know I did that,” Owen admitted, watching her face light up with a smile.

“Or when you’re confused about something and you blink your eyes twice to think about it. It’s very cute,” she said, looking up to meet his eyes. Owen had the most adorable blonde eyelashes and she could never get enough of them.

Owen had not seen those sweet, loving confessions coming. He wasn’t sure what touched him the most, the way she snuggled up next to his chest or the fact she’d noticed these details that he didn’t know he did. Owen had to admit even though he’d desperately been waiting to take her to bed just minutes before, right now he was too delighted by how adorable she was. For the time being, Owen would happily settle for keeping her in his arms, feeling her warmth and the amazing smell of her hair. After a long day of work, there was nothing more comforting than that.

“I also mentioned that I love the fact you rarely complain when I stick my freezing feet under your legs whenever we’re watching something on the couch,” Amelia chuckled, looking up to be met by his adoring gaze. “Thank you for that, by the way.”

Owen saw the loving expression in her eyes and the way she smiled at him melted his heart completely.

“My pleasure,” he kissed the tip of her nose as she relaxed against his chest.

Owen definitely knew what she meant now. Hell, he could even make a long list about it.

Amelia was the most adorable human being Owen had ever met. And the most delightful part about it was that she didn’t even try to be cute, she just naturally was.

Owen couldn’t begin describing how heartwarming it was when they were in bed together and Amelia did this thing where she would blurt out something adorable and then feel awkward about it, resorting to hiding under the blankets right after. Or how she complained in her sleep whenever he removed his arm from underneath her. That could be particularly painful in the next morning since he would usually wake up with his arm numbed from the deprivation of blood flow throughout the night. But Owen thought it was worth every cramp.

He could also point out how much he loved Amelia’s unfiltered nature. Or the way she would sarcastically make fun of herself and the things she wasn’t very good at. Like that one time Owen was trying to teach her how to properly cook a roasted chicken and Amelia had burned the outside, leaving the inside absolutely raw. I believe I am doing a great job had been her retort right before they’d laughed together and she’d grabbed her cell phone to order them takeout for dinner.

Owen loved it when he caught her doing something she wasn’t very fond of, such as organizing a drawer, and she had this adorable heavy frown as if figuring out which method would be better to perform the task in the shortest amount of time possible.

He also loved it when she got out of bed in the morning and put on nothing but one of his shirts over her underwear. Once Owen had nagged her, asking how she could complain about how low he set the thermostat when she showed no inclinations to wearing clothes around the house. Amelia had refuted with home is where the pants aren’t and proceeded to go make them coffee, absolutely convincing him she had all the reason right there and then.

Amelia was possibly the only human being on the planet who could manage to look cute even when she was having a fit of hiccups. Owen smiled after recalling how she tried to hide it.  He could also list as one of his favorites the moments she stood on the tip of her toes to reach for something placed on a higher shelf. Owen had to admit that he loved even the moments when he was distracted with something in the kitchen and she came from behind him, hugging him as if, from his six feet of height, he could possibly become the little spoon instead of her.

Sometimes, when they were in bed or on the couch watching a movie together, Amelia would yawn and rest her head on his chest before curling up next to him like a child clinging for comfort. In those moments, Owen would usually forget all about whatever they were watching, settling for focusing on her instead. Amelia’s skin was always soft and smooth; her hair was constantly smelling like she’d just been out of the shower and her smile would dazzle Owen whenever he got home and found her already there, waiting for him.

Amelia would smile about nothing other than his presence.

In those moments, Owen felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

His only problem right now was that he wasn’t nearly half as good as she was expressing those emotions. Amelia sounded and looked plain adorable whenever she did it. He, on the other hand, was particularly awful at confessions.

“You know what,” Owen gently placed his hands on the curve of her waist, firmly keeping her near as he made his proposition. “I was thinking of taking a shower before I started making us dinner. But how about you get in the shower with me and we just eat whatever we have left in the fridge?”

“I could use a shower,” Amelia played along, once again delighting him with her smile and her wit. “As you know, I am very dirty.”

“I am sure you are,” he embarked on her game. “Let me take care of that.”

Amelia’s happy giggles were suppressed by the kiss he stole right there and then. Once they were already inside the shower, Amelia delighted herself with the vision of his wide shoulders and strong chest, not shying away from exploring his body with her hands and her lips.

About an hour later, Amelia was feeling very tired already, even though it wasn’t yet ten in the evening. She had been feeling quite exhausted lately, but she supposed it was to be expected after so many weeks of hard work and late nights devoted to Kimmie’s case.

Her patient had been doing remarkably well and showed promising signs of recovery. It was yet too early to see which long-term outcome they would turn out to have, but Amelia was happy that for the time being, Kimmie was once again getting a taste of having a normal life.

Figuring she’d rather get busy with something or else she was likely to sleep on the couch, Amelia suggested she went to scrape together something for them to eat, giving Owen the chance to catch up with the latest sports news like she knew he’d been dying to do.

And just as he was turning the volume up to hear more details about a possible free agency player being hired to his football team, Owen heard a sharp shattering sound proceeded by a loud curse coming from the kitchen.

He rushed there to find Amelia crouched on the floor, carefully collecting the pieces of what was apparently a broken coffee mug.

“What are you doing?” Owen asked, his voice filled with concern. “Amelia, you’re bleeding.”

Amelia took her eyes off the scattered pieces on the floor and looked at her left hand, where a small laceration was causing a thick river of blood to run down her arm.

“It’s nothing, it probably just hit a small vessel,” she said with practicality, quickly wiping it clean and once again looking at the mess on the floor.

Owen got up and brought her with him, preventing her from collecting the mug pieces at the same time he gently captured her hand, compressing the cut with a clean dishtowel.

“What happened?”

“I am sorry,” Amelia said, looking very distressed. “I was just trying to get the mug on the top shelf… I’ve made us hot chocolate to go with the sandwiches and I thought…”

“It’s okay,” Owen cut her short, frowning at how worked up she seemed about it. “Amelia, it’s fine, it’s just a mug, you don’t have to be this upset about it,” he reminded her. Owen was infinitely more worried about the nasty cut on her hand than with the broken item.

“Yeah, but it was your Harvard mug,” she cried out.

Owen was touched by the reason behind her distress.

“If you like it so much, I will buy another one,” he informed her with a smile, looking into her eyes.

Amelia’s sniff gave place to a shy smile. That wasn’t what she meant at all, and they both knew it. Owen had kept that one mug from his med school days and it probably had sentimental value. She knew it because Owen drank coffee in it every morning. Amelia had gotten it from the cabinet in the hopes to please him, but her effort had proven to be disastrous because not only she broke the object, she’d also hurt her hand in the process.

“I am sorry,” she apologized again with sincerity, really grateful that Owen wasn’t making her feel guilty about it.

“Come here,” he gently pulled her closer, stepping back just enough to examine the wound in her hand. “Yeah, it doesn’t look like it will need stitches,” the relief was clear in his voice. The cut, although annoying, wasn’t that deep.

“I don’t know what happened, it just slipped from my hand and I-”

“Would it make you feel any better if I broke one of your mugs?” Owen interrupted her, loving to get her smile in return. “I can break two if you insist.”

His teasing served the effort to make her mood improve.

“Okay,” Amelia chuckled. The moment the object had slipped from her grasp, she could swear she felt a little lightheaded, but it had probably been just an impression.

“Now, how about you keep this bandage on your hand,” Owen proposed with a smile, grabbing the sandwiches she’d made and placing them on a large plate. “And we will share your hot chocolate,” he found a solution, pouring the content in a thermos bottle instead of getting another mug.

“You go ahead, I still have to pick up the pieces,” Amelia reminded him, using her right hand to hold the compressing towel on her wound.

Owen replied by getting the task done and cleaning up the floor in less than a minute.

“Thank you,” Amelia sighed, censoring herself for the mess she’d invariably created.

“Thank me with a kiss,” Owen smiled, leaning in to steal one from her lips as he grabbed their meal and followed her to the living room.

After they ate, Amelia made herself comfortable on the couch by lying with her head on Owen’s lap and pulling a comfortable blanket over her body. Owen had put on a new TV show they had been meaning to watch together and even though the plot was really interesting, Amelia’s thoughts were far from the events happening on screen.

As Owen finger’s lazily caressed her hair, Amelia kept busy snuggling his hand between hers, like she’d often come to do. She didn’t know why, but over the course of the last week, her own response to situations had been alarming her.

Amelia had tried not to give it much importance, thinking she was seeing too much into things but truth was, she was feeling rather sensitive lately. Her emotions were shifting faster than they had after she’d been out of surgery and the realization was distressing enough. A couple of times at work during the week, she’d felt like crying for reasons that normally wouldn’t bother her that much.

Like for example breaking Owen’s mug.

Amelia wasn’t quite sure what had clogged her throat and filled her eyes with tears just minutes before, the fact she’d broken something she knew was special to him or the fact he hadn’t given much importance to it, obviously because he didn’t want her to be upset.

“Oh, wow, I really didn’t think they’d go there,” Owen’s voice interrupted her thoughts, bringing Amelia’s attention back to the developments on the television.

She looked up and saw the main characters of the show entering a dark house. The unknown was really scary and at that moment, Amelia could absolutely relate. A lot of questions were beginning to assault her head, no matter how much she hoped to avoid them. And just as Amelia tried to relax, hoping to embark on a restoring sleep, her mind started to fill with doubts about how much exactly she should worry about that uncomfortably familiar emotional lability, considering it could very possibly be a symptom of her brain tumor growing back.

 --

#omelia #omeliafics #omeliafanfics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #maybe this time #greysanatomy #owen x amelia #amelia x owen #amenff

[jordan202]

Maybe This Time - Part 5

Links to previous chapters are HERE. 

Thank you everyone for the amazing, incredible responses! I cant believe how many of you have messaged me waiting for this. You guys are awesome. Here it goes!.

Maybe This Time – Part 5

The room was nearly immersed in total darkness, but through a thin ray of moonlight coming through the window Amelia was able to identify the book placed on Owen’s nightstand, opposite to her.

After she was done exploring the place with her eyes, Amelia diverted her gaze to the man who was now comfortably sleeping next to her. Apparently, Owen had been reading one of her books that she’d left behind after moving out. The realization brought a happy smile to her face and she felt even closer to him.

Owen was deeply asleep, his relaxed facial expression a complete contrast to the fierce, strong look he usually had on. Amelia felt her heart fluttering when she thought about the passionate moments they’d shared on that bed only a few hours before.

After their deeply emotional exchange in the living room, she had cried in Owen’s arms while he also let his walls down for her. Through a heartfelt conversation, they had finally been able to voice their feelings and properly apologize for their mistakes. And when all the pain was finally exposed, they had comforted each other, first with words and then in the way only Owen was allowed to comfort her.

Amelia had never felt this intimate to someone before. Sure, she had had relationships with guys she had liked, maybe loved even. But it had never felt exactly like this. With Owen, it simply felt like it was more. As if she wasn’t sharing just her body, but mostly her heart and her soul. And the most amazing part of it all was that not only Owen did the same, he also seemed to be just as awed by that new reality as she was. No one had ever made Amelia feel that loved, cherished and safe, all at the same time. Owen was the only one who had that huge impact on her and she was determined to keep it that way.

When he had asked her to stay for the night, Amelia didn’t even hesitate before saying yes. She had wanted that night with him more than anything and even though she was sure that at some point they’d have to sit down and talk about what it really meant, she didn’t regret her decision. Her body was still ignited in every single place his hands and lips had touched. Owen was a generous lover and he’d proved that through the whole two hours they’d spent together before he’d finally fallen asleep, defeated by physical and mental exhaustion.

Amelia had dozed off quickly after too, but now she was too blissful to actually relax properly. Unable to resist the urge, she gently touched his face with her fingertips, hoping she wouldn’t wake him up.

Very slowly, Amelia traced the outline of his face, smiling with joy when she felt his arm tightening its grip around her waist to pull her closer. Even in his sleep Owen could be possessive and demanding. Not that she minded, actually. It felt amazing to be touching him while she distracted herself with the masculine angle of his jaw.

Owen slowly regained conscience, secretly fighting his sleep. His body and mind were too relaxed, but when his eyes opened for the first time, what he saw enchanted him so much that he didn’t feel like going back to sleep anymore.

Amelia was staring at him with a sweet, adorable lazy smile while she traced the outline of his face with one of her fingers. After noticing he was awake, the neurosurgeon still didn’t say a word; instead she brought her head closer, nearly touching the tip of her nose to his as she kept intensely looking at him with that gorgeous pair of silver eyes.

The day before had begun horribly, with him drowning in doubt, guilt and anger and not really sure how to deal with those emotions. Later on, Amelia had surprised him by showing up at his doorstep and, to Owen’s sheer satisfaction, she’d spent the night wrapped in his arms, right where she belonged.

After seeing the joyful expression on her face, Owen returned her smile, feeling just as happy as she seemed to be. His hand went around her waist and up her bare back, pulling her against him at the same time Amelia’s thumb gently brushed his lips.

“You have pretty lips,” she decided, widening her grin. Owen chuckled in response to her unexpected comment and watched the satisfaction in her eyes. “I mean it,” Amelia reinforced after seeing the incredulity on his face.

Owen kept busy exploring the softness of her skin against his touch, marveled by her spontaneity and plain adorableness. It was no secret Amelia that didn’t have a filter, and long ago he’d noticed she wasn’t the kind of person who’d say something nice about someone because she had an agenda. So he didn’t doubt she was serious about her unusual compliment. Not that he was sure having his lips called pretty was in fact a compliment, to be honest.

“You say the darnedest things,” Owen joked, loving the way she laughed in response. He didn’t wait until she caught her breath, leaning over to kiss her smiling lips.

After they broke apart, Amelia remained lying by his side in bed, feeling like she would never get enough of that moment.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Owen said after a while of silently staring at each other. His voice was serious but the playful look on his face betrayed his intentions.

“Like what?” Amelia smiled mischievously, openly flirting.

“Like you’re going to cost me my job,” Owen explained, “if you keep smiling like that you’re only going to make me keep you here in bed all day long,” he heard her delightful laughter in response and rolled to her top.

“Would that be so bad?” Amelia provoked him, swiftly running her fingers on the extension of his arms and shoulders to finally wrap them around his neck.

Owen looked deeply into her eyes, noticing the relaxed, happy expression on her face.

“No,” he muttered in response right before kissing her lips with desire.

Amelia gladly took up on his initiative, kissing him back with just as much passion. The previous night had been amazing and this morning was no different. Except before, there had been too much built up tension, causing their time together to be intense and explosive.

This time around it was like they were slowly getting back to their usual synchrony, though. Amelia knew there was absolutely no rush, just as she knew she’d enjoy every single step of the way and longed for it. As Owen’s lips traced a downward path on her neck, she arched her back, eager for what she knew was coming next. Even though it was exciting and fun, Amelia forced herself to be patient because she wanted to make the most of their time together.

“I missed this,” she confessed, running a hand through his hair and gently scratching his scalp in an affectionate caress. “I missed you,” Amelia added when Owen brought his head up to look into her eyes.

She watched as his expression transformed when he heard her words. A happy, loving smile stood out on his face as he smoothed her hair, gently pulling a brown lock from her face.

“Me too,” he replied with a whisper, leaning over to whisper in her ear. “So much…”

Amelia felt the touch of his lips at the same time she buried her face on the crook of his neck, too pleased to have him that close. His hands traveled through the whole extension of her body as his lips followed suit. When she thought it couldn’t get any better, Owen disappeared beneath the covers, spending the next minutes entirely dedicated to giving her pleasure.

Amelia’s hands dug in his scalp as she pulled him nearer, too overwhelmed with pleasure to have any rational response to the sensation his tongue was causing. Before she could control it, her entire body seized with a delirious response that left her out breath and Owen absolutely satisfied.

“I have to admit,” Owen confessed with a smirk, too proud to hide it, “this has become my favorite thing to watch,” he added, obviously referring to Amelia’s climax.

She gazed at him, smiling widely between heavy breaths.

“I can’t complain,” Amelia provoked him back, pulling him closer.

Owen kissed the smile off her face, feeling his heart fluttering with absolute adoration for the woman who was capable of not only sexually charging him, but also of emotionally involving him in a web of love and affection he simply never got tired of.

“I want you,” Amelia declared, rolling over him to take control of the situation. Owen grinned with satisfaction as he watched her straddle him, staying on the perfect position to absolutely torment him with the sway of her hips. He allowed Amelia to take the lead, feeling shivers running through his spine once her hands started to slowly run on the extension of his arms until their fingers intertwined and she pushed theirs hands against the pillows.

“You can absolutely have me,” Owen joked in return, delighted and totally pleased by the kisses she was now planting on his chest.

“You know…” Amelia’s voice turned into a whisper as she reveled in the smooth, warm texture of his skin, “when we were just back from the hospital,” she said, and Owen knew she was talking about the time he’d asked her to move back in when she had been discharged after her tumor removal, “I used to lie here on this same bed at night and think about how much I wanted to do this…” Amelia slowly traced a path of kisses from his chest all the way up to his neck, absolutely unaware of how much her confession meant to him. The honesty of her words messed with her own emotions and Amelia didn’t hesitate before letting go and saying everything that her heart was feeling. “And this…” she added with the same husky voice, capturing his earlobe between her teeth, causing Owen to feel a mix of pleasure and adoration for her. “Or this,” Amelia breathed in and out, finally letting go of his fingers to cradle his face between her hands, gently brushing her lips on his. She saw the look of expectation in his eyes. Owen was so good to her, so generous. He loved her without expecting anything in return and she was determined to never again take that for granted, hoping that she could only make him as happy as he made her. “Owen, I am so sorry,” Amelia apologized again, looking deeply into his eyes. Owen noticed how anguished she looked and in that moment, he had no doubt she meant every word she was saying.

“I know,” he said with an understanding smile, using one finger to wipe an unshed tear from her eye. “You don’t have to apologize again, sweetheart. I know…” he comforted her, pulling Amelia for an embrace at the same time he rolled over her, keeping her trapped under his body and between his arms. “I have already forgiven you,” Owen gently pulled apart, smiling with adoration in his eyes as he touched his forehead to hers, as if he could look into her soul. Amelia still seemed upset and at that moment, Owen surprised himself, because he thought he couldn’t love that amazing woman more than he already did and yet he constantly found himself falling harder for her. “Now it’s time for you to forgive yourself,” he reminded her, hating to see her in pain.

Amelia’s mix of sorrow and relief clogged her throat when she took in the meaning of his words. The sensations Owen had just caused on her body were now mixing with the emotions he was giving her, causing the neurosurgeon to feel more vulnerable than she’d felt until now.

“I am scared, Owen…” Amelia admitted with a sheepish voice.

“Why?” Owen frowned slightly, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

“Because,” Amelia looked straight into his eyes as she let all her walls down, “whenever I am this happy, something bad happens and screws it all up,” she painfully remembered, thinking back about each and every happy time of her life. “Usually, I screw it all up.”

Owen chuckled, unable to resist her.

“Nothing bad is going to happen,” he reassured Amelia with absolute conviction. “All the bad stuff we went through, the shame, the guilt?” he looked into her eyes very suggestively. “It’s all gone, now. For good,” Owen said with determination. Both he and Amelia had seen enough hurt and heartbreak for a lifetime and he was determined to never let her go through any other nightmare, ever again. “Nothing bad is going to happen because I won’t let it,” he said with security.

Amelia stayed in silence for the following seconds, apparently having an internal battle with her own emotions.

“Promise?”

Owen couldn’t help smiling with affection when he saw the look on her face. Amelia’s child-like expression instilled the most primitive protection instincts in him. When she looked at him looking so small and vulnerable with so much expectancy and trust in her eyes it completely tore him apart. He would do everything within his power to make sure she only had reasons to smile from now on. And that began now.

“I promise.”

Owen sealed his vow with a kiss that promptly reignited their passion. Amelia responded to his touch by giving back in the same rhythm as he gave her. And when Owen was sure he couldn’t take it any longer, he finally ended their agony, thinking that nothing in the world felt so good as when Amelia’s legs were wrapped around him and he buried himself deep inside her, drowning them in the most delirious fits of pleasure.

.

“Why are you acting so weird?”

Amelia’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Meredith’s surprised voice.

“What?”

“You have a lost look on your face, like you’re miles from here,” the general surgeon clarified, squinting conspicuously. “Are you daydreaming again?”

“No,” Amelia tried to sound convincing.

Of course she was lying. Her mind really did feel like it was miles from there because even though she had a patient’s chart in her hand, all she could think about was Owen.

And how the world seemed to have suddenly stopped when he’d loved her that morning.

“Are those Kimmie’s results?” Meredith asked, finally bringing Amelia back down to earth.

“Uh,” the neurosurgeon blinked twice before focusing on the lab files again. “Yes! Yes, they are,” she nodded, already tuned back to the present moment. Her patient’s latest exams showed no acute abnormalities in the critical hours post procedure. Amelia had every reason to assume everything was working out. “My main concern is to make sure her renal function remains alright after the protein I injected her with, but so far so good,” she stated with a proud smile. “Properly functioning kidneys,” Amelia added with an excessively happy smile.

“You’re weird,” Meredith let out a sigh before rolling her eyes and finally devoting herself to the charts she’d come to the desk to get.

“Yeah, tell me something new,” Amelia replied unaffectedly, grabbing her things before leaving the area. She really didn’t want to give the other surgeon the chance to ask why she hadn’t gone home the previous night, choosing to let her believe that she’d stayed at the hospital for Kimmie.

The thought about the night she’d just had brought back a smile to Amelia’s face. She longed to be with Owen again and meet him at the house later that night. The neurosurgeon still had no idea how she would justify another night of absence to her sisters, but she could worry about that later. For the time being, she preferred that whatever was happening between she and Owen remained only between the two of them. It was already complicated enough trying to figure it all out without involving other people.

What were they, anyway? Was there a category they could fit in? Judging by what she’d seen lately, the possibilities were endless these days, and everything had a label to choose from. Maybe friends with just too many benefits that also happened to be soul mates and actually had divorce papers waiting to be signed was actually a thing now? Amelia had no idea, but her silly thoughts made her chuckle. Nodding her head in disapproval to her own sarcastic ideas, she pushed the elevator button, too distracted to see who was passing by around her until the loud ding of the doors opening finally brought her back to reality.

“Hi,” a thin brunette woman walked past her, entering the elevator and waiting for her to do the same. “You’re not coming in?” she asked after hesitating.

Amelia took a fraction of second to realize she was once again wandering inside her mind and took a step forward, finally allowing the doors to close.

Carina DeLuca was looking at her, but at the moment Amelia gazed back, the other woman looked away, apparently too embarrassed to be caught staring.

After the morning Amelia had walked in on Carina having breakfast with Owen, the two of them hadn’t really interacted much. And the fact the Italian doctor knew she had slept with the husband of the woman standing right next to her added a whole new load of tension to thicken the already awkward atmosphere.

“Hot day today, isn’t it?” Carina started, obviously trying to make small conversation. That short elevator ride seemed to be taking longer than usual. “It’s always rainy and chilly here but today it’s incredibly warm.”

“It’s funny you said how we went from a chilling cold to a comfortable warmth,” Amelia lied with an evil grin. “I could swear someone else had the exact same impression earlier this morning.”

Carina didn’t fully understand the meaning of the neurosurgeon’s words, but she figured it was better not to ask.

“How is your little patient doing?” the obstetrician asked with her thick accent. Like everyone else at the hospital, she’d heard about the Kimmie’s case and sympathized with the plight. “I heard she had surgery yesterday.”

“It wasn’t exactly surgery, but yeah, she got her procedure and she is doing fine, thank you,” Amelia nodded, grateful for the other’s seemingly genuine interest. “Are you working on any more of those cool MRI cases today?” she asked, immediately regretting it.

Suddenly, associating Carina DeLuca with orgasms didn’t seem so amusing as it had once been.

“Not really,” Carina replied with a smile, glad to be talking about work. “I am actually working with Pierce and Hunt in the ER today,” the obstetrician elaborated. “One of Robbins’ patients collapsed during grocery shopping. Pierce thinks she had an atrial fibrillation, Hunt is worried about her mildly ruptured liver,” Carina explained. “I am just hoping she won’t go into premature labor.”

Amelia didn’t exactly register those words because just as she obstetrician mentioned Owen’s name, she had been surprised with how much it had actually bothered her to hear that Owen and Carina were working together.

When the obstetrician walked out of the elevator after saying goodbye, Amelia was still distracted with her own thoughts. She was just being stupid, she told herself. Owen and Carina obviously hadn’t had anything meaningful. Just like she and Koracick, whatever had happened between the two of them had been purely physical and clearly not that deep. It was no secret that the Italian surgeon was still into Arizona Robbins, just as Amelia was sure that Owen had meant every one of his words when he’d told her he loved and missed her.

Amelia spent the following minutes pondering why she felt so annoyed all of a sudden. Okay, maybe she was a little jealous of Carina because she’d slept with Owen. But that wasn’t enough to justify her sudden restlessness. There had to be something else she couldn’t quite grasp at that moment. And just like it happened whenever her mind was racing with emotions she couldn’t quite figure out, the neurosurgeon chose to focus on work, realizing at least there she’d find answers to her questions.

.

Despite Amelia’s best efforts to leave the hospital at a decent hour, work got the best of her and it was already late when she finally wrapped everything for the day. Even though she wasn’t living with Owen anymore, for some reason the house he’d bought felt a lot more like home than Meredith’s place.

Two knocks on the door was all it took for Owen to welcome her with a tight hug and a playful kiss on the tip of her nose.

“You took forever,” he complained but it was obvious on his expression he was the happiest to see her.

“Did you think I was going to bail on you?” Amelia smiled against his lips, seeing in his eyes that the idea had definitely crossed his mind, but he was too kind to say it. “I am not going anywhere this time, Owen. I mean it,” she assured him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him closer.

“It’s not like I was going to let you, anyway,” Owen raised his eyebrows playfully, determined to pass the matter off lightly and keep a comfortable atmosphere between them. “I hope you’re hungry,” he added, looking into her eyes. Amelia didn’t look like she had any intention to let go of their hug and he loved it. “I made us dinner.”

“I am starved,” she confessed, feeling her heart skip a beat when he looked so obviously satisfied. Amelia looked from the living room to the kitchen, noticing that apparently Owen had been busy. “Can I take a shower first, though? I spent the entire day at the hospital,” she justified, reluctant to sit down to dinner with him after being in and out of the OR and ICU all day.

“If I had known, I would have waited for you,” Owen answered with a spark in his eyes. Amelia then noticed his comfortable pajama pants and a grey T-shirt.

“I won’t be long,” the neurosurgeon promised, standing on the tip of her toes to give him a peck on the lips before running to the shower.

Even from a distance, Amelia caught the delicious smell coming from the kitchen as Owen finished preparing their meal. Fifteen minutes later, she returned from the bathroom, delighting Owen with the sight of her naked thighs suggestively disappearing under one of his shirts that unsurprisingly were too large for her.

There was something extremely sexy about watching the woman he loved in his own clothes. Not only Amelia looked absolutely cute on them, she also reminded him that she was obviously comfortable in his presence. And then there was the fact that it made Owen feel like she was his, and no one else’s.

“The food smells amazing, when can we eat?”

“I am just setting the table,” Owen replied.

“Let me help,” Amelia stepped up to get the plates, thinking it was the least she could do. “What’s under that bowl?” she asked with a contaminating smile, her charming dimples dancing on her cheeks as she looked at him.

“A string of garlic,” Owen replied with a fake solemn voice, looking in her direction with his eyes darkened by desire. “To hang around your neck.” Amelia threw her head back in a fit of laughter that broke all of his defenses and Owen couldn’t hold a wide smile any longer.

“I thought that was for vampires only,” she said approaching him and the food he’d prepared.

“No, it works for evil little witches too,” Owen playfully added, absolutely delighted by her smile.

“But really, what’s under the bowl?” Amelia looked at him with sheer joy. “What did you cook for us?” she didn’t wait for his answer and lifted the top of a pan.

“There is garlic bread for appetizers and fettuccini Alfredo for dinner,” Owen finally answered, seeing on her face that she’d definitely approved it. He wasn’t surprised, though. His choice of dish had not been a coincidence.

Amelia looked at the beautiful creamy sauce she’d smelled from the bathroom. Her empty stomach was now more than ever craving for food that probably tasted as wonderful as it looked.

Still amazed by her own thoughts and anxious to sit down to eat, the neurosurgeon distractedly asked:

“That’s one hell of a good menu,” she smiled playfully but her compliment was honest. “And what’s for dessert?”

“You.”

His lack of hesitation and serious tone amused her, and Amelia looked up to meet Owen’s intense gaze. By the time she processed his answer, she was already laughing contagiously again. Owen chuckled as he reveled in her happiness, thinking that he wouldn’t mind if every other evening of his life went exactly like this.

After they had dinner, the pair sat down on the couch to watch TV. Owen had to be honest and admit that even though he was trying his hardest to pay attention to the movie, it was getting increasingly more difficult to do so when Amelia kept moving in his arms, reminding him at every ten seconds that she really was there, that they were really together. Her small figure was gently weighing against his as Amelia lay down with her upper body on his lap, holding his hand between her own at all times.

“You’ll spend the night again, right?” he whispered in her ear before gently capturing her earlobe with his lips.

Amelia chuckled with the ticklish touch of his trimmed beard against the skin of her neck.

“Of course,” she shifted in his arms, forgetting all about what was on TV as she rolled opposite to it, facing Owen instead. “There’s something I’ve been thinking since earlier today…” Amelia started, unsure how to tackle the subject. At the same time she really was determined to communicate better with Owen from now on, it wasn’t exactly that easy either and it would probably take practice.

“Go on,” he encouraged her, just as eager to make sure they could talk about anything.

“Remember when I came to the house that day I was going back to work after my surgery?” Amelia finally brought up the uncomfortable subject that involved their separation. In her room in Meredith’s house, Owen’s wedding ring was still well kept inside one of her drawers. She knew eventually they’d have to make a decision about their marriage and their impeding divorce, but they didn’t have to jump straight to deciding at the moment. They needed, however, to make sure they were on the same page. After seeing on Owen’s face that he was keeping up with her, the neurosurgeon added “we agreed at the time that we would be friends, right?” she inquired, seeing the confirmation in his eyes. “And well… We also agreed that we could talk to each other about the people we were dating and-”

“What?” Owen interrupted her, suddenly not following the conversation anymore.

“You know…” Amelia bit her bottom lip, unsure of how to address what she wanted to say. “We had this conversation and agreed that we would openly talk like friends if we were dating other people-”

“Are you saying you want to date someone else?” Owen interrupted her again, obviously bothered by the idea.

“No,” Amelia chuckled, feeling like a huge weight had just been lifted off her shoulders with his response. “I am saying that I don’t.”

“Oh,” Owen finally understood why she’d brought up the subject and smiled, just as happy and relieved. “Fine, then,” he kissed the top of her head with affection. “Let’s forget we ever agreed to that.”

The trauma surgeon also knew that eventually, they would have to decide where their marriage was going and talk about if they still wanted the same things or not to make sure what they should do about the divorce. They were trying again and both were clearly invested in making it work, but they didn’t have to rush into anything that would probably only add pressure to their already fragile reconciliation. For the time being, he would settle for having Amelia in his arms and spending time with her.

And especially, he would settle for not sharing her with anyone else.

“Good,” her voice distracted Owen from his thoughts. “I spent the whole day so stressed over this,” Amelia admitted, unaware of how much she was touching him. “I didn’t even realized I was bothered until I was actually faced with the idea of you seeing other people… It took me a while but I finally realized that and thought we should talk about it… You know, just to be clear.”

Owen smiled, too pleased by her confession. He had spent so much time unsure about so many things, including her feelings, that now he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to hear her talk about them every time she brought up the subject.

“Why were you so bothered, though?” Owen teased, hoping she would admit she was jealous.

Amelia brought her head up from her chest to look deeply into his eyes.

“Because I love you.”

Owen was taken by surprise by the sweet sound of her words and wrapped her tighter in his arms, kissing her with passion. He’d provoked her expecting Amelia to respond with jealousy, but she’d given him something infinitely better in return. Owen knew she had used the same sentence she’d unknowingly forced him to say the day before, and her consideration and smart manners only added to the affection in his heart. He simply loved her with everything he had.

“So…” when they pulled apart, Amelia looked into his eyes with a smile that mixed tenderness and mischief, sneakily grabbing back his hand. “Does that mean you’re my boyfriend now?” she teased, kissing his fingers before biting his knuckles.

Owen seemed confused for a moment.

“No,” he joked, seeing the momentarily apprehensive look on her face before he clarified. “I can’t be your boyfriend,” Owen tilted his head and teased her, “you see, technically, I am your husband.”

“Okay, but I want you to be my boyfriend too,” Amelia insisted like that was the final decision.

Owen couldn’t think of a response to give, settling for kissing her instead. He wanted the same thing. He wanted to date her and take care of her as much as she would allow him. Amelia was amazing and he loved everything about her. Her looks seduced him, her wit impressed him and most of all, her caring heart completely broke all of his defenses. All Owen knew at that moment was that he wanted her in his life forever.

Amelia kept on teasing him, playfully nudging his nose with hers and distracting Owen with kisses in the most important parts of the movie. By the time it was over, he had already trapped her under his body on the couch and made love to her with torturing ease.

As they went to bed that night, Amelia’s mind was too relaxed to think about anything else. The neurosurgeon knew she couldn’t change what had already happened, but the moments she was living now were a vast improvement compared to what the past few months had been. As she lay in bed in Owen’s arms, quickly falling asleep inside his soothing embrace, Amelia didn’t yet have any idea of just her life was about to alter even more. Just minutes before on the couch of their living room, a seed had just been planted. A big change was about to happen, first in her body but then in her life and Owen’s.

And dealing with the tiny new addition that was about to come would surely serve to shape, modify and completely improve their entire future.

 –

#omelia #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #greysanatomy #omeliafics #omeliafanfics #omeliafic #amenff #maybe this time #omelia fics

[jordan202]

Maybe This Time

Hey guys, I was watching the scenes from episode 12 and it just got me thinking… I don’t usually write a different story while working on something else, but I was probably going to forget about the idea I had. I didn’t plan for it to take this turn but the story got a life of its own :) 

Oh, I am in a hurry for a double shift so I didn’t ask anyone to proofread. I apologize in advance for my mistakes. The title isn’t coincidental.

Maybe This Time

Amelia nervously tapped her fingers on the working desk, too anxious for the computer results. During the past week, as she watched her patient being submitted to radiotherapy to treat a recurrent tumor, the neurosurgeon had struggled to come up with a viable plan that might allow her team to properly fund their ambitious plan.

While she knew the procedure was a sort of a Hail Mary and had its flaws, Amelia was desperately in need of something that would give her patient hope.

Maybe the reason behind all that was that she needed something to give her hope.

Lately, her life had been nothing but a mess. After a failed marriage, which she refused to think much about, and a brain tumor that had given Amelia answers about her impulsivity but had also served to confuse her feelings even more, the neurosurgeon longed for something that would be good and actually help someone. It was actually easier to focus her energy on the study for Kimmie’s tumor and devote her entire time to it than trying to figure out the mess that her personal life had become.

“So, have you come up with anything yet?”

Amelia’s thoughts were distracted by the sound of Alex Karev’s words and she saw the look of defeat on his face. Much to her own dismay, he also hadn’t been successful to get any kind of support for their project. It pretty much seemed like a dead end for them. Even Bello and DeLuca were losing motivation and Amelia couldn’t blame them. There were several other projects out there that were soaring and the eager interns probably would rather spend their time actually learning something than staying immersed on a computer all day doing research.

Alex gazed at the neurosurgeon and saw the consternation on her face.

“It looks like we’re really going to lose this battle,” Karev commented, obviously unhappy about it.

Amelia hated that situation. And she hated what she was about to propose. But then she thought of Kimmie’s joy and the girl’s happiness at sharing her gift with the world. Something had to be done.

“Not yet,” Amelia said with determination, looking into Alex’s eyes. “I have an idea…”

.

“You have to be kidding me,” Thomas Koracick’s annoyance was obvious not only in his voice, but also on the look on his face and the way he walked, “you have to be freaking kidding me.”

“Look, Tom, I…”

“YOU tricked me here saying you had a groundbreaking project for me,” Koracick nearly hissed, looking at his former’s student with impatience. “I actually bailed on presenting a case at the American College of Surgeons and got on a flight to this hell hole because I believed you and this is what you have for me?” he frowned, absolutely irritated. “HIFU? Are you kidding me?”

Amelia sighed heavily, knowing she shouldn’t be surprised. A couple of days before, she had gotten in touch with her former boss at Johns Hopkins. Tom Koracick ran the neurosurgical department there and had more resources at his disposal than anyone else she could remember. A few weeks prior to that, Tom had flown over to operate on her brain tumor and he’d even stuck around to help her get her department back on track once she was recovered. Before he could return to Hopkins, the two of them had slept together but Amelia knew it hadn’t really meant anything. Not to her, at least, and she supposed that not for Tom either.

For Amelia, it had been all about having a rebound after her complicated separation from her husband. It still sounded funny to think of Owen as that, since they weren’t even living in the same house anymore… But until their divorce was finalized, Amelia knew that technically, that was what he was.

And for Tom, sleeping with her had probably been about his own ego. Amelia knew he was a womanizer and even though during her residency the guy had been extremely professional, never had he hidden the fact that if Amelia ever gave him an opening, he wouldn’t hesitate to sleep with her. She had never really been interested, especially while he was her boss. But now, the two of them were at a leveled position, both ran neurosurgical departments and Amelia had impulsively done it. Physically, it had felt okay, but emotionally, Amelia knew it hadn’t really meant anything.

“It has never been tested on brain tumors before…” Amelia tried to reason and hopefully convince him.

“Oh, why do you think that is?” Koracick sarcastically asked, looking at her as if she should have known better. HIFU, or high frequency focused ultrasound was a non-invasive method that recently was being studied to treat tumors. That wasn’t exactly news in the surgical word.

“No one has really studied it on brain tumors…” Amelia sheepishly gave it another try.

“Yes, exactly!” Koracick interrupted her. “I am sure I don’t need to tell you that even if you successfully blast tumor cells with this new technology there is just no way you can guarantee clean margins and without the full, resection the likelihood that the tumor…”

“…will grow back is high, I know, I know,” Amelia sighed, hating to admit he was right. On tumors that could be later operated or managed with follow up, the HIFU method seemed like a good option. But for brain tumors, there were no guarantees it would work on the long run. “But it could help her buy some time and who knows even…”

“This is exactly why your project got rejected,” during the brief time he’d been at the hospital, Thomas had been brought to speed on the contest and saw the few projects that had made it. “It’s not cost effective, you should know that” he condescendingly rolled his eyes at her. “It doesn’t matter how noble your intentions are, Shepherd. Haven’t you learned this by now? Why would anyone in their right minds invest money on a study that promises no different outcome than a partial resection would?”

“You’re being extremely pessimistic!” Amelia lost her patience with him. “You’re putting all these obstacles when you’ve barely given me a chance to try.” She understood his frustration but he was throwing a bucket of ice water on her plans and that infuriated her.

Especially because she couldn’t refute any of his arguments.

“Look, you know I would love to help you if I could but my hands are tied,” Koracick sighed heavily, regaining some of his calmness. “Trust me, I deal with this kind of debacle all the time and I know you desperately want to help this kid, but it’s better if you just play it clean with the family instead of playing God here, okay?” Amelia scowled, hating to feel like once again he was the professor and she the inexperienced intern, but at the moment, it was exactly how she felt. “I have promised Catherine I’d have dinner with her. She wants me to properly meet her husband,” the neurosurgeon rolled his eyes, as if he was dreading the idea. “I am sorry I can’t help you.”

Amelia watched as Tom Koracick left, hating the fact she couldn’t really hate him for what he was doing. In his place, she probably would have done the same. And now she was back to square one.

For the rest of the day, Amelia stayed immersed in her project, trying to think about any loopholes she could fix to make the idea more tempting for Koracick. She knew he would be in town at least until the following day, so she was racing the clock.

After hours reading in front of the computer, too focused on what she was studying, the click of the door handle started Amelia, causing her to nearly jump from her chair at the unexpected interruption.

“Uh, sorry…” a deep male voice spoke in a low tone. “I had no idea the room was taken.”

Amelia looked up to meet the eyes of the man she was married to. Other than the brief, awkward encounter at the house when she’d walked in on him having breakfast with another woman, they hadn’t really been alone in the same room ever since the day they’d returned their wedding bands to each other.

“It’s okay,” Amelia rubbed her tired eyes, shocked to realize it was nearly midnight. “I was just reading and lost track of time.”

“I was printing some papers earlier today and I think I left my phone charger here somewhere,” Owen justified his presence, pointing at his dead phone. “I’ve been looking for it everywhere and realized I last used it here.”

Amelia got up from her chair and helped him look, scrolling through the files and forgotten objects in the room that was mainly used by interns and residents.

For the following seconds, the neurosurgeon unsuccessfully tried to find the charger, but the lingering silence was growing uncomfortable by the second.

“So…” she cleared her throat, eager to make small talk, “you’re on the liver project, right?” Amelia distractedly asked. She wasn’t really sure. “How is that working out?”

“I was actually trying for a clot factor study but I dropped it,” Owen answered with a shrug. He saw the question on her face and elaborated, “research is not really my thing.”

“Yeah, you’ve always been more of a do-er than a planner,” Amelia smiled.

The neurosurgeon failed to realize at the time of her comment just how personal she sounded. But Owen captured the intimacy it implied and he avoided thinking much about it, choosing instead to focus on his search.

“Why clot factors, though?” Amelia asked after a few seconds of silence.

“I had read about this chained Polymer that was isolated not long ago,” Owen explained. “It basically adheres to hepatocytes and you can sort of choose the cell you’re working with.”

“Really?” Amelia frowned heavily, uncontrollably assaulted by ideas. “You mean like a selective binding protein?”

“Yeah, there is a full catalogue of those at Polymer that have been isolated but even though it sounds good, it’s not very viable for out type of research,” Owen added. “It has an extremely high cost and the patents are just insanely hard to get.”

“Can you tell me more about your clot factor work?” Amelia asked. The more information she had, the better would be to fit all puzzles together.

“Uh… Okay,” Owen saw the eagerness on her face and agreed. It was late and he was tired, but if that was going to make her happy, he could stick around for a few more minutes.

Very patiently, Owen sat down near a computer and logged into a system. For the following minutes, he thoroughly explained Amelia about the idea he’d had. During the entire time, it became kind of hard to ignore her presence. Especially when she stood so close like that. Was it just him, or did her hair smell especially good today?

“This is actually very helpful,” Amelia leaned forward to examine the computer screen a little closer, unaware of the reactions she was causing on the man sitting right next to her.

Owen closed his eyes and swallowed hard. He really shouldn’t be having those thoughts. Well technically, he should, because the woman responsible for invoking those feelings was his wife, but a thousand complications and unspoken issues stood in the way and he really didn’t want to deal with his feelings.

“Do you mind if I print this?” Amelia looked at him with expectation in her eyes.

Owen knew her well enough to realize she was up to something. And judging by the look on her face, it was good.

“Sure,” he instantly agreed, satisfied that his abandoned project had served at least to the purpose of making her smile like that again. He hadn’t seen in ever since the day she’d left their home and his life. “Feel free to use it.”

“Thank you,” Amelia shyly bit her lower lip and made eye contact with him, seeing the warmth in his eyes. She smiled brightly and tried to ignore the way her heart accelerated when he smiled back. “Good night, Owen.”

“Good night,” he reluctantly left the room, knowing that it was the wisest decision.

.

“So you’re telling me you want me to fund a multi million project in which you’ll basically buy the most expensive protein I’ve ever seen so you can blast it with high frequency waves?” Tom Koracick frowned, looking at Amelia with a mix of surprise and admiration.

“Precisely,” Amelia smiled widely, struggling to contain her excitement, “but the real catch here is that, when I blast those cells, the whole tumor will be gone.”

“I don’t know this is insane or purely genius,” Koracick commented, skimming through the paper that had her detailed project.

Amelia had spent the last ten hours coming up with the plan. Her body was tired, but her mind was too alert and excited for her to want to sleep.

“Where did you get the idea?” Koracick frowned, hating that he didn’t have it first.

“A colleague inspired me,” Amelia confessed. “He was going for something along those lines and I adapted his idea to mine.”

“Get him here,” Koracick unceremoniously demanded.

Amelia desperately needed Tom to embark on the project, because she depended on him to finance it. So she decided not to refute. Grabbing her cell phone, she called Owen, gently asking if he could meet her in one of the conference rooms.

About fifteen minutes later, the trauma surgeon joined them, supposing Amelia needed help with something they’d discussed the previous night. But to his surprise, he found her sitting next to Thomas Koracick, the same guy who had taken out her tumor.

Before Owen could ask any questions, Amelia started to fill him on what she’d spent the entire night working with. After Owen had introduced her to the Polymer idea, she had basically filtered through a huge catalog, finding the heaviest binding protein she could that would link to a receptor present only in cancerous cells. Those would heavily increase the mass of the tumor, including the tissue near the margins. Then, once with the ultrasound technique she was working on, it would be possible to work with the HIFU at a frequency that not only would kill the sick cells, but also make sure they had clean margins. Without the heavy Polymer, it was hard to tell and adjust the machine to sort out the diseased tissues from the healthy one, but once Amelia made the cancer cells much heavier, chances of success were incredibly higher.

“This is a brilliant idea,” he stated with conviction after taking a look at her initial proposal. “But the cost would be beyond the charts,” Owen affirmed, certain it would be a problem. “I mean, this Polymer chain you selected costs nearly twice as much as the one I had. It’s going to increase the cost of the project. And it’s not guaranteed it’ll work.”

Amelia was aware of that. She on purpose kept silence, sneakily turning her head to the side very slowly until her eyes finally met Tom’s.

“Give me a concrete reason why I should invest my money on this,” the arrogant surgeon demanded, raising his eyebrows.

“I am going to make history treating gliomas. And if you don’t fund my idea, I am going to sell it to someone who is going to make it happen.” Amelia raised her eyebrows in defiance. “And if I do that, your name won’t be on the paper when it gets published,” she sneakily reminded him, knowing nothing would infuriate Koracick more than letting an opportunity pass. “You’ll lose.”

Tom narrowed his eyes, studying Amelia’s features. She was serious, he knew it. Rolling his eyes, the prestigious surgeon finally made up his mind.

“Fine, but you’re going to report to me. I am going to be here when we use the HIFU for the first time. My name goes before yours on the project,” he dared her, seeing on Amelia’s scowl that she hated it. “And keep this guy, he clearly is more familiar than us with the Polymer thing.”

“No, thanks,” Owen straightforwardly answered. He wouldn’t mind doing it if it was for Amelia, but he had never sympathized with the guy who had once been her mentor and he definitely wasn’t going to be a part of something that would benefit him more than the true author of the project.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Amelia protested Koracick’s terms. “Hell no. Your name is not going before mine.”

“These are my conditions, it’s give or take,” Koracick said in a final tone.

“God… I hate you!” Amelia complained. But she knew she couldn’t give it up. Koracick was her only chance to keep the project going and most importantly, actually give Kimmie a chance. The hard work was just beginning and she would need a lot of help, but it all started with the funding.

“I have a plane to catch, you keep me updated,” Koracick wickedly winked in her direction, loving that he was coming out on top. And just as he was reaching the door, Amelia was collecting her stuff and Owen was logging out the computer, the controversial surgeon turned around, unable to help himself. “If you thought that sleeping with me would give you special treatment, you better think again, Shepherd,” he smirked, knowing he was causing a scene. Even though Amelia hadn’t said it, Koracick had recognized the guy in the room as the husband she’d recently separated from. He was glad he was leaving, because fixing marital drama wasn’t his thing. He was much better at causing it. “Email me as soon as you have phase one initiated.”

Koracick exited without another word, leaving Amelia in absolute shock. Not because he had been inappropriate, rude and extremely unprofessional. She was used to his teasing and didn’t mind it when it was just the two of them. But at that moment, her heart was racing and she had an awful feeling in her stomach.

Amelia knew that, by the time she’d slept with Koracick, she and Owen had already broken things off. She also knew that he had no right to judge her on it, considering he had pretty much slept with the first woman he found right after that.

But she was well aware of how possessive men could be. Especially men like Owen. And she recalled just how they’d agreed to blame all the problems of their marriage on her brain tumor, as if her feelings for him had been questionable while Owen didn’t really have a similar excuse to justify why he’d broken the marriage…

“Owen, I…”

“Good luck with your project,” he violently shut off the computer without waiting for it to properly turn off.

It was obvious he was furious and Amelia got instantly mad at that too.

“You can’t be serious, right?” she asked him just as Owen was about to exit through the door. “Are you really that upset that I had a one night stand? Really?” she followed him to the door, hoping Owen would calm down. He had always failed at keeping rational when he was furious like that. And she was actually surprised that he had been so bothered by it, to the point of getting that mad. “You spent the past weeks fooling around with that…”

“Don’t,” Owen grabbed her slim wrist and stopped Amelia from touching him just as she’d been about to. “Don’t say anything. You don’t owe me any explanations,” Amelia looked at him and instead of the warm, caring eyes, she found the scowl of a guy who was just too mad to even pretend he was okay. “You are a free woman. You can do whatever you want,” he said and Amelia instantly noticed his calm, rational speech completely contrasted with his infuriated reaction. But even though she noticed something was off, never would she be prepared to hear what would come next. “If you have to sleep with Koracick to get funding for your project, then so be it,” he cruelly accused her, knowing he was being extremely unfair. But Owen couldn’t help himself. The news had caught him totally off guard, and the way it had infuriated him had surprised him even more. “Next time just leave me out of it, okay? I don’t want to be a part of another one of your games.”

Amelia felt the blow the instant the words fired out of Owen’s mouth. She didn’t know what hurt her the most, the way he had cruelly accused her of something they both knew wasn’t true, or the cold look on his face as he’d done it.

The first tear rolled on her cheek, enraging Amelia even more.

Screw Owen, she thought, trying to contain the tears that insisted on falling. He had been the one to change his mind… It had been Owen the one to break off their marriage… It had also been Owen the one to jump into someone else’s bed and take a random woman to the house they’d once shared the minute she’d left the house. So he had no right to play that low.

How dare him accuse her of that? Amelia sighed heavily, heartbreak and hurt slowly being replaced by anger and determination. Briefly, she thought about giving up the project and telling Owen to shove his Polymer idea up his ass. But she couldn’t do that because Kimmie’s life depended on it.

And as she went on with her day, blaming exhaustion and sleep deprivation rather than her hurt feelings for the way she struggled to keep focus, Amelia felt more determined to make her innovative project work. It was the only thing in her life worth focusing on.

Owen could take care of his bruised ego on his own. Maybe their idea to become friends was really faded to disaster. After all, they could barely interact without the heavy cloud of their unresolved issues lingering on their heads. And if Owen’s display of anger served as example for what was about to come, Amelia thought maybe it was better to simply never go there after all.

#omelia #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #omeliafics #omeliafanfics #omeliafic #amenff #greysanatomy #grey's anatomy #greysnanatomyfanfic

[jordan202]

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon - Chapter 10

hey guys, sorry for the long wait with this one.

This chapter focuses mostly on Megan and a situation that I think will ultimately serve to add a lot of personal growth to her. As a teenager, she is just uncovering the world and being challenged is a big, important part of the process of self discovery IMO.

It also has a cute Omelia moment that I just couldn't resist not adding. Cute bubbly Omelia flirting just makes my heart very happy.

As usual thank you @jia911 for proofreading and @bluebelle18 for being the JD to my Megan and always challenging me to do better.

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon – Chapter Ten

JD looked away from the music sheet. For the third time in less than five minutes, he caught blue eyes intensely staring at him. Just like it’d happened in all previous times, Megan looked away quickly, too embarrassed to be caught in the act.

For the past hour, they had been quietly sitting facing each other inside the music classroom. Every now and then, their teacher Mrs. Julian would walk by and ask if they needed any help, but Megan would quickly and politely refuse it, only to immediately go back to studying her own sheets.

But since she couldn’t seem to stop stealing a peek at him every ten minutes, JD could tell she was probably making a big effort to continuously stay in his presence without saying a word.

“You can just ask me, you know,” he decided to break the silence, instantly regaining her attention.

Megan turned her eyes up to meet his, mortified that she hadn’t held back the urge to look at the guy, especially because he’d caught her doing it every single time. Trying not to think about that, the teenage debated with herself whether or not to accept his suggestion. It would be too much of an obvious lie if she said there was nothing she wanted to ask. Megan was usually very good at reading people and she took pride in having a good intuition. Everything JD had showed so far had led her to think he was a terrible person and yet, for the past two days she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what he’d said in the school hall.

Sighing with resignation, the girl gave in, finally voicing the doubt that had been bothering her ever since.

“Were you really upset about what I said that day at Steve’s party?” she asked carefully, unaware of how adorable she looked when she frowned like that. In her mind, JD wasn’t really the kind of guy who cared about anyone or anything. So the fact that he had openly pointed out he thought she had accused him unjustly could only mean that… well… maybe he had actually been bothered by it?

JD successfully hid his surprise with the question. He lazily tapped a pencil on the sheet while thinking about an answer. He had never been one to lie and usually, the consequences of his excessive honesty didn’t bother him. But for some reason, that annoying girl looked so vulnerable and legitimately concerned with her widened blue eyes that he caught himself measuring his words not to come out too aggressive.

“I guess I was,” he replied sincerely. “You weren’t very fair to me,” the boy added, instantly noticing how she turned her chin up very proudly.

“You treated my friend like garbage!” Megan hissed, the fair skin on her face instantly flushing as made eye contact with him. “What was I supposed to think, that you-”

“Wait, what?” JD unceremoniously interrupted her, “how did I treat her like garbage?” the boy frowned heavily. “Only because I told her I didn’t want to be with her?”

At the same the boy admired Megan’s loyalty to Marianne and understood why she’d take her friend’s side in the messy situation, JD was also aware that the girl probably had been told about relationship only through her friend’s point of view.

Megan went silent for a few seconds. She knew Marianne was no saint and often idealized things too much, but it still didn’t justify JD doing things such as taking the girl’s virginity and then openly ignoring her days after.

“You were horrible to her,” Megan said, noticing a few people around had turned their heads to look because she’d just raised her voice.

“Because I treated her with honesty and truth?” JD replied unaffectedly.

Megan narrowed her eyes, suddenly not as compelled to give him a chance to talk. Did he seriously think he had actually been anything resembling nice to Marianne?

Megan had been there. She had witnessed firsthand how the guy had mostly ignored her friend. After what she’d heard about it and the alarming energy she’d felt in his presence, it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

There had been so many rumors… The girl thought back about the day she’d seen him for the first time. Claire had come up with absurd tales about his past and Megan had quickly dismissed them, judging the stories too ludicrous to be true. Over time, however, she’d come to wonder if Claire wasn’t right after all. Megan had never heard or seen anything remotely positive about the boy sitting right in front of her. He was cold, uncaring and absolutely selfish, exactly the kind of person she didn’t want to be around.

And yet, the shadow sparkling in his emerald green eyes made her question whether he was really being truthful or if he was just very good at manipulating people.

Well, not her, Megan decided. There was simply no way he could possibly charm her into believing he was worthy of her time or energy. Not after everything he’d showed. People often teased her about the way she couldn’t see an outcast and not reach out. This was probably just her nature tricking her into thinking she could somehow rescue that estranged boy from his own awful manners. It really was better to stay away and simply focus on the music work she had to do.

Restlessly fighting the urge to find out more and end her agonizing doubts, Megan couldn’t help herself. He’d said she could just ask him. On an impulse, the girl fired the first question that came to mind.

“Did you really take a knife to your old school?”

Megan raised her eyes and met his, immediately regretting having touched such an alarming subject. It had been bothering her ever since the day Claire had whispered that in her ear over the summer. Megan wished she had controlled her impulsivity a little better.

“Yes.”

His direct answer sent a shiver that ran up the girl’s spine.

So, there she had it… Megan had been brave enough to ask and looking into his eyes, she realized that JD really wasn’t lying. His voice had sounded so serious, there were no traces of playfulness in it. Nothing that made her think he felt sorry for doing what he’d just admitted either.

How did JD have the nerve to do such an inconsequent, horrible thing like that and openly confess it without even trying to justify why he’d done it?

“I don’t know how you sleep at night,” the girl whispered in alarm, more to herself than to him, but the boy caught up on her remark.

“I have a clean conscience, thank you for your concern,” JD replied in an ironic, dangerously low tone.

Megan noticed on his expression that his mood had gone from bored to suddenly very irritated. She could tell by the way his jaw was clenched that something she’d said had really gotten to him. And instead of making her feel satisfied, the realization made her feel strangely… agitated?

It didn’t matter, Megan thought. He had just admitted the worst and she was the one who had the right to be angry, not him. Her curiosity about his sudden mood change wasn’t enough to make her want to speak to the boy again.

For the following hour, Megan tried to devote her attention to the music sheet, not really sure how she should work as a team with JD, since after their brief dialogue he had simply pulled out what she later realized was a football playbook and remained focused on it for sixty whole minutes, completely ignoring the subject of the class they were in.

Even though rationally Megan had already decided that the best thing to do was to simply stay away, by the time class was over, she found herself waiting for the other students to leave the room so she could finally speak to him about the subject that had been bothering her. The girl had all the facts, she knew what JD had done. But what she couldn’t figure out was his motivation… And that was consuming her.

“Okay, so…” she started hesitantly, hoping to hold his attention. JD still looked like he was angry, but at least he had stayed back to listen. “Do you really, honestly believe you treated Marianne with respect and honesty?”

Megan could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t expecting her question. She wondered if his surprise also had to do with the patient tone she was using. It occurred to her just now that this was probably the first time they were talking without shouting at each other or making accusations, but rather calmly and politely holding a conversation where both people involved could take their turn to speak.

JD stood at a distance, carefully examining her face. Megan realized he was probably trying to see if she was being serious or setting him up.

“Look, none of us happy with it, but we are music partners now… At least until Mrs. Julian changes her mind about it, what I hope happens soon,” the girl explained, looking into his eyes. “If we sit together without saying a word for two hours like we did today, it’s obvious she is not going to cave,” Megan wisely pointed out. She was well aware the teacher expected JD to make progress in music class and more than that, after the little scene they had made in their previous class, it was very likely the teacher kept them together at least until they proved that they could work as a team. “And to be honest, I think it’s a horrible prospect to sit here in silence hating each other for the entire semester,” the teenager added with a half-hearted smile. She didn’t like him and they didn’t have to be friends, but at least they should be partners to actually work their assignments or else they’d be at risk for getting a bad grade like their teacher had kindly reminded them.  “You think that I judged you without hearing your side of the story,” Megan finally got to the point, seeing on his face that he was intrigued. “I will never know if you don’t tell me.”

JD’s first impulse was to tell her that it made no difference whatsoever if he explained to her his point of view. In fact, he wanted to say that he couldn’t care less what she thought. But before he could control, he heard himself taking part in the conversation.

“Does it really matter?”

Megan didn’t know why, but something in his defensive tone let her know she was being tested.

“Yes,” she responded to his doubt with security. JD had accused her of being unfair to him. Megan seriously doubted he could somehow justify his nasty behavior, especially when it concerned her friend, but since they were going to have to work together, she was kind of hoping he at least had a conscience or something that resembled a redeeming quality.

JD seemed to ponder whether or not to take that conversation forward but ultimately took a deep breath, slowly letting it out to finally answer her question.

“I never made your friend any promises,” he explained. “I was very honest with her, from the start.” On his first week in Seattle, his grandmother’s neighbor had introduced him to her granddaughter and after finding out they were going to the same school, the girl had quickly supposed they could spend time together. “We talked and hung out for a few days since I didn’t really know anyone in town yet…” Megan knew he was telling the truth because it was exactly what her friend had told her. “Marianne was the one who asked me out,” he added, looking Megan deeply in the eyes. “I told her I wasn’t looking for a relationship, I told her I didn’t want anything serious, with her or anyone else,” JD recalled, thinking about the disappointment in the girl’s eyes after he said the words, “it was obvious it wasn’t what she truly wanted but she told me it was fine. That we could just keep it casual and fun.”

“But still you…” Megan tried to think of words to express her discontentment with the situation, noticing he had stopped talking to give her the chance to speak her mind. “How is that being nice to her? You knew she was at risk for getting hurt and still you accepted to keep it going when it was obvious she was going to have her heart broken.”

“I never lied to her,” JD raised his eyebrows as if Megan was accusing him of something that didn’t make sense. “She is nice and I enjoyed going out with her, but to me that was it, I was clear about that. When Marianne started to act like it was more than it really was,” JD added, thinking about how clingy the girl had become, calling him and showing up when he was hanging out with his friends, “that’s when I had to be firm with her. So I ended it,” JD wished he had stopped talking then, but against his will, the words kept firing from his mouth. “How is that being disrespectful, exactly?”

“But you…” Megan sighed heavily. The scenario he was exposing didn’t surprise her that much, because it’d become obvious from the start to anyone who was paying closer attention that Marianne had been more involved with their brief relationship than JD had ever seemed to be. Megan remembered seeing how excited her friend always was whenever he was around, and how his façade often gave the opposite impression. When Megan had first seen the guy, he and Marianne had already been together for a few weeks. The girl supposed it was just when things had started to progress differently for each part involved.

But that wasn’t what bothered Megan the most, though. Even though she supposed JD could have been a little nicer on his attempts to stop Marianne’s advances, what had really annoyed the teenage girl was the fact that he had slept with her friend and then treated her like the moment had had absolutely no significance.

Just like Marianne, Megan was also inexperienced when it came to sex. And she just knew that if she’d lost her virginity to the guy she was in love with and he had coldly cast her aside only days after, she would have been devastated.

And very, very angry. Which was why she could relate to her friend’s plight at the moment.

Megan didn’t want to bring up the topic to discuss with him though because she believed she had no place exposing her friend’s personal life like that. Megan had known Marianne for a while now, and they were close. The girl recalled the way her friend had naively imagined that just because she was in love with the guy, JD would treat her the way she deserved to be treated. But he had ended things with her right after her first time, breaking her heart in the process.

“But I what?” JD rolled his eyes, impatiently. Why had he been stupid enough to even consider that the little hothead proudly standing up to him could somehow be any different from everyone else? “Stop looking for reasons to hate me, Megan. You probably heard things about me, decided I am this big villain and now you are desperately trying to hold onto that concept. I get it,” he raised his hands and added before turning around to walk away, “I know you are a spoiled little princess who’s used to having your way but it’s clear on your face you know that you know I did the right thing by being honest with your friend about the way I felt. But believe what you want to believe, I don’t care.”

Megan watched as he left the room. She knew she probably shouldn’t care. The guy was a rude, selfish human being who obviously didn’t care about anyone’s feelings.

“Yeah… I know you don’t… But you just had to sleep with her first, right?”

He still had his back turned to her, but Megan could hear his impatient sigh. He stopped walking and after a while of hesitation, finally turned around to look at her.

“What?” he impatiently asked.

“Before you decided to gallantly offer her your honesty, I mean,” Megan asked with a mix sarcasm and disapproval.  “You just had to take her to bed and make her feel humiliated to be ignored afterwards, right?”

Megan knew she should be furious. She knew she should hate how he’d called her spoiled. But they had exchanged so many indelicacies for the past few weeks that it didn’t even bother her nearly as much as his unfeeling attitude towards her friend did.

“I didn’t lie to her to have sex with her,” JD rolled his eyes, censoring himself for not having already walked away like he normally would. “Marianne told me herself she thought we should do it,” he added, looking at Megan with a loathing scowl. “You are so full of yourself, aren’t you?” he asked in a low tone. “So much that you think you’re doing your friend a big favor by fighting her own battles for her when you’re really just labeling her as unfit to make her own decisions,” JD fired, seeing the look of shock on Megan’s face at his accusations. “You think you’re helping Marianne but you are not. How are you respecting her, really?” he leaned over the girl, looking straight into her eyes. “How are you being respectful if you encourage Marianne to act like I somehow owe her anything just because we had sex? She wanted it, I wanted it and we did it. Then I didn’t want it anymore because she was suffocating me after. I never made her any promises, I never signed a contract… On the contrary. I said I wasn’t looking for anything serious.”

“She was hoping that if she slept with you that would make you want to be with her, you stupid jerk!” Megan read the situation clearly now. “Is that really so hard to see?” she asked with a mix or irony and fury. “Couldn’t you just have gone for someone who wasn’t blindly seduced by your stupid act?”

JD took a deep breath, determined not to fight with her again.

“Marianne is a big girl, Megan. Don’t coddle her and act like she was a victim to her own decisions,” he looked into her eyes, seeing his words were infuriating her. “Of course I saw she was into me more than I was with her. But from the moment I told her I wasn’t interested in being her boyfriend and she agreed to keep it casual, why should I be blamed because she didn’t keep her word?”

“Because she didn’t know any better and you should have!” Megan furiously strode towards him, proudly standing up to the guy who annoyingly seemed to have an answer for every one of her arguments. “She was in love with you, how did you ever consider she could have had her better judgment at the time?”

JD saw the rosy color on her cheeks as she defied him, visibly worked up.

“You know… Have you ever thought that maybe you spent all this time convincing yourself and everyone else that Marianne was somehow a victim to me, but in reality, it’s you who constantly sees her as the victim?” JD raised his eyebrows suggestively. Megan had done something amazing by standing up for her friend when she was visibly in a fragile state, but up to this day the girl still seemed determined to apparently bring justice to a situation she wasn’t really directly involved. “As the poor girl who deserves your help and can’t speak for herself?” he added, taking Megan by surprise again. “Yeah, I figured you haven’t,” the boy answered his own question after seeing the look on her face, taking satisfaction in feeling like he’d won that battle against that daring hotheaded girl. “You are not helping Marianne by shielding her from things. Instead you should be helping her stand up for herself if she really thinks I screwed up.”

Megan was alarmed by her own silence. What he was saying was absolutely despicable. It wasn’t true, she knew. She indeed had stepped up for her friend the day of the party, but only because JD had put her in a horrible situation. And even though Megan was well aware she’d had all the best intentions, his accusation still got her thinking. Because it didn’t prevent the girl from drowning in guilt for the way she really felt sorry for Marianne.

Maybe she just had felt too sorry?

Could it really be? Had Megan really acted like a super protective friend, shielding Marianne at all costs and perhaps only contributing to the girl’s already low self-esteem?

No way, Megan realized, swallowing hard. Perhaps on the long run, Marianne would be able to fight her own battles, but right now, she was still too fragile. And Megan was only doing for her friend what she would have liked to have someone doing for her had she been in Marianne’s shoes.

Maybe that was why it bothered Megan so much?

Just like Marianne, she didn’t have a lot of experience. Megan didn’t like to admit it very much, but that bothered her. When it came to relationships with boys, she felt too exposed and vulnerable. And because of it, she could totally empathize with her friend at the moment. One day, Marianne might be fit to defend herself. Until that day came, Megan would make damn sure no one abused her fragility like that dumb jock had just done.

Megan had done what she’d done with the best intentions. She didn’t regret it.

“Still, you walked away and told her nothing had happened,” the girl recovered from the blow, absolutely determined not to let him walk away feeling like he was right. “You’re an asshole and nothing you say can change that. I was there. I saw it.”

JD saw the spark of fury in her eyes and he could tell she was fighting an internal battle. Instinctively, he realized that his words had deeply messed with her, enough to make her rethink her own attitude. But it was the way that her fiery, hot approach had been replaced by a broken, hurt speech that really got to him.

It felt like all of a sudden, an uncomfortable feeling made him sick to the stomach and he didn’t even understand why. JD had seen girls act much worse when faced with his honesty before. Hell, he’d even seen them cry and it still, it hardly ever bothered him. Girls cried for no reason and they had an awful tendency of taking advantage of their fragility to get what they wanted.

But now, the impulsive girl with fiery blue eyes proudly stood her ground, apparently too caught up with her own emotions to remember his presence. JD also went silent as he thought about what Megan had said. It made sense, he knew. He wasn’t a hypocrite to think everything he did was justifiable. Sometimes, for reasons he couldn’t explain, his behavior tended to really hurt people. Enough that he avoided getting close to them as much as he could.

Maybe he should have exploded at Megan like that. But at the same time, it had unexpectedly bothered him that the girl whose loyal manners he’d admired and who he had initially believed to actually be different from everyone else had obviously jumped to conclusions about him without even giving him the benefit of the doubt.

He really thought Megan might have been different... How stupid of him, JD figured. After so many years of people making assumptions about him, he had grown used to it. It didn’t bother him anymore and JD should have known better by now. Why would Megan be any different? She was in the most comfortable place, surrounded by people who really seemed to love and admire her. Why on Earth would she ever have a reason to think her opinion might have been biased, or that maybe, there might be a different version to a story than the one she wanted to believe in?

Girls like Megan were too used to having things done their way. They had the world on a string and more than enough people willing to give them absolutely everything they wanted. Like her boyfriend, for example, JD thought with a scoff. The guy pretty much worshipped the ground she walked on and if he was trying to hide that, he was doing an awful job so far.

Yes, he really shouldn’t care. Megan was too spoiled for own good. She was probably one of those girls who deemed her opinion as the absolute truth, without even bothering to fact check first. JD knew her kind. They were high maintenance and abused the effect they had on guys to manipulate them into doing what they wanted. He was better off as further away from her as possible.

But still… JD couldn’t really ignore the fact that that small brave girl had stood up to him to defend her friend in a way he’d never seen anyone do before. So even though Megan was probably self-centered and obnoxious, he had to admit she at least was a loyal friend.

People were usually intimidated by him, he had long ago noticed that. Yet Megan Hunt had been more than willing to let him have it. At first, he had been impressed and even satisfied. After watching her from a distance and seeing the way she was kind and generous to her friends, JD had to admit that had been how he expected her to be different. But then as Megan had obviously made up her mind about him based on something as despicable as rumors – and judging by her question about the knife she had heard them - JD had to confess he’d felt rather disappointed… But mostly at himself, for having high expectations of her in the first place.

Turning around after giving up making sense of the entire thing, JD hesitated one more time.

“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear,” he advised her.

Megan noticed the way he calmly stood with his hands inside his pockets. His emerald green eyes stared into her with such intensity that Megan felt like he was baring her soul.

“I still think you’re a jackass for the way you treated my friend but...” Megan bit her lower lip, taking one step in his direction. “It was wrong of me to call you out in front of everyone like that,” she admitted, letting out a heavy sigh. Even though the girl still though JD deserved the scrutiny for the way he’d treated Marianne, there had been several ways she could have handled it. Ways that didn’t involve humiliating him in front of their peers and openly making fun of him for things she didn’t even know might have personally touched a wound. Truth was, Megan didn’t know the guy. And she wasn’t interested in being friends with him. But that didn’t give her the right to treat him in a way she didn’t want anyone to be treated. “I was angry with you that you had hurt my friend and I fought fire with fire. That wasn’t very nice of me,” she belatedly realized. A mistake didn’t justify another. It didn’t matter if she thought JD owed Marianne an apology or not. She knew she was only responsible for her own actions. “I am sorry for the way I talked to you… and for the horrible things I said.”

Megan had seen him surprised a few times that afternoon, but just as she apologized, for the first time she thought the boy looked lost, as if he really didn’t know what to say. And that impacted her, because so far, JD always knew what to say.

The boy recovered from the unexpected action and held the Megan’s gaze, studying her expression to see if she really meant it, almost as if he couldn’t believe it. That went against everything he had decided she was. The way he had categorized her and made up his mind about the girl had just been unexpectedly challenged by her heartfelt apology.

“Okay,” it was the only thing he could mutter in response. She was still looking into his eyes and JD didn’t notice how hard he was trying not to break that contact.

It was the first time Megan saw him with his guard low, seemingly unsure of what to do. JD always looked confident and on top of his game, but now he looked more confused than she’d ever seen. Taking advantage of the situation to try to understand the guy a little more, Megan kept looking into his eyes, trying to break past his defenses. Her skills at figuring people out didn’t seem to work so well with him and that really bothered her.

“I have to go to practice now,” he said, finally breaking eye contact with the girl after what it felt like forever.

“Oh, right, football,” Megan reacted a little too quickly, instantly being brought back to reality as well. “Right. And I have to go to French class.”

The girl noticed as he nodded his head affirmatively, looking as if he couldn’t wait to get out of there. JD looked very uncomfortable. She was still trying to make sense of why things had gotten so awkward all of a sudden when, from across the hall, she heard his voice.

“Hey, Megan?”

The girl interrupted her thoughts to look up and once again meet his gaze.

“I didn’t know until it was too late,” JD sighed heavily, hating that he had the urge to tell her that, especially when he’d already decided he didn’t care what she thought. It was beside her point, but he still felt compelled to share the truth, unaware of how important what he was about to say was. “I didn’t know it was her first time,” he explained after seeing the confusion on the girl’s face. Instantly, Megan picked up on the fact he was speaking about Marianne and she was taken absolutely aback by the confession when JD added, “if she’d told me, I wouldn’t have gone forward with it.”

Before Megan could so much as open her mouth to reply, JD had already disappeared through the halls, leaving her only with several new doubts.

.

“Hey, Maggie,” Amelia asked for her best friend’s attention with a teasing voice. “Do you see that handsome man over there?” she pointed to the tall man with her eyes. “He’s into me.”

The two surgeons were standing next to the nurse station, both updating charts. Amelia had spoken loud enough so that only the two women and the guy approaching them could hear it.

Maggie chuckled with amusement at the same time Amelia received a look of pretend reprimand from her husband.

“What?” she openly flirted with him, biting her lower lip in a very tempting way, “I just called you handsome,” she pointed out. “You have no reason to look at me like that.”

“Right,” Owen tried to keep a serious face but was having a hard time containing the smile that insisted on forming on his lips.

“You’re into me,” Amelia insisted, absolutely determined to pester him.

Owen noticed she kept staring at him as if undressing him with her eyes.

“I am married to you,” he reminded her with his usual practicality.

“So?” Amelia blinked repeatedly as she approached him just enough to be able to whisper in his ear. “Have I told you that you look very hot with that tie?”

“What is it this time?” Maggie asked without taking her eyes off her chart. She and Amelia had been friends for years and she had grown used to the neurosurgeon’s playful ways. “What is she after?”

“Christmas bonus for her department,” Owen answered unaffectedly while checking lab results for the patient he was about to take to the OR. Even though they still had a few months before Christmas, he’d already notified his employees that whichever department showed the best performance during the semester would be granted a bonus check to invest in research at the end of the year.

“You know what I think,” Amelia shamelessly kept her act. She was kidding and they both knew it. As long as she didn’t resort to anything unprofessional such as speaking about their private life in front of colleagues or patients – and Amelia never did – she knew Owen enjoyed their playful banter as much as she did.  “I think that Dr. Hunt is very interested in Neurosurgery.”

“I am sure he is,” Owen finally looked up to meet her flirtatious gaze and couldn’t contain his laughter. Amelia was playing games with her words. Owen decided to believe she was talking about their son and he could see her sneaky, witty bribery. Sometimes, he could tell his wife was more interested in playing and winning a challenge than in the actual reward. This was one of the cases.

“Maggie, don’t you think we owe it to the younger generations to make sure they get a good education?” Amelia asked her friend without breaking eye contact with Owen. It was now a game and whoever looked away first would lose.

“I think Tom would be much better off if he pursued a career in cardiothoracics,” Maggie affirmed with conviction.

“You know what I think?” Owen stared into his wife’s eyes, making a herculean effort to keep a straight face. She wouldn’t stop tempting him and he could see her intentions so clearly that it made him want to be alone with her, just so he could kiss away that wicked smile off her lips. “I think Dr. Shepherd here has way too much free time on her hands. Maybe she should go back to work.”

“You know what I think?” Amelia failed at her resolution not to laugh and finally stopped with the silly act, having way too much fun with the conversation, “I think you’re pretty cute.”

“Thank you, Dr. Shepherd,” Owen’s voice sounded serious but his smile and the look on his face translated just what he wanted to say to her.

Amelia saw his loving expression and watched as her husband walked away. Before the elevator doors closed, Owen looked in her direction one more time and the moment their eyes met, both surgeons exchanged a happy, genuine smile.

“You guys are so annoying,” Maggie teased with a sigh, looking from the elevator to her best friend. Owen and Amelia had one of the happiest and nicest relationships she’d ever seen and Maggie felt nothing but proud of her friend for it. “By the way, how are things with Tommy?”

“They’re better,” Amelia shared. Earlier that week, Owen had had an important conversation with their son and Thomas already seemed to be a little more comfortable in his shoes at work. “We haven’t had the chance to sit down and discuss it yet but from what little Owen has been able to tell me, I think Tom really needed that talk.”

“Good,” Maggie was glad to heart it. Thomas was her godson and even though she loved all of Amelia’s kids, she had always felt a special connection to the boy. “He’s rotating in my service next week.”

“Don’t contaminate my son with your nasty specialty, please,” Amelia smiled mischievously.

“I can’t make any promises,” Maggie laughed along. “And how is that thing with Megan and the new boyfriend?” the cardiothoracic surgeon asked with interest. Her daughter and Megan had grown up best friends all their lives and both girls were very close to their mothers. “Claire told me she is dating one of the guys in their group. Has she told Owen yet?”

“Not yet,” Amelia confessed with a lighthearted tone. “Meg is taking him to Lucas’ game on Saturday but she is going to introduce him to her dad and the boys as one of her friends,” Amelia shared. She was the only one in the house who knew about her daughter’s plan and honestly, she considered it a wise idea. If Owen and her sons met Megan’s boyfriend without the heavy weight of what the position meant, maybe they would be able to form a little less biased opinion of the guy before the Hunt boys crucified him, which would invariably happen as soon as Megan told her father and brothers about their real relationship status. “I actually have plans to pick up Megan from school tomorrow. She asked me to go the market with her to buy lobster or something like that… For some reason she is cooking dinner every night this week,” Amelia looked up and met her friend’s eyes. “I think she is really trying to soften Owen before Saturday.”

Maggie had fun with the plot.

“Are you sure she is really your kid?” the cardiothoracic surgeon asked with playful sarcasm. Amelia laughed, agreeing with head. Her daughter had the same sneaky manners as she. “Well, I guess as long as Megan is happy, neither Owen nor the boys have any right to meddle,” Maggie pointed out.

“Agreed,” Amelia replied with heartfelt contentment. “Now, who is going to help me convince them of that? Because that’s a whole different story.”

Maggie stopped what she was doing and processed the question for a moment.

“Good point…” the surgeon added, glad she wasn’t in Amelia’s shoes. “I honestly have no idea.”

 --

next chapter finally brings the answer to the question of “what the hell happened to Lucas, Emily and Amelia five years ago?”

#omelia #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #greysanatomy #myboys #myboysfanfiction #omeliafanfics #omeliafic #amenff

[jordan202]

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon - Chapter 11

thanks @jia911 for your much appreciated help! 

Previous chapters are HERE on the master post 

So, this chapter is focused entirely around 2 characters. It was originally a part of chapter 10, but it would make the chapter too long and exhausting, so I decided to make this a chapter of its own. I think this conversation was long overdue and maybe some answers will come out of it :) Enjoy it, guys! thanks for the support!

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon - Chapter 11

Emily took a deep breath before finally knocking on the large wooden door.

The journalist had promised Lucas that at least once, she would meet him to discuss the documents she’d prepared the previous week. The day to keep her word had come. He’d had a few days to look through everything and even though Emily knew he had a busy schedule with practices and sponsor meetings, she knew she’d given him enough time to be at least familiarized with everything.

“Hi,” Lucas opened the door making way for her to come inside. It was a little past seven on a weeknight and he was pretty exhausted from training all day, but her presence made him feel instantly energized. “I am glad you could make it.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure I’d finish work on time,” Emily replied with a shy smile, quietly following him to the living room. Now that she had been working in the sports newsroom for a while, her editor was giving her increasingly harder and more extensive assignments. Emily could only suppose that meant he was satisfied with her work.

“I am to take that things at the office are progressing well, then?” Lucas grinned, trying to keep a light atmosphere.

“There this is annoying local jock who is making his debut game on Saturday so my people have been busy with the coverage,” Emily pestered him, hearing a delighted laugh in return. “Other than that, it’s going well,” she added to finally answer his question.

“I am glad things are working out for you here in Seattle,” Lucas affirmed with honesty.

“I am too,” Emily shrugged discreetly. She had finally gotten a hold of her sister the day before and now, more than ever, it seemed like they could finally sell the house. That would finalize things for Emily in her hometown, at last allowing the journalist to fly back to New York and hopefully resume her job there. “It’s just a temporary position, though, so I am not keeping my hopes up.”

“Right,” Lucas agreed with a head nod. He already knew that Emily didn’t plan to stick around for long and yet, every time he heard her say it, it hurt to think he was probably never going to see her again.

That was especially hard to convey when she stood in the middle of his apartment looking more fragile and vulnerable than he’d ever seen her. Lucas knew Emily was strong and driven. He’d witnessed first hand just how determined and hardworking she could be. But now, even though she obviously had her act together, Lucas could distinguish on her façade just how emotionally exhausted she should be after the intense events that had taken place in her life.

“So, I read your files,” Lucas started, pointing to the glass table where he’d stacked all the documents she’d brought days before. “To be honest, I mostly listened,” he corrected himself with a smile, pointing to a silver computer right in the middle of the paperwork. The fact Emily had cared enough to make an audio file just so he could have a better chance of understanding the proposals had really touched him. “But before we get to business, I was thinking maybe we could get something to eat?” he raised an eyebrow, not sure she’d accept his idea. “How about a pizza?”

Emily seemed to think about it for a moment before finally deciding.

“Okay,” she smiled, seeing how he’d approved of her choice.

“You can choose the topping,” Lucas teased her, already with the phone in hand. “Otherwise you’re just going to complain about whichever one I pick.”

“No, I won’t,” Emily scowled in protest.

“Can I choose whatever I want then?” Lucas raised an eyebrow as if testing her.

Emily looked from his eyes to the phone in his hands as she pondered, finally turning her face up again.

“Give that to me,” the journalist grabbed the phone from his hand, looking over the many options. Not giving him the satisfaction to acknowledge he was right, Emily settled for a choice she knew they’d both like and immediately after suggested they got to business already.

For the following minutes, Emily patiently went over each business proposal she had suggested for him. The girl was especially clear on the fact that Lucas didn’t have to decide anything at that very moment, since those were decisions that would affect him on the long run and therefore had to be carefully thought. Over the last five years, she had followed up Lucas’ career from a distance, every now and then hearing on the TV how successful he had become. But even though she knew beforehand he was an accomplished athlete, never had she imagined that he would have so many resources at his disposal at such a young age.

After weeks covering sports, Emily had learned that majority of star athletes’ incomes came from sponsors and with Lucas it was no different. After analyzing his professional contracts and studying his bank accounts, she’d learned that a big chunk of his earnings came from a leading sports manufacturer and a worldwide famous apparel company that had Lucas stamping quite a few of their campaigns.

Emily knew she hadn’t really talked about the revelation she’d made last time they were together and honestly, the girl had no idea if that was a good or bad thing. She supposed it was probably for the best. They had no business having an opinion on each other’s personal lives anymore and even if that sounded a bit harsh, it was just easier that way.

During the time she was sitting next to him carefully going through every detail of what he needed to know before investing his money, Lucas tried to ignore how adorably cute Emily looked with her elegant reading glasses. Her hair was tied up on a loose bun and since the journalist had gone there straight from work, she was still wearing her office clothes.

Lucas wondered how she was able to still look so sophisticated and charming after a full day. He couldn’t help leaning in a bit closer when she started to explain the differences between short and long term outcomes for buying stock market actions, unconsciously attracted by the familiar scent of her hair.

Had her neck always been this slim and feminine? Lucas was so distracted by his own thoughts that he didn’t hear a word of what she was saying. The way her auburn locks were held high on her head exposed the back of her neck entirely to him and Lucas wondered if her skin was still just as soft and delicate as…

“Are you listening to me?” Emily interrupted his thoughts just as they were about to get dangerously inviting. She saw the answer on his face and explained, “I asked if you’re tired. It’s okay to take a break if this is too much at once,” she added after seeing the look of confusion on his face.

“Yeah, yeah,” Lucas agreed instantly, suddenly being brought to reality by her unexpected interruption. He straightened his back to stretch his muscles, feeling them familiarly sore after a full day of practice.

“Are you fed up with all this talk yet?” Emily asked with a sympathetic nod. She could go on for hours on the subject, but she knew Lucas felt differently about it. Over the years, Emily had come to learn that very few people found discussing financial plans as fascinating as she did.

“Oh, no, I love the stock market,” Lucas playfully replied, knowing it was obvious he was lying.

“I am sure you do,” Emily replied, contaminated by his good mood. She was glad that some of the previous awkwardness of their encounter had dissipated and now they could act spontaneously around each other again. For a moment, it felt like she was back in time.

“Nothing is a bigger turn on than hearing the words Nasdaq and NYSE in the same sentence,” Lucas teased while keeping a straight face, which only prompted her to laugh.

Emily was about to reply when the doorbell rang. Lucas went to get the pizza, instructing her where to go around in the kitchen to get them glasses and plates.

“Do you like red wine?” the boy chose a bottle from the small cellar he had by one corner of the fireplace.

“I don’t really drink,” Emily said with sincerity. Her father had been a heavy drinker and his condition had pretty much ruined her family, invariably giving the girl a certain aversion for anything alcoholic.

“Do you want to try a sip of this, though?” Lucas raised the bottle and brought it to the kitchen, placing the pizza and the wine on the isle between them. “This one was a gift from my godmother,” he smiled fondly as he thought about Addison. “She’s always had great taste for drinks.”

“Okay, but just one sip,” Emily agreed with a shy smile watching as he skillfully maneuvered a corkscrew. “How is she, by the way?” the journalist asked, accepting the sample Lucas was now offering in a glass. She’d met Lucas’ godmother briefly only once, but Emily had already heard a great deal about her. Lucas had always had a special connection with her and from what little Emily had gathered, the feeling was mutual.

“I tried to get her here for Saturday but sadly for me, she is just too successful in her business and can’t make it,” Lucas explained with a sigh of conformation. If it were up to him, he would have everyone there on Saturday. There was nothing more enjoyable to him than having his entire family together. The more, the merrier.

“Are Danny and Robbie coming?” Emily asked before she carefully took a bite of her slice, watching as Lucas did the same. She knew his younger brothers were far away at a Military Academy but their presence would probably mean the world to him.

“Yeah, they’re coming,” Lucas replied with a big smile, touched that she had asked.

“So…” Emily bit her lower lip after taking a quick look around. “I know I said this before but you really have a nice place. It’s very…” she pondered a bit, looking for the best word to describe it. “I don’t know, it just has a homey kind of feeling to it.”

“I know what you mean,” Lucas replied with a smile. “It’s what I intended when I set up the place, I guess… To be honest, I am just happy I haven’t burned it to the ground yet,” he added, making her laugh.

“I was just about to say that you living on your own is by itself a big accomplishment,” Emily mocked him.

“I had to learn the hard way that dish soap and dish water detergent are two completely separate things, but I am managing,” Lucas made fun of himself and his awful housework skills. “One giant wave of suds flooding the kitchen was enough to make me learn.”

“I guess one is one too many,” Emily laughed, having fun just imagining the scene.

Lucas couldn’t think of a response to say because he was too busy admiring the soft lines on her face as she clearly had a good time. He tried not to think about how easily the conversation seemed to flow when they were together and just how happy he always felt whenever he made her smile. But none of that mattered now because Emily’s smiles didn’t belong to him anymore. Instead, they were promised to some other guy, the one who would probably be rewarded with the delicious sound of her laughter every night for the rest of their lives.

Emily noticed how the expression on his face subtly changed from friendly and warm to sullen and somewhat distant. Before she could think about it, he opened his mouth to talk.

“Does he make you laugh like that?”

Lucas’ low, broken voice silenced the remainder of her chuckles, causing the girl to immediately straighten herself on the stool she sat on. This time, Emily could tell Lucas wasn’t telling a joke or making a playful remark. She knew exactly whom he was talking about. The existence of her fiancé, although not discussed, was obviously the source of the tension lingering between them throughout the evening.

Emily thought about ways to dodge the question. But this was one of the rare occasions when her brilliant thinking mind fail her, completely obliterated by her feelings.

“He doesn’t make me cry.”

Lucas understood the meaning of the message in between the lines. The raw honesty of her confession broke his heart because he knew he’d been the one to cause those tears once, therefore earning the comparison. And to his own dismay, the boy wondered if he’d been the one to ultimately make Emily believe that the content of her answer alone was good enough.

“Point taken…” Lucas returned his glass to the kitchen isle, suddenly not inclined to drink anymore. He watched as Emily sat in silence, looking just as confused as he was but now that the long ago buried subject had been touched, Lucas thought it was best to quit pretending it didn’t exist. “You know…” he hesitated before finally looking into her eyes, watching as Emily sustained his gaze, “When I was seventeen, I really thought I was going to marry you someday.”

Lucas noticed the confusion on her face and wondered if her speechless reaction was due to discomfort to be talking about their past, or if his revelation had indeed touched her like it seemed.

“We were just kids back then, Luke…” Emily took a deep breath, making a big effort to keep her emotions in check. “There is no point beating ourselves up about what happened. It’s in the past,” Emily added, trying to convince herself just as much.

Lucas heard her words and registered them but he knew by the shaken up expression on her face that she was more affected than she wanted to show.

There were so many things he wanted to ask her… So many things he needed to apologize for. And she was leaving town soon. He might never get the chance to do it again… so even though his mind was telling him to simply let go and leave the past in the past, his heart desperately needed some answers to maybe finally start to heal.

“Why did you leave that day?”

Emily was taken aback by the straightforward question and everything it entailed. Her reaction became instantly clear on her face. The journalist was having a hard time dealing with the fact that he’d actually gone there, that Lucas indeed had dared to touch the subject they had spent the past years so determined to ignore.

“Why didn’t you come after me?” she dodged the question back to him, unable to deal with the heartbreak and the pain she’d felt as a nineteen year old girl who’d had her heart unexpectedly shattered by the love of her life.

“What are you talking about?” Lucas frowned heavily, reminiscing about the events of that day. “You had made it very clear that you didn’t want me to.”

“Really?” Emily spoke in a louder tone and Lucas could tell his answer had bothered her. “You really thought it was better to just leave things like that?”

Her implied accusation made Lucas snap. And in a matter of seconds, he got angrier than he ever would have imagined.

“What?” he asked with outrage. “If I remember it correctly, you were the one who broke things up with me, Spencer. You were the one who thought it was best to quit before even trying, you decided that and-”

“You agreed to it!” Emily interrupted him, belatedly realizing she had shouted the words. Taking a deep breath in a failed attempt to calm down, the girl added, wondering if this discussion really was worth it. “I broke up with you because we had to and you know that.”

“No, I don’t know that,” Lucas turned his back on her and walked around the kitchen, regretting they had started that conversation to begin with.

Emily stayed silent for the next seconds, watching as he seemed unable to relax as well. While Lucas paced nervously, she held onto the marble counter and took a deep breath, incapable of going back to ignoring the many issues they had just begun exploring.

“How can you not know that? How can you even…?” Emily’s voice trailed off. She remembered very well the day they’d found out Lucas had been accepted to the University of Washington. He had been granted a soccer scholarship at the same time she’d gotten accepted at Yale, on the exact opposite end of the country. On that same day, the girl had wisely pointed out that they shouldn’t go to their respective universities with the pressure of maintaining their yet fragile relationship. She wasn’t sure their young love would survive the long distance added to the many new experiences university life had to offer. Back then, Lucas had been reluctant to acknowledge it, but after carefully discussing it with him, Emily felt like she’d finally made him see what she did.

“You broke up with me, okay?” Lucas raised his voice in an accusing manner. “You broke up with me so you have no right to be mad at me for not knowing you wanted me to go after you…!” he turned around again and took large strides in her direction, casting a shadow on her face as he stood inches away from her. “Hell, you don’t get to be mad at me for finding out I was seeing other people, you don’t-”

“You were with two girls!” Emily exploded, interrupting him. “I called you and tried to reach you and just as I arrived expecting to see you, hoping you would be glad to see me, I found you weren’t really missing me that much, were you?” she asked in a lower tone, feeling heavy tears pooling around her eyes. “Don’t I get to be mad about that?”

Emily only realized she had confessed her feelings when her own thoughts were numbed by low sobs.

Lucas heard the distress in her voice but what really messed with him was the unmistakable pain contained in each of her words. He hated to be the one causing them, but at the same time, she couldn’t really have been that much affected by the scene she’d witnessed considering it was Emily who had decided they’d better go separate ways.

“You weren’t there…” he reminded her, hating that he was getting emotional too. “You weren’t there when I got home and told my parents that I left school,” he recalled the events of the day he had desperately tried to obliterate from his life. “You weren’t there through the worst of it… So don’t judge me. You can’t,” he breathed in and out, obviously uncomfortable with the subject. “You of all people can’t.”

Five years before, during his third semester in university, Lucas had been approached by an executive offering him a deal to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy. At the time, the boy had been on the verge of failing two of his classes for the second time. Even though he had made an amazing debut season playing for the university team, Lucas hadn’t had the same success inside the classroom. The hours were long, the topics were exponentially more complex than the content he’d seen in school and it just felt like, no matter how much time he devoted to it, the academic life was simply something he wasn’t cut out to do.

Lucas had never wanted to go to University to get a degree. He’d always wanted to play soccer. The sport was something he loved, something that he was actually good at. Going to University had been the compromise he’d found to please his parents, who he knew worried that he had a degree to guarantee a future career in case playing soccer didn’t work out, all the while keeping up with the sport to hopefully play for a professional team some day.

When an opportunity had presented itself, Lucas hadn’t thought much about it before taking it. He knew that if he’d taken the matter home to discuss with his parents first, he might have been dissuaded to quit school, which was something he needed to do in order to move to Los Angeles. For that reason, he’d only gone back home to talk to his parents after his deal was already signed.

Lucas could still remember the look of shock on his mother’s face as he sat down to tell her and his dad. Amelia hadn’t been able to hide her concern or deny just how betrayed she’d felt to see that her son had taken a huge decision without even discussing with his parents first. Now, at twenty-four, Lucas understood that she had been worried about him securing a future before jumping with both feet in a career that made no guarantees. But at the time, as an impulsive teenage boy, Lucas had judged her unsupportive of his decision, which only broke his heart.

He’d always known that he wouldn’t be as academically successful as his siblings probably would. That alone was already hard enough, but Lucas also knew just how well educated and brilliant both his parents were. And even though he’d grown up being told and showed that he was loved exactly for who he was, it had never been enough to make Lucas feel like he really fit in like his siblings did. He loved his family with all his heart and they were everything to him, but none of them could ever really see things through his eyes. And on that day, years of built up feelings of insecurity had culminated with a big fight with his parents.

Once back to his university dorm, Lucas had acted out the way he knew how – by partying and hooking up with random girls. Unbeknownst to him, his mother had called Emily on the phone just hours after he’d left the house, hoping she would be able to reach out to him and hopefully make him rethink his decision to drop out of college and perhaps even sit down to talk to his parents about it before making such a life altering call on his own.

But much to Emily’s own dismay, nothing had turned out the way she’d planned. On the day before Lucas had fought with his parents, she’d arrived after a long journey of connection flights hoping to surprise him and gently approach the subject she knew he was always very defensive about. Over the past year and a half, they had kept the decision to not be together, but that hadn’t prevent both teenagers from talking to each other at least once a week and sharing everything that was going on in their respective lives.

Expecting to be welcomed by his warm smile and tight hug, Emily had opened the door to his room in college with a big smile on her face, only to lose it after finding him there with other girls instead.

Her reaction had been nothing but purely emotional. Even though Emily had rationally known they had made the right decision by putting their relationship on hold during the time they couldn’t be together, she hadn’t really been prepared to witness what she did that day. Her naïve dreams added to the many hours she and Lucas spent on the phone on a weekly basis catching up about each other’s lives had somehow led her to neglect considering that he was in fact free to be with other girls and enjoy their company should he wish it.

And based on what she’d witnessed that day, it didn’t look like he’d wasted too much time suffering that they were apart.

Emily had been so devastated by the discovery and the horrible way in which she’d made it that her only reaction had been to get out of his college house as fast as possible. Minutes later, Lucas had caught up with her still inside the campus. And after a horrible fight in which they said nothing but horrible things to each other, the girl had finally embarked on a plane to never again see Lucas.

Until that one day a few weeks before in which they’d met at a conference room.

It had been excruciatingly hard and painful, but Emily had moved on with her life. After that fateful day, the girl had gone back to Yale and slowly made a career for herself at the same time she rebuilt familiar walls around her heart. In the meantime, Lucas had gone to Los Angeles to live with his godmother. On his first years, he’d struggled and thought about quitting but the boy had ultimately made his way to finally become a young star on a first division professional soccer team.

And yet, five years later, there they were, finding themselves in the same place where everything had begun.

“Why are we even talking about this?” Emily asked, slowly nodding her head in denial. Her shoulders looked tinier than they were already were as she wrapped her arms around herself, desperate to get rid of that pain those memories were bringing. After many disagreements, she and Lucas had finally found a way to be civil around each other and she desperately didn’t want that to change.

All of her family was gone now and for whatever it was worth, Lucas Hunt probably was the best chain to her past she had as of today. The journalist didn’t want them to keep fighting and hating each other for the rest of their lives.

Lucas remained still, looking into her eyes with the same intensity he had been for the past minutes. When Emily thought he was finally going to drop the subject, he surprised her by saying:

“Because we really hurt each other and we never had the chance to actually explain why we did what we did,” he gently tilted his head to the side, carefully examining her. It was obvious Emily was devastated. At the time, he’d been so blindly angry with her that he’d even considered she didn’t care about him enough to actually sympathize with his feelings. Yet now, years later, he wondered if the shadow he saw in her eyes really was made of guilt and disappointment like it seemed. “I never really got why you left that day,” he exposed, nodding his head as if silently asking her.

“You broke my heart, Luke,” Emily finally admitted. He was exposing himself to her and the least she could do was to reciprocate his honesty.

“You didn’t want to be with me,” Lucas desperately clung to the notion. At the time, he had felt more left out than he ever had. Feeling like his parents were against his decision had been bad enough, but to find out that Emily had flown there to also try to change his mind had tasted like ultimate betrayal, because she had always been the one who had never failed to understand and fully support him. “I wasn’t really thinking when I did what I did.”

“I have always wanted to be with you,” her voice sounded like a broken whisper, urging Lucas to come nearer. He noticed how his presence engulfing her frame frightened her, making the girl step back. “Why can’t you just understand that if we had stayed together that would have been the end for us and…?”

“Damn it, Emily, staying apart was the end for us!” Lucas abruptly interrupted her, wrapping his fingers around her arms to keep her near. When she broke down crying, he thought he wouldn’t be able to take it anymore. “I really thought you couldn’t be that surprised that I was with other girls… I mean… I tried to find you in every person that crossed my way and no matter how much I tried, I could never seem to… I just…” his voice trailed off. It felt too cliché to say that his reaction had been impulsive and immature. “I wasn’t really thinking… I was just looking for the easy out to distract myself from the idea that we weren’t together anymore,” he struggled to make the confession because it pretty much exposed himself entirely. “I was never a careful planner like you... You know that.”

Emily struggled with her own emotions, finally losing the battle to her heart.

“I never meant for you to feel like I didn’t support your decision,” she explained, not entirely aware of how much that meant to him. “Why would you think that… Why do you think I flew across the country for?”

Lucas couldn’t really answer her question. Truth was, he had been so hurt and feeling so rejected at the time that he hadn’t really thought about finding logic in the situation. Instead, he had acted out because it had felt like his entire support system had failed him that day.

“I thought you were just going to echo my parents’ words to me…” he confessed emotionally. “When you said that my mom had called you, I just… I lost it, you know? Because I thought she’d played too low by plotting with you to try to convince me to stay in school.”

“Luke… Your mom would never do that,” Emily frowned, finally realizing just how lost and hurt he might have felt at the time. “I would never do that,” she reminded him. “She was worried about you and your dad was too… When they told me, I couldn’t believe it either,” Emily explained, feeling like they were taking heavy burdens out of their chests. “It wasn’t like you to make such a huge decision without discussing things with your parents first, you never once did that… Why were you so surprised that they were that worried?”

“I wasn’t surprised, I just saw what I wanted to see, I guess…” he confessed, swallowing hard.

At the time, Lucas had feared so much that everyone would be against his decision that he’d invariably created a defense mechanism to keep everyone out just so his dream wouldn’t be threatened. Back then, he’d desperately wanted to make his mom and dad proud. Failing at school wasn’t exactly the way to do that. He knew that signing with a team before getting a degree wasn’t what he and his parents had planned for his future, not to mention it was a big risk but one he had been willing to take. And the decision had been too hard to make, especially after feeling like everyone was against him.

“Did you seriously think I was going to leave your side?” she tilted her head and her eyes had so many unshed tears that Lucas couldn’t help keeping her in his arms. The evident answer on his face made Emily realize that he hadn’t really acted carelessly because he didn’t care but rather because he wanted too much to follow up with something and feared that no one would have his back. Lucas had feared it so much that he’d unconsciously caused it. “Jesus, Luke… I might have not agreed with your decision at the time, but I would never turn my back on you… ever…” she looked at him too upset that he’d dared to think otherwise. “And I would support you, even if I didn’t think you were making the right call.”

Now that Lucas thought about it, what Emily was saying was exactly what his parents had done. Owen and Amelia had made it clear they didn’t think Lucas was making the right decision, but even though they’d proposed talking about it, not once had they emotionally blackmailed him, cut him out of their lives because he wasn’t doing what they wished or made their son feel guilty about his decision, even when things had been pretty rough at the beginning. Lucas remembered very well how his mom had called every day right after he’d moved to Los Angeles, how she would often fly in to visit, at times bringing his siblings along. And as he thought about it, his blinding hurt slowly faded, giving place to the wonderful realization that every time his dad had reached him on the phone and asked about his day, it hadn’t been to criticize Lucas’s decision or gloat with I told you so’s like he’d feared at the time. Instead, Owen had put himself available to listen to his son like he’d done all his life, and to get back at the boy with his usual amazing fatherly advices.

“I was an idiot, wasn’t it?” Lucas breathed in and out, feeling suffocated by his imminent new understanding of the past. He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, trying his best not to cry. When he opened them again, the boy found Emily standing in the exact same position, looking up at him with expectation in her warm, caring eyes. “You tried to be there for me and I hurt you… I hurt you even though I’d promised I’d never do it…” Lucas’ hands traveled from her arms to then hold her face. He gently caressed her cheeks with his thumbs before whispering very close to her face. “I’m sorry, Emily… I am so sorry.”

Emily closed her eyes with force at the same time she was pulled in to a tight embrace. The contact with his solid chest broke down her defenses completely, causing the girl to involuntarily wrap her arms around his neck too. She felt Lucas’ fingers softly running through her hair as they slowly broke apart.

“I am sorry too,” Emily whispered, her breath getting heavier by the second. She knew too well what it felt like being alone in the world, so she could understand why Lucas, who had grown up in such a loving and caring household, would quickly lose his head if he felt like no one he loved really got him. He had been so strong to stand up for himself and go after what he’d wanted… Even when, inside his head, all voices were telling him to wait. To hold back. Even so, Lucas had done what he always did… The boy had jumped in with both feet because that was who he was… Lucas always gave all of himself to what he loved and Emily had once closely experienced how amazing it felt like to be the object of his loyalty and selfless devotion. Lucas loved wholeheartedly, without any reservations. He put himself out there and took risks. And he’d been the one to teach her to do the same.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Lucas brushed his lips against her temple, unable to let go of her. Emily’s fragile figure against his chest reminded him of how strong she really was and he hated himself for having caused her so much pain.

“Oh, I do…” Emily sniffed, gently pulling apart.

Lucas’ eyes met hers and a rush of blood ran through her entire body. But before he could even lower his gaze to her lips, Emily already knew what he was about to do. And in as much as she desperately wanted for it happen, she knew she just couldn’t.

“Luke, we can’t…” Emily reluctantly pushed him away as delicately as she could. “I can’t do this…” she broke eye contact with him to avoid temptation. “I am engaged,” she reminded him.

Lucas held her face between his hands again and gently forced her to look into his eyes again.

“Do you love him?” he asked without hesitation, not making any moves to back off.

Emily frowned at his unexpected question, finding herself unable to respond to that.

“It’s not a difficult question,” he tipped her chin up, looking deeper into her eyes. “Just say yes or no,” Lucas insisted. She could feel his warm breath so close and yet… “Do you love him, yes or no?”

“I…”

Emily realized the moment she opened her mouth to talk that she probably shouldn’t have any doubts about the answer to that question. And just as Lucas intensely stared into her eyes, impatiently waiting for her to reply, the loud sound of the doorbell ringing brought them both back from the past to the present.

The girl noticed in his confused expression that Lucas had been just as surprised as she by the unexpected interference. Lucas frowned heavily, unwillingly breaking apart from her to get to the door. If the pizza guy had come back for whatever reason, interrupting him at exactly that moment, he could swear to God he would…

But as Lucas opened the door, it wasn’t a man he found. Instead, a well known pair of delicate brown eyes stared back at him as the arms of a gorgeous woman unceremoniously wrapped around his neck when she jumped to hug him.

“Luke! I missed you SO much!”

Lucas had barely any time to figure out what was happening before he instinctively looked at Emily, finding her obviously confused expression, and then to the brunette beauty stubbornly clinging to his neck.

“Rachel,” his voice was firm at the same time he tried not to sound as frustrated as he felt. Lucas only had time to swallow hard before asking the next question, not exactly eager to hear an answer. “What are you doing here?”

 -- 

#omelia #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #myboys #myboysfanfiction #greysanatomy #omeliafanfic #omeliafanfics #omeliafics #owelia #amenff

[jordan202]

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon - Chapter 9

Thanks @jia911 for taking her time off her busy schedule to help me out!

Previous chapters are HERE. 

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon – Chapter Nine

“Did Mom really cook those?”

Owen laughed when he heard the incredulity on Danny’s voice through the phone on the kitchen table. They were having the planned family dinner on that stormy Monday night and since the twins were away at school, Thomas had had the excellent idea to call them just as the family sat down to eat.

“I did and I can prove it,” Amelia flashed her son a smile, proudly showing off a perfectly grilled portion of salmon on her plate. “Dad just made it home so you guys can’t say I am lying. I did it.”

“I bet it was Meg who did it,” Robbie playfully nudged Danny’s shoulder with his own so he could fit in the tiny screen too. Everyone knew that aside from their father, the youngest child of the house was the only one who could successfully scrape together a recipe.

“How dare you,” Amelia replied with mock outrage, but she had to hide her smile behind the fork not to be caught so easily.

The way Megan and Owen chuckled in unison pretty much confirmed Robbie’s suspicions.

“I did everything, mom only set on the stove,” Megan confessed with a wide smile.

“Which is, of course, the most important part,” Amelia defended herself with an aura of dignity.

“No, the most important part is the part when we eat,” Lucas corrected her, reaching out for his portion. “Hey, you two dorks, are you guys making it this weekend?”

“Yeah, we are looking forward to it,” Danny answered while Robbie agreed with excitement. “We have to stay until Friday night but we’ll try to be free as soon as possible.”

Since Lucas had his first official game with the Seattle Sounders in the upcoming weekend, he had been adamant about having the whole family there. Robbie and Danny were currently living at a five hour flight distance and aware of their brothers’ difficulty to make it to the city and back in a single weekend, Lucas had decided to charter a private aircraft to pick up and later take his brothers so they could make it in time without it being too exhausting on them.

“I can’t wait to see you two,” Amelia added with a smile.

“Hey, is it okay if we bring a friend?” Danny tried to sound casual but the reddish look on his face didn’t go unnoticed.

“It depends,” Lucas asked after swallowing his food. Once he noticed the look on his brother’s face, he teased, “is she single?”

“He is kind of hoping she won’t be single anymore by then,” Robbie answered playfully.

As he heard Megan stealing the phone from Lucas’ hand to immediately start a lighthearted questionnaire on Danny’s possible date, Owen looked around and saw that while Amelia and Robbie laughed at Lucas and Megan’s quarrel and Danny’s predicament, Thomas remained in silence, observing the situation with a distant smile on his lips.

He waited until everyone was pretty much done with their meal and the twins said their goodbye following the strict hours at Westpoint to finally take action on what he’d been planning to do since the week before.

“Hey buddy, can you help me with the dishes?” he looked into his son’s eyes. “Mom and Meg already cooked,” he said in a convincing manner and then looked at his eldest son. “Can you take Peanut for a walk tonight? We’ll wait for you to have dessert.”

Lucas didn’t know how, but he understood the message that he wasn’t supposed to rush Thomas to go home or even offer to help wash the plates. With a head nod, he went outside followed by his mother and sister, eager to see the family’s loyal Golden Retriever.

“Kepner said you handled a hypertensive pneumothorax on your own today,” Owen started the conversation as soon as he and his son started arranging the dishes on the washer. “That’s pretty impressive,” he added, hoping for a positive start.

“Thanks,” Thomas shyly smiled. He’d been so used to not getting any positive feedback for the past weeks that the comment cheered him up a little.

“She said that if you had waited thirty seconds longer the guy would have most likely not made it,” Owen went on. Kepner had told him that the ER had been hit with a large number of casualties following a bus crash and by the time a supposedly low risk patient had started showing signs of instability, Thomas was the one in the room with him suturing the guy’s forehead. On the seconds it’d taken her to leave one critical case to answer the code call, the trauma surgeon had found the intern already decompressing the chest. “Not everyone would have the guts to make the call,” the chief of surgery admitted. “Especially after the rough few weeks you’ve been having. So… it was a great thing what you did.”

Thomas stopped stacking the plates and looked up to meet his fathers’ eyes.

“It’s fine, dad,” he shrugged. “It felt amazing to do it and I’m glad I had the opportunity to. I am just glad the guy made it through. He works delivering pizzas at night so he can go to school during the day. It wasn’t his time to go yet.” Thomas affirmed with conviction.

“Tom,” Owen stopped him from going back to the task his son had set to perform. Seeing he had the young guy’s attention, the surgeon proceeded, “how have you been?”

The intern seemed to think about his answer for a moment before he finally started to talk.

“Okay, I guess.”

Owen wasn’t convinced.

“I know the hours are long and…”

“They are long for everyone,” Thomas said, hoping to sound positive. “It’s a part of the job, right?”

“Why didn’t you update your charts?” Owen completely gave up on doing the dishes and looked his son into his eyes while serenely asking the question. He hoped not to sound judgmental.

Thomas hesitated, visibly uncomfortable.

“Dad, should we really be talking about this?”

“I am not asking you as your boss,” Owen assured him with security. “I am asking as your father. Nothing we discuss here will ever make it to the hospital. I promise.”

Owen had a pretty good feeling about what was happening, but he wanted to hear it from Thomas. The intern struggled a little while longer before finally admitting.

“Brown told us we weren’t supposed to do it,” Thomas admitted after long seconds. His resident wasn’t exactly the most inspiring teacher for them but they were still her subordinates and hoping to stay out of trouble with his immediate boss, Thomas had done what he’d been instructed. “She said that if we took care of pre and post ops, she would take care of the charts,” he shared, visibly embarrassed. “A few times I tried to argue that it was better that we wrote our own because we were the ones actually doing things, but she had us pick up her coffee and run labs saying she would do it and we should just focus on the tasks she gave us. I figured she just preferred to sit down and do the easy work,” he confessed. “I had no idea she was just using us to do her obligations and spending all those hours in the OR the entire time.”

Owen took a deep breath, believing every word his son had shared. Just like he suspected, Brown had failed her interns but it still didn’t mean they weren’t responsible for breaking a rule.

“Don’t beat yourself up about this,” Owen held his shoulder with his hand and looked deeply into his son’s eyes. “It was a naïve move and you fell for it, but the time to fall for it is now,” he wisely pointed out. “This is a job where most of the time we can’t afford to make mistakes, but we are not machines and we will make mistakes,” his role as father spoke louder than his role as chief when Owen added the words, “what you did wasn’t right, but it wasn’t the end of the world either. You learn from it and that’s it. Next time, you won’t swap your obligations just because it’s more convenient for someone else. I know it sounds scary, but sometimes it’s important to stand up to your resident and challenge them too, okay? They are not the infinite source of knowledge they think they are and remember that just a year ago, they were standing exactly where you are. You didn’t know better. They should.”

Thomas took in his father’s words and nodded positively, accepting them.

“I just thought…” he struggled. “I thought that this was one of those things we learn in med school but do differently in real life, you know?” Thomas confessed. “She spoke so comfortably about it that I figured it was probably one of those things they tell you that you absolutely can’t do but just as standard protocol… Kind of like having a cell phone inside the OR. Everyone does it, even though it’s not right.”

Owen chuckled, fully understanding what he meant.

“I know you’re at some awful crossroads, Tom,” he sighed heavily, feeling sorry that his son was paying the price for it. “I know you’re hesitating to come to me or Mom when you have questions or doubts because you think this will make up for special treatment or put you in a different position than your peers but just keep in mind that before being your boss, I am your father, okay?” Owen held the back of his son’s head, making sure he was listening. “I am your dad and I am always here for you if you have something on your mind.”

Thomas seemed touched by the words because his eyes sparkled with what his father considered to be unshed tears. The boy just looked exhausted and it broke Owen’s heart.

“I know it’s overwhelming sometimes,” the surgeon added. “But it helps to talk,” he shared the truth he’d learned by experience. “Mom and I are here for you,” the chief of surgery gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder before crouching down to the dishwasher again. “Always.”

Thomas heard the words of support and nodded his head with a shy smile, unable to find the right words to express his gratitude.

Owen kept silence for the following minutes, waiting for his son to process everything he was saying. He knew just how much pressure Thomas put on himself. It had always been like that, ever since he was a young boy. Even though he was particularly brilliant, Tom had always set high goals and didn’t stop until he got what he wanted. Owen admired his resilience, but just like his wife had wisely pointed out, Thomas wasn’t used to failing. And right now, looking at the way things were going in his life, it seemed like his son wasn’t in control of a lot of things. Owen could only imagine how much that was setting him off.

“I know you’ll think I’m on your back today,” Owen started out, knowing the following subject would most likely make his son even more uncomfortable, “but I think it’s past time we talk about what happened between you and Kate.”

Owen paused his speech, expectantly. This was a side of Thomas he could relate to, because to him, talking about his feelings and opening up had always been a challenge. He really admired people like his wife who, even though sometimes couldn’t quite understand what they were feeling, did a much better job at expressing their emotions than he did. And much to his own dismay, unlike his oldest brother, Thomas hadn’t taken after his mother in that regard.

“I wish I had a concrete story to tell you,” Thomas admitted after long seconds. Owen noticed that despite his son’s will to hold it together, the subject messed with him. The trauma surgeon wasn’t surprised. “But I try to look back and even I can’t make sense of it.”

Since at that point the dishes were already properly washed, Owen pulled another dishcloth from one of the drawers and handed it to Thomas, knowing by his own experience it would probably help him talk if he had his hands busy with something.

“Well, you know… Just like learning how to perform an appendectomy, talking about these things require practice…” Owen smiled, hoping to sound convincing. “So, how about we take it from the start?”

.

Megan said goodbye to Claire and Marianne in the cafeteria, hurrying to her afternoon class. Her music course was about to begin and despite engaged in a conversation with her friends, Megan didn’t want to be late. Even though Marianne was still pretty upset over the heartbreak she had experienced, she had been doing better for the past week. Megan was particularly determined to cheer her up. Even though they shared most of their classes, twice a week the teenage girl enjoyed her alone time in music class, something her two friends weren’t very fond of.

Ever since she was little, Megan had always been enthusiastic about music. She supposed it was something her father had passed onto her and her twin brothers. While they were still in school, Robbie and Danny had also been a part of the arts program and just like their sister, they’d done it mostly for their own entertainment. Megan knew she didn’t want to pursue a career in arts, but those two afternoons a week were like an outlet, a place where she could be away from the academics obligations and simply have fun enjoying one of her favorites hobbies in school.

Megan particularly liked to sing and while she knew she was no Celine Dion, the girl had also been given some pretty amusing compliments on her voice over the years. Looking forward to making the most of one her favorite classes in her senior year, the girl walked into the well-known room, spotting many familiar faces that greeted her with warm smiles.

And much to Megan’s dismay, a not so friendly companion stared right back at her as she entered the room.

Almost instantly, her smile vanished and she lost most of her previous excitement.

“What’s he doing here?” the girl grumpily asked a classmate, who shrugged her shoulders in response.

Before Megan could say anything else, their teacher walked in with her usual punctuality. Megan tried not to pay any more attention to JD Callaghan and focus instead on the warm welcomes by Mrs. Julian but for some reason, anger was already building up inside her at the mere sight of that annoying guy and just how bored he seemed.

As the teacher kindly welcomed everyone back and asked if they’d practiced over the summer, Megan couldn’t help but wonder what in the world JD was doing there. She would never think of him as someone who enjoyed music. In fact, it was hard to associate him with enjoying anything at all, mostly because he usually looked absolutely annoyed in most situations she’d seen him in.

Belatedly realizing she’d failed on her resolution not to divert his attention to the most obnoxious human being she’d ever met, Megan looked back at Mrs. Julian, being greeted by the smile of the short teacher with a powerful voice and large glasses that made her eyesight as sharp as her hearing.

“It’s good to see you have all returned for what I hope is a year of growth,” Mrs Julian warmly saluted her students. Most of them she was already familiar with, with the exception of a couple of freshmen and the boy with dark hair sitting alone in the back. “You must be JD Callaghan,” she supposed, after a quick look on her sheet. “Why don’t you come a little closer? I promise you we won’t bite,” the cheerful old lady proposed with a kind tone.

JD looked around and noticed all pairs of eyes were on him. There were about fifteen others students and everyone was engaged in conversation, except for him. He had no desire to be there, but after being forced by his coach with the risk of losing his position in the football team, the teenage boy had invariably wound up in that classroom.

Without any other choice but to approach the group, JD sunk in a chair beside the excited duo of freshmen who seemed to only giggle about anything that was said.

“Today’s class will be all about introductions, so I want you all to say your name out loud and then I am going to hand out these sheets with questions… You can think of them as a music survey that will help me guide you through the course,” Mrs. Julian informed them, already giving each student a sheet of paper.

As introductions were over, JD furrowed his brown heavily as he read the first line on the questionnaire.

Do you play any musical instruments or sing? If yes, which ones and for how long?

No.

Have you ever taken any music classes?

No.

Would you rather perform on an instrument or sing for the class, (solo or with a classmate)?

Neither.

What is your favorite musical genre?

I don’t have a favorite.

After ten minutes, the teacher collected the papers and suspiciously looked over at her students as she read some of the answers.

“JD,” she started, studying him meticulously. “Your answers were not very informative,” she opted for a lighter approach, thinking about the best way to engage the new student. “Judging by what you wrote here, I wouldn’t have a reason to think you’re interested in music,” Mrs. Julian added, hoping for some kind of response but the teenage boy simply sustained eye contact with her, without saying a word. “Did you discuss this decision with your football coach or…?”

JD picked up on the clue that she was offering him the opportunity to explain himself and purposefully replied as evasive as possible.

“He found a guitar in my car and assumed I was interested in music,” the boy shared, not really impressed by the deduction. “He told me I either enrolled in this class or was out of the team, so here I am.”

JD failed to add that the decision to bribe him into joining an arts program had come after the coach had decided he had anger issues and therefore needed something to channel his energy with. Football clearly wasn’t enough, because according to the man himself, JD was resorting to excessive force and therefore needed some other way to clear out that energy.

“Well, if you are interested in learning how to play the guitar, we can help you with that,” Mrs. Julian tried to sound encouraging, well aware that she wasn’t going to win the boy over in one day. Knowing that patience was the best approach, the teacher went on to once again engage the students in a group game, watching as most of them seemed to have fun with the activity.

After noticing they only had ten minutes before the bell rang, the teacher quickly scribbled some notes in her pad. To the students, the activities they’d performed that afternoon might have felt like a game, but to her it was rich material of observation. With many years of experience, it wasn’t hard for Mrs. Julian to figure out how to proceed.

“Okay, so I saw your answers and I think I have figured out what most of your interests are,” she cheerfully gave the class feedback. “I think for starters we would highly benefit if we could split the class in small groups and the most experienced students can help the new ones. Soon enough, everyone would be on a more leveled position and we can move forward as a group,” Mrs. Julian proposed wisely, looking at each student in the face. “Jack, you’re with Sean and Andrew,” she once again took note on her pad. “Sam and Barbara can train those high pitch notes together,” she winked at them, knowing the suggestion would please both girls. “JD, I think you’d benefit from getting some tips from Megan,” the teacher quickly turned around. “Brian, what do you think about having Tess and…?”

“Excuse, Mrs. Julian?”

Megan was shocked to hear that the same words she was about to say had already been spoken. Her surprise – and outrage – to be chosen as JD’s partner had promptly invoked her to raise her hand and protest it, but he had been quicker on the initiative to ask for the teacher’s attention.

“Yes, JD?” Mrs. Julian didn’t seem bothered with the interruption.

“Can I please switch partners?”

Megan later figured she shouldn’t be that much surprised, but at the moment, she was shocked. The girl had several reasons not to want JD as her partner, but he really couldn’t be serious.

Everyone else around them seemed to feel the same, unable to figure out why the guy would want to ditch Megan Hunt as his partner. Not only was she the best student in class, she was also friendly, kind and very generous. Many of the students there had benefited from Megan’s aid once or twice during the previous year. One would have to be a fool to…

“May I ask just why you feel like you need a new partner?” Mrs. Julian asked, finding the situation just as surprising. Megan Hunt was one of the best students and everyone in school seemed to like her. It was clear that JD Callaghan was having a hard time adjusting to the new school and judging by everything she knew about Megan, it was obvious there was no better person to help him fit in. Mrs. Julian had seen her do it to quite a few students before and it hadn’t been a coincidence that she’d paired them together.

“Sure,” JD replied unaffectedly, looking into the teacher’s eyes. “For starters, I really think I wouldn’t appreciate the company of someone who is rude, arrogant and absolutely disagreeable.”

“What?!”

Only when she heard the words Megan realized she had been the one to say them.

But despite her tone of outrage and obvious fury, JD simply glanced over his shoulder, looked at her and without a word looked back at the teacher.

“So, can I please be on someone else’s team?”

“Hmm…” Mrs. Julian had been caught off guard but following her peaceful nature, she tried to resolve the situation in the best way she could think of. “It really surprises me that you have that opinion of Megan, JD,” the teacher said, being supported by the other students in class. “I really think you are not being very fair to her.”

“Well, I am not interested in being his partner either,” Megan interfered. The flushed look on her face showed how enraged she was, contrasting with the easy, calm manners JD was showing. That infuriated Megan even more. “Why would I want to be near someone who has his head too high up his ass to actually be a decent human being?”

Mrs. Julian was left in shock. Never before had she seen one of her favorite students acting so emotional. But to her surprise, the nasty comment was enough to make the problematic student on her left actually laugh.

“See, she is a bully,” JD added, as if proving a point, even though a smile still lingered on his lips. “I don’t want her near me.”

“You are the worst kind of human being!” Megan abruptly stood up. How could he call her a bully? She was absolutely against any kind of discrimination and did her very best to make sure everyone could fit in, no matter how different they seemed at first glance! She was even…

“Enough!” Mrs. Julian cut the discussion off, using a harsher tone than she was used to.

Megan figured things had gotten a little out of control when she realized she was the only one in the classroom standing up. More than a dozen students had their eyes fixated on her, most of them holding her breath. Hoping she would just be left alone, the girl slowly took her seat back, taking deep breaths to regain control, absolutely embarrassed by her impolite display of wrath.

Much to her dismay, Mrs. Julian spent the last five minutes of class finishing dividing the class and handing out assignments. When inquired about it once again if Megan and JD could change their partners, the teacher simply said that the assignment was given and if they didn’t work together, it would reflect on their grades.

Megan felt personally offended and unjustly attacked, considering how much she looked up to the teacher and imagined that somehow, Mrs. Julian would have her back. Even though it’d become clear the teacher didn’t agree with JD’s nasty accusation, she hadn’t given Megan the way out she wanted, but rather insisted that she stayed partners with a person who obviously didn’t like her.

As she walked out of class, Megan thought about it and wondered if the anger and sadness she felt was really only about her teacher or the injustice of the situation. Today, she had been accused of things she knew in her heart she wasn’t, and yet she’d felt powerless in face of the situation. Megan knew she was well liked in school but it didn’t mean she was always right about everything. Sure, she had her own opinions and lived up to her ideals, but she respected what others think and felt too. It wasn’t often that she was antagonized but in the few times it had happened, Megan had dealt relatively well with it, because she genuinely respected that people could think and feel differently.

Yet now… it just had felt too personal. As if she had been rejected. The girl had never been so straightforwardly accused of anything like that and she had to admit, it bothered her.

She was just being silly, Megan told herself. Who cared what JD Callaghan thought of her? Even if he’d accused her of a bunch of lies, she shouldn’t mind it one bit. He was a jerk and he’d proven it many times over.

And yet, when Megan saw him walking down the empty school hallway alone, her feet acted faster than her mind could control.

“I really cannot believe you,” she stood up to him, wondering why lately that seemed to have become a habit. “What is wrong with you?”

JD stopped walking, quickly noticing how worked up the girl still seemed to be. For the first time since he could remember, she wasn’t surrounded by a large group of friends.

“You are very annoying,” he declared with a sigh of impatience. “I have football practice, can you please let me pass?”

“No!” Megan irrationally stood in the way, failing to realize he was at least ten inches taller and much wider and therefore could easily force his way through should he wish it. “You are staying right here and telling me what that little scene of yours was all about.”

“Oh, wow,” JD faked surprised. “Not only are you annoying, you’re also bossy as hell,” he added, discreetly leaning over her. “You are way too small to be this nasty. Move, you’re standing in the way.”

“Will you stop accusing me of things?” she chided, determined not to move an inch backwards even though he had approached her.

For the first time, Megan was looking straight into his eyes without any distractions and she couldn’t help noticing how strangely green they were. Not the kind of green that sometimes looked like blue, or the hazel kind with some brownish strands. But rather, a shade of green so bright and vibrant that made his eyes look like emeralds.

“You mean stop saying things about you without even knowing you like you did to me when you called me out in front of everyone last week?”

Megan opened her mouth to reply but the way he’d put the situation left her without arguments to defend herself. JD seemed to have sensed he somehow got through to her, because the guy smiled with the corner of his lips before adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder.

“Can you get out of the way now?” he asked, still noticing how pensive she looked. Had any of the guys done a third of what that bratty girl was doing, JD would have long before shoved them out of the way. He wondered why that hothead was able to amuse him at the same time she annoyed him. And he didn’t even like her.

“I am not a bully,” Megan childishly pointed out.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” she furrowed her brows, thinking she was being set up.

“If you say so, I believe you,” he pulled the strap of his bag, shifting it to his other shoulder.

“Really?” Megan frowned heavily.

“No,” JD smiled widely and for the first time, Megan thought he was actually being friendly. He looked straight into her eyes and added, looking more amused than she’d ever seen him be. “But I am kind of hoping you prove me wrong.”

Megan’s initial reaction was to feel flattered but she quickly regained her senses.

“Well, I don’t have to prove anything to you,” the girl folded her arms in front of her body, regaining control of the situation.

“No, you don’t,” JD agreed with a head nod, and once again Megan noticed he meant it. “Still, it would be nice if you did.”

Megan didn’t know exactly what to answer to that, so she settled for finally stepping out of the way.

JD looked at her one last time before stepping ahead but Megan’s question made him turn on his heel again.

“Were you really forced to join music class?” the girl didn’t notice her face looked more intrigued and confused than she would like to let it show.

“Yes,” JD affirmed with conviction, making eye contact with her.

“Why?” she unceremoniously asked, unaware of the confusion on her face.

“According to the coach, I have been using excessive force,” JD shrugged, uninterested. “But it was for a good cause.”

“How can any kind of excessive force be for a good cause?” she widened her eyes, still unable to believe him.

“Because that boyfriend of yours is a softie and he is going to cost us the season if he doesn’t lose his fear to be tackled,” JD calmly explained, unaffected by Megan’s horrified expression. “Yeah, the coach doesn’t want to admit that your precious Aaron despite having a good arm, isn’t exactly reliable when it comes to facing a tough opponent. The coach is failing to see that. But our opponents aren’t. They are going for him and when they do, it’s going to hurt way more than when I tackled him in practice yesterday.”

“So, is that how you justify your horrible manners?” Megan ironically asked, making sure to show her disapproval. “You hurt him, but it was for a greater cause?”

“Exactly.”

She still couldn’t believe how absolutely obnoxious he was when JD resumed his way, apparently not bothered by the situation he’d just exposed.

Megan was then suddenly reminded of a comment her twin brothers had made on the day they’d joined her to watch the school’s football practice. At the time, she had been reluctant to believe it, but maybe it was true that Aaron didn’t like taking hits.

Well, who did, she asked herself. Football was a very physical game and players were constantly being tackled. As long as Aaron did his job well – and he did – there was no reason for anyone to be on his back like that. JD was probably just being the jerk he always was, because it felt like whatever he set out to do, he eventually ended up hurting someone.

The realization scared Megan more than she would care to admit and the girl strode the hallways, ready to go home. If there was one thing she knew she wasn’t at risk for, it was being hurt by JD Callaghan. That whole music partners scenario was too cliché to be true and it annoyed her too much. She simply had no patience for it and it was better for everyone if they simply found a way to go make Mrs. Julian change her mind. JD’s rough manners and uncaring personality didn’t bother her so much at the moment though, because her biggest concern was exactly what it would take to make sure they never had to speak to each other, ever again.

–

thank you guys! 

#omelia #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #myboys #myboysfanfiction #greysanatomy #omeliafics #omeliafanfics #omeliafic #omelia fanfic #amenff

[jordan202]

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon - Chapter 5

there you go @francescabuccino, upon your insistence! lol thanks @jia911 for proofreading this baby.

Previous chapters are HERE.

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon – Chapter Five

 Emily swallowed hard as she fell back on the chair, instantly noticing the look of recognition on Lucas’ face and just how absolutely stunned he seemed.

But as quickly as the surprise became evident on his face, it disappeared. The star soccer player easily pulled himself back together, allowing his momentary response to go unnoticed amidst a wave of questions and photography flashes.

The way Emily’s stomach churned as the car had pulled up to the stadium parking lot now made every sense. A few days before, the girl had heard Thomas saying his brother was back in town as well, but at first, Emily supposed it was only for a visit. The obvious dimension of what really was happening caught her off guard and yet now, the journalist couldn’t even properly process it, because she had a job to do and needed to focus on it.

Emily wasn’t one to believe in things such as fate or conspiracy from the universe, but right at that moment, she was wondering if maybe some of that could be true. After all, what possible reason could there be for her past to be catching up with her, all at once?

Across from the stand, Lucas leaned over the microphone and politely answered a long series of questions, once or twice flashing his most charismatic smile. He was genuinely happy to be back in Seattle and that was evident in every answer he gave the reporters gathered in the press conference.

But even though his eyes would sway back and forth according to the journalist whose turn it was to talk to him, his mind couldn’t let go of the figure seated in the third or fourth row, hiding in plain sight. Since he was much too experienced in those events, during the round of questions Lucas was able to figure out a few things. One, Emily was in a party of three journalists and amongst the entire audience, she seemed the least inclined to actually ask him anything, settled for making rapid notes on a yellow paper pad instead. Two, she was having a hard time keeping up with everything, he assumed, judging by how out of place in that environment she seemed to be.

And at last, not only did she seem uncomfortable to see him there - and Lucas felt absolutely surprised -, something about the way she’d so blatantly avoided his gaze made him wonder if Emily wasn’t as shocked as he was.

The conference extended for another thirty minutes. It ended with Lucas breaking protocol and instead of flashing the jersey number 3 with his name on it, the athlete actually took off his own shirt and put the jersey on, expressing to the fans that when it came to playing for the Sounders, his commitment wasn’t only because of his contract but rather to genuine devotion to the team.

By the time the interview was over, Emily planned to get out of there as soon as possible and hopefully take the rest of the day to come up with a piece that would thoroughly make use of all the information she’d gotten on her notepad. Some of the journalists had been able to plan an individual interview with the athlete for after the conference, and those were scheduled for the next hour, but Emily had no interest in being a part of it. The last thing she wanted that day was to face Lucas Hunt. Much to her dismay, she found the group of journalists being escorted to an adjoined room where a coffee break was taking place.

Before she left the auditorium, Emily had the distinct impression of watching from a distance as Lucas whispered something in the ear of a middle aged woman who was dressed as an executive figure for the team. The woman laughed, obviously delighted as the young athlete flashed her a satisfied smile.

Emily sighed impatiently, rolling her eyes. She bet those habits were too hard for him to let it go.

Fifteen minutes later, the journalist was about to suggest to her two colleagues that they left at once when the executive woman she’d noticed moments earlier discreetly came in her direction.

“Miss Spencer,” she started, noticing by the way Emily raised her eyes that she had come to the right person. “Will you please come with me?”

The unknown lady then gently made room for Emily to pass and before the journalist could take notice, she was being guided to a room across the auditorium. Emily was just about to ask what was going on when the woman walked in after her.

“Can I get you a coffee? Tea?” the stranger offered, looking at her with warm friendly eyes.

“No, thank you, I…”

“Please make yourself comfortable,” she smiled through the lenses of her glasses, moving around with the practicality of a businesswoman who didn’t waste unnecessary seconds on small talk. “We’ll be right with you.”

After saying the words, the executive left, leaving Emily alone in the room. She wondered if they’d made a mistake and gone to the wrong person, but her name had distinctively been said. After a few minutes of waiting that felt like an eternity in the state of mind she was in, the journalist decided to look for someone to ask why she’d been separated from her colleagues.

But just as her hand reached out to exit the room, the doorknob turned around and the one person Emily least expected to see walked into the room.

In a fraction of a second, it felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs, making Emily unconsciously hold her breath. Steely, blue eyes met hers and studied them carefully, taking their time to purposefully torment her with that thick silence.

The idea that the slight crease on the corner of lips could mean a smug smile was enough to make Emily lose her head with how impetuous, shameless and absolutely annoying her ex-boyfriend was.

“Spencer,” his voice broke the heavy atmosphere between them just as Emily was about to say something. She wondered if he had waited on purpose until she was just about to talk to interrupt her thoughts. “I am ready if you are,” he raised an eyebrow, politely pointing to a couple of comfortable chairs next to a coffee table.

Lucas secretly was having a hard time understanding what was going on. He had a million questions in his head. Why was Emily there? Wasn’t she in New York? Since when did she work covering sports news?

Emily’s confusion was evident on her face though, and she lost her patience completely.

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked when she saw Lucas taking a seat in one of the large chairs, crossing his long legs at his ankles as he leaned back on it.

“You’re a reporter, right?” he smiled almost wickedly. “I suppose that’s what you're here for. To interview me? Well, report away.”

“I’m not…”

The sound of the door opening interrupted Emily and she looked over her shoulder to find the expectant face of the same executive woman who’d led her there.

“Miss Spencer, you have fifteen minutes.”

Just like that, she left again, pretty much sentencing the girl to being stuck with Lucas in that private audience for the next quarter of hour with the risk of looking extremely unprofessional if she walked away like she’d been about to do.

Emily took a deep breath, trying to understand how she’d come to find herself in that situation to begin with. Her career was very important to her, but no more important than her dignity. So far, she didn’t have a concrete reason to leave the room, but if she had to, even though she couldn’t afford to lose that job, she wouldn’t hesitate to storm out.

“So… Are you planning to ask me any questions in the following fourteen minutes?” Lucas raised one eyebrow at her, his excessive confidence irritating the girl more than it should.

Emily followed the trail of his gaze and noticed the small round clock atop one of the high walls. Feeling undermined and angry, the journalist took a seat on the chair opposite to him.

As she did, their eyes made contact once again and she couldn’t help being assaulted by a flash of memory. Events of days past ran in front of her face like they’d happened just yesterday and Emily swallowed hard, refusing to go back there and open that box of feelings.

Reaching out to her pad, Emily scanned through the notes she’d taken. The journalist had conducted several interviews before, with many businessmen and women who ran the most notorious and influential companies and corporations in the country. She’d had publications printed on Forbes magazine, discussed economy policies with important CEOs and even debated state taxes with a senior senator.

But it was only while interviewing a soccer athlete that she had ever felt that nervous.

“Okay, this is obviously not working out very well,” Lucas pointed out, straightening in his chair and bending forward as he narrowed his eyes. Her silence was getting to him, more than he imagined it would. “I don’t have to explain to you how it works, do I?”

Emily looked up, directing at him her most despicable contempt.

“Five years later and you’re still the same obnoxious, condescending, cocky idiot, aren’t you?” Emily acidly replied before she could contain herself.

Lucas chuckled and the way he seemed delighted by her answer enraged Emily even more. She was irritated at him. Great, now they had walked into known territory.

“You know, Spencer, this is the very first time I see you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing,” he stated, looking from the notes on her lap to her fiery hazel eyes, exposing her lack of experience with the job she was supposed to perform.

And God… her eyes! Lucas had full conscience he wasn’t being the most pleasing person at the moment, but he couldn’t help it. For too long he’d been hoping for a twist in his life, something that would defy and test him, and get him out of his comfort zone. Moving from Los Angeles to Seattle had seemed like the toughest challenge of all.

But to see Emily Spencer so unexpectedly and realize she was still as gorgeous and stubborn as she’d ever been had completely thrown him off balance. Lucas had spent the past years convincing himself he was now indifferent to her and yet in less than five minutes, she had just proven him wrong.

The athlete kept staring at the girl with a satisfied smirk, watching as the fair skin on her face was now reddened with a flush of sheer anger. It was obvious he could still get to her, and the realization boosted Lucas’ desire to mess with her just as much as she didn’t know her presence was messing with him.

“I wish I could say that this is the first time I am seeing you and you’re not being a complete jerk, but unfortunately, I can’t,” Emily fired back, too upset. He had gone exactly where it stung her ego by attacking her professional abilities and she wondered if he was aware of it. But Emily wasn’t ever going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how easily he could get to her. “Now we got that sorted out, I am going to ask you a few questions so we can get this unpleasant encounter over with as fast as possible.”

Lucas chuckled, once again too amused by her bluntness. It was obvious she was just as uncomfortable as he was, but he had no idea what to take from it. He had never imagined they’d see each other again and yet, there she was, openly defying him in his own territory, calling him out on his own bullshit and refusing to be intimidated by what he said.

As she flipped opened her notepad and scribbled down the answer to her questions, refusing to make eye contact with him, Lucas took his time studying her.

At seventeen, Emily had been an adorable teenager, with cute hazel eyes hiding behind glasses and a charming smile that hardly ever made an appearance. Back then, on their first encounter, she’d made it pretty clear to Lucas that he needed her and she didn’t need him, embarking the two of them in a journey that lasted months before they could figure each other out and become aware of their own self worth.

Now, at twenty-four, she still looked just as stubborn and determined. But her eyes now sparkled with fury, her soft, straight auburn hair descended down her shoulders in easy cascades, adding a delicate fragility to her looks. And even though it was obvious she hadn’t grown an inch, still being adorably short, her figure had changed. Despite the fact she was wearing an appropriate formal business attire, it was very clear that time had been generous enough to add feminine curves to places Lucas really shouldn’t be looking at right now.

Feeling angry with himself for not being able to resist it, Lucas forced himself to focus on her question, unconsciously deflecting his anger on her.

“So you said being close to your family played a major role in signing with the Sounders,” Emily’s voice sounded impersonal and focused. “Do you think that could also potentially be a distraction for you when the season starts?”

“No.”

“Okay…” Emily waited for an elaboration, but Lucas just sat back on his chair, looking to be somewhere between bored and irritated. She couldn’t wait to get that over with and even though Emily hadn’t planned that interview, despite her mind being distracted, it was in her nature to give it her all and do the best she could, always. She might not have liked to be given that assignment, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t going to give her one hundred percent to come up with a good piece, like she always did. “I was wondering if you would authorize the Seattle Times to publish a childhood picture of you wearing the Sounders uniform? I think it could be a great way to tell the story of how you…”

“No,” Lucas cut her short, knowing exactly which image she was talking about. His mother had a picture of him all dressed up with the Sounders uniform in a frame somewhere in the living room of his parents’ house. Lucas must not have been more than four or five at the time. “My personal life is private,” he added with an angry tone, confusing Emily.

“I am sorry,” she sheepishly said, regretting having asked. She respected his privacy, but at the same time, her request hadn’t been outrageous enough to invoke such a negative reaction in him. Feeling like she’d had enough, the girl got up to leave.

“You know, I know it’s a little hard for you to understand that, Spencer, but in my family, our personal feelings are more important than our work.”

Emily frowned, completely taken aback by his outburst. She turned around, ready to face him and call him out on the nonsense.

“Why are you attacking me, I didn’t…”

“I hope you know I absolutely do not authorize you to report anything personal that you know about me other than the answers you got today.” Lucas defensively said, mistaking her intentions. He got up too, taking three large strides in her direction and easily catching up with her. It was then that became very obvious to Emily that he was nearly a foot taller than her.

“Why would I even…” Emily gasped, more confused than when she’d first arrived. “Are you accusing me of something, Hunt?” She scowled at him, infuriated. “Because if you are, stop being such a dick and just say it to my face!”

Lucas took another step towards her, engulfing her within his shadow. He hoped that would be intimidating enough for her to give up and retreat, but Emily just kept on proudly sustaining his gaze, looking at him with anger boiling in her eyes.

“I am not accusing you of anything,” Lucas cruelly affirmed, looking at her with the resentment that had been bottled up for years. “I am merely stating the truth that to you, your career is more important than people’s feelings, than family, than...”

“How dare you,” Emily interrupted him, feeling the low blow. Her stomach took a turn and she felt a sickening wave of nausea that momentarily left her lighthearted. “How dare you accuse me of that?” she asked, her wrath present in every word. “You’re nothing but a selfish, arrogant jock who’s never…”

“Yeah, I am.” Lucas stated, sounding convincing. “I am all of these things. It’s just easier to accept to truth than to be outraged by it, Spencer.” He narrowed his eyes with despise, bringing his face down just inches away from hers. “Just stop pretending you care about anyone when you obviously only worry about yourself.”

A small pair of hands pushed his chest with determination, claiming her personal space back.

“God, grow the hell up!” Emily shouted before turning around to grab her things.

How did he have the nerve to accuse her of not caring enough about the people she loved when she’d just turned her life upside down to be with her relatives? Emily wouldn’t tolerate that. Especially not today, when she’d just lost her mother.

She didn’t need to hear any of that. If that was the idea Lucas had of her, Emily wouldn’t give him the pleasure of knowing how destroyed she felt on the inside. Before the tears started to accumulate, she walked past him, striding towards the door with determination.

“Great, run away…” Lucas shouted, too irritated and ashamed of his own behavior. But he couldn’t help it. Even though he knew he was acting out, he couldn’t contain those feelings anymore. “Run away, Emily!” he added, unaware that for the first time that day, he’d called her by her first name and that long ago, their interaction had crossed the line between professional and absolutely personal. Lucas’ thoughts were still on the day when, five years before, she’d left him in the middle of a discussion to never again come back. “It’s what you always do, anyway.”

He expected her to lash out at him, to call him names or even come in his direction and shove him away with outrage.

Damn it, if he had to be honest, Lucas had to admit he pretty much hoped that she would.

But instead, she looked as if she was trying to stiffen up her lip and control her own reactions. A pool of tears had gathered in her eyes as she straightened to look at him, too proud to shed any of them.

“Screw you, Hunt,” her voice sounded hoarse and weak as she ended their discussion.

The last thing Lucas saw before she walked out the door was the way her hazel eyes were shinning. Except now, instead of fury, they were stained with nothing other than pain.

And Lucas wasn’t at all prepared to acknowledge how that absolutely bothered him.

.

“Did you bring your own body guards?”

Megan looked from Aaron’s adorable brown eyes to the spot over her shoulder that the boy had been staring at.

“Those are my brothers,” she smiled with contentment as she noticed Danny and Robbie engaged in a conversation with Claire on the top rows of the football field bleachers, occasionally throwing a glance in her direction. The twins were spending time at home during their summer break and today, they’d gone with Megan to watch the football practice.

“I know who they are,” Aaron smiled back at her. By the time he was a freshman, Megan’s twins brothers were seniors and both guys had played in the school football team. “Do they know we are going out?” he asked with careful expectancy.

Megan looked back at her brothers and then again at Aaron, an amused grin growing on her lips.

“Why?” she asked with unmistakable curiosity. “Are you scared of my brothers?”

“Of course not,” Aaron denied a bit too quickly. He’d only spent a year in the company of the Hunt twins, but even then he’d noticed they were very protective of their younger sister by the time he and her had made their high school debut. And judging by their size and shape, Danny and Robbie Hunt weren’t exactly the kind of people a guy would want to mess with. “I know they are not violent,” he winked at her, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.

“They are godsend angels compared to my dad,” Megan reminded him, hoping that didn’t sound like a challenge.

“Let’s slowly climb up the family hierarchy,” Aaron suggested, studying her brothers once again. Megan had four big brothers and a former military father. Judging by what Aaron knew about the guys, he wasn’t looking forward to meeting them just yet. Especially her dad. “At least, I am a guy with the best intentions,” he reminded her.

Megan looked at the twins, noticing Danny was now staring at her talking to a guy with narrowed eyes, and then back at Aaron.

“Yeah, they are not going to care about that,” she informed him, knowing it was true. It didn’t matter if she brought home the epitome of perfection. Her dad and brothers would always find a long list of faults in any guy who ever dared to date her.

Aaron seemed a bit alarmed, but by the time it seemed like he was going to say something, one of the assistant coaches called out the boys to the field. Megan planned to go up the bleachers and sit next to her brothers and Claire, but she saw her friend Marianne approaching.

“Hey, stranger,” Megan greeted the girl with a hug. “It’s good to finally see you here,” she mixed her censoring tone with a smile, hoping Marianne would understand she was just missed and Megan wasn’t reprimanding that for once, she and Claire weren’t their friend’s center of attention. “How have you been?”

“So good,” Marianne sighed happily, looking from Megan to the football field. “I think I am in love.”

Megan wasn’t sure whether she should laugh with joy or get seriously worried at the confession.  She followed her friend’s dreamy gaze with her eyes and noticed the object of her affection standing just a few feet away from them, putting on dark green cleats while being instructed by a coach.

“Meg…” Marianne hesitatingly started, clearly unsure whether she should go on or not. But the girl looked so obviously excited that Megan didn’t need to wait more than three seconds to hear the rest of her sentence. “I think I am going to do it. With JD.”

Megan frowned, unsure if she’d understood it correctly.

“You are?” the girl asked, trying not to sound too judgmental. Marianne was her friend and she didn’t want the girl to think she was against her. “Are you sure, Marianne? I mean… Have you thought this through?”

“What is there to think about?” Marianne asked as if it was obvious.

“This is your first time. It should be with someone special. Someone you care about, and who cares about you.” Megan stated firmly, absolutely sure of what she was saying.

The two girls knew that while Claire had lost her virginity to her boyfriend Steve the year before and most of their other girlfriends also weren’t virgins, they shared the common opinion that the first time they had sex it should be special, and not a random hookup with just any guy just for the sake of taking that step before school was over.

“Don’t you think about it?” Marianne asked her with interest. “With Aaron, I mean?” she raised her eyebrows, looking like a young child who was unsure of many things. “Do you two talk about it?”

“Aaron and I have gone out on three dates,” Megan reminded her. “I barely even know him yet. Really know him, I mean. If that’s the agenda he has for now, then there won’t be a fourth date.”

“Gosh, you make it all look so easy,” Marianne confessed with honesty. Megan had always been opinionated and didn’t just say things, but also lived by them. And she had everybody’s respect. Marianne always felt like her friend always knew exactly what to do.

“Why, is that guy pressuring you?” Megan asked, unable to contain the anger on her voice. Her eyes drifted to the bench and she spotted the tall figure of JD Callaghan as he put on his shoulder gear and then his helmet, ready to walk into the field. “If he is, I swear I am gonna…”

“No, he isn’t,” Marianne cut her short, thankful for her friend’s loyalty. “It’s that I really feel like I should do it.”

“If you are comfortable, then I will support you,” Megan said, studying her friend’s features to learn more than what she was really saying. Deep down, she feared Marianne was doing it for the wrong reasons. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

The girl lifted her shiny blue eyes and gave Megan a look of appreciation.

“Thank you, Meg… hey are those your brothers up there?” she changed subjects as quickly as customary. “Wow, they look hot.”

“I thought you just said you were in love with someone else,” Megan laughed, walking up the bleachers with her friend close behind.

“That doesn’t mean I am blind to all the other guys,” Marianne wisely pointed out.

From their place up in the highest rows, the small group had a privileged vision of the field. Claire wasn’t that much of a football fan like Megan, but she enjoyed coming to watch her boyfriend play.

“It’s good to see most of the freshmen stayed in the team,” Robbie pointed out after the round of warm ups was over. “And Cole made it to starting QB… I have to say I am surprised.”

“Why? Megan frowned heavily.

Robbie shrugged, keeping his eyes on the field. When he and Danny had last played at school, Aaron Cole was still a freshman and didn’t really have a space in the team yet.

“He has never really liked taking hits.”

“Does anyone?” Megan looked at her brother, hoping he’d do the same, but Robbie was still watching the practice.

“I meant he avoided it at all costs. He prioritized it over passing the ball. Cole seemed to have grown up and filled in a little, so that’s good.” Her brother admitted, closely studying the play. “And he has a good throwing arm, I see.”

“He led us to State finals last season,” Megan pointed out.

“I know you’re a big supporter of the team, but you can’t really compare these guys to the group we had back in the… wow.” Danny meddled the conversation but early on interrupted himself. “Who is that guy?” he asked, pointing to one of the defensive players who had just intercepted a pass Aaron Cole had thrown.

“Which one?” Megan frowned, secretly hoping her brothers didn’t have such a weak opinion of Aaron.

“The Free Safety,” Robbie answered instead of Danny. “Number twenty nine.”

Megan rolled her eyes, unwilling to believe her brothers had actually been impressed.

“That’s TJ Callaghan,” she said, unaffected. “He is new.”

“It’s JD,” Claire corrected her.

“Whatever,” Megan sighed impatiently.

At that point, Marianne had already made her way down the field to cheerfully scream the guy’s name in a celebration that was obviously exaggerated for the achievement in question. A few other girls around her did the same, chanting his name like the new guy had the potential to actually save their team, which wasn’t true, and Megan thought they looked pretty pathetic trying so obviously to get his attention. Especially considering he was a guy who judging by what she knew didn’t deserve it one bit. As she watched the scene, Megan overheard her brothers talking in the background, discussing the plays and the chances that that year’s team seemed to have.

Usually, Megan would be up for that kind of conversation, but right now, her mind was too distracted. She just couldn’t stop thinking about Marianne, the important news her friend had shared and how, considering Callaghan’s apparent indifference to Marianne’s attempts to get his attention, that situation slowly seemed to be boiling to an impeding disaster.

.

Lucas paced back and forth inside his room, nervously trying to come to terms with the events of the day. After an exhausting press conference and many interviews, the only thing that had stuck in his mind was the look of utter disappointment and heartbreak in Emily’s face by the time she’d left earlier that afternoon

He had so many questions... Why was she even there? Her presence had caught him completely by surprise and Lucas felt like he was going to explode if he kept all those feelings to himself.

Storming out his bedroom, he went downstairs, hopeful to find someone he could talk to.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Lucas diverted his gaze over his shoulder and found Thomas lying back on the couch with a laptop computer on his legs.

“I sort of did,” he confessed, finally putting an end to his nervous pacing. Lucas looked around, trying to make sure there weren’t any distractions before he finally added, “you won’t believe this, but I saw Emily today.” The athlete finally sat down. “Emily Spencer.”

He looked at his brother, expecting some sort of reaction, but Thomas kept staring at him, waiting for more details that didn’t come.

“How did that happen?”

Lucas was so immersed in his own confusion that he didn’t noticed his brother’s calm façade.

“She was at the press conference today,” the athlete shared, shaking his head in disbelief. “I… I don’t know what the hell is going on.”

“I do.”

Lucas stopped nervously running his hand through his hair and faced his brother with a puzzled expression. Thomas finally closed off his laptop screen and put it aside, dedicating his full attention to the oldest one.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything to you before,” Thomas said sincerely. “I really thought it would disturb you to hear it and you were busy enough with your move and everything.”

“You knew?” Lucas frowned, unable to believe it. “How come you didn’t tell me? Why would you even know that she…?”

“I ran into her at the hospital a few days ago,” Thomas explained, realizing how worked up his brother was getting. “I went there to sign some papers and I saw her near the main entrance.”

“Wait… I don’t…” Lucas raised his head to meet his brother’s gaze. “You never told me.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t sure if I should,” Tom said with honesty. “You said she was at your press conference today, though?” The young doctor found it just as strange, watching as his brother nodded in agreement. “That’s weird. When I ran into her I had the impression she wouldn’t stick around for long... At least not to the point of getting a job.”

“Why?”

“Well…” Thomas adjusted on the couch, not really knowing what the information would mean to Lucas. “Emily briefly filled me in on the reason why she came here,” he admitted, noticing by his brother’s expression that he was about to ask the question. “Her mother is sick. She has terminal stage cancer.”

“What?”

“It’s a long story but she told me her mom is too sick and she found out her sister had left the family in a nasty financial situation. So she came back to clean up the mess and set her mother’s hospital bills in order. I think she even left her job or something like that back in New York… I am sorry, Luke. I know you weren’t expecting to see her, I should have said something.”

“No…I get it.” The young athlete said, falling back on the couch with turbulent thoughts going on his mind.

Lucas was taken aback, feeling a mix of anguish and empathy. He then remembered the nasty way he’d treated Emily earlier that day and the things he’d accused her of.

“I hadn’t seen her in five years and when I walked out to the conference I spotted her face…” He confessed, reliving the moments. “I was so shocked to see her there, I didn’t even bother to ask why she…” his voice trailed off as he increasingly felt worse about himself. “And then when I finally got to talk to her, I was horrible.”

Thomas studied the expression on Lucas’s face, seeing how tormented he looked.

“What did you do?”

“I accused her of not caring enough.” Lucas ran both his hands through the sides of his hair. “I am such a dick…”

Now, it made every sense as to why Emily hadn’t fought back when he’d said all those horrible things to her.

Lucas wasn’t about to admit that to his brother, but he’d spent the past five years convinced that if he ever saw Emily Spencer again, he would be absolutely indifferent. She had been his first love, but they had grown out of it and he had long ago told himself that it was over.

But today she had walked back into his life and nothing occurred the way he had hoped it would. Her presence was still able to bring a lot of unresolved feelings back and the minute Lucas noticed he was looking at her in the least professional way possible, he just got too mad at himself for not being able to control his reactions. Then Emily had gone and indirectly made a reference to his childhood, bringing back all those memories of the happiest days Lucas had ever had.

And how she’d been a part of many of them.

Blinded by anger and resentment, Lucas had attacked her in a nasty way, unconsciously hoping for a fight. But after firing back some blows, Emily had walked out of that room looking the most defeated Lucas had ever seen her. He had never met anyone as proud and determined as Emily, so to see her show any sign of vulnerability had really messed with him. And afterwards, realizing how that vision so easily constricted his heart completely added to his restlessness.

“What did you do, Luke?” Thomas asked, concerned. “Did you bring up the fight you guys had all those years ago? You can’t possibly still be angry with her for it.”

Lucas opened his mouth to immediately answer no, but on a second thought, he held it back.

Was it possible that was the reason he had become so irrationally angry so suddenly?

“She left me, Tommy,” Lucas reminded his brother as familiar emotions got him worked up again. “Should I rejoice in the memory?” he asked sarcastically, too mortified to have indirectly admitted the event in the past had affected him so deeply.

“She didn’t leave you,” Thomas stated with security. “She didn’t agree with your decision at the time and then you two had a fight and she left. And you were too stubborn to do anything about it.”

Lucas rose to his feet, completely outraged.

“She and Mom plotted against me behind my back and tried to sabotage my career.” He stated, irritated at his brother for apparently taking their side.

“Don’t be such a baby and grow the hell up, Luke,” Thomas advised, unaffected by the tantrum. “Mom called her and she flew from Yale to Seattle to see you and just because she caught you in an uncomfortable situation it doesn’t mean that…”

“It means that she betrayed me,” Lucas heatedly replied.

“That happened five years ago,” Thomas reminded him. “You gotta get over that and move on.”

“I did!”

“Well, clearly you didn’t,” Thomas got up too, grabbing his computer and heading towards the stairs, “otherwise you wouldn’t be standing here regretting that you weren’t able to hold a conversation with her because you are still too angry to be reasonable.”

Lucas wanted to shout out at Tom and said he was totally wrong by making such accusations. But they were so absolutely true that he couldn’t even think of what to say.

As his brother left the room, Lucas stayed back, processing everything that had happened that day. When he felt like his mind was going to explode, he went to the back of the house, finding his mother in the kitchen preparing dinner in the company of his twin brothers.

“Mom… Do you have a second?”

Lucas’ unusually serious tone of voice interrupted the cheerful laughter that was taking place as three different pairs of blue eyes stared at him.

“Sure,” Amelia diverted her eyes from the stove to her oldest son. “Are you okay?”

“I am,” Lucas lied, deciding to go straight to the point. “I need to ask you a favor, actually… Can you get information about a patient for me?”

Amelia frowned, finding the request strange.

“A patient?”

“Yeah, it’s a forty something woman with pancreatic cancer… I have no idea where in the hospital she is.”

“Luke, baby, you know that patient information is confidential,” Amelia gently reminded him. “As a hospital employee, I am not authorized to…”

“It’s Emily’s mom,” Lucas cut her short. “She is at Grey Sloan. And apparently, she is not doing so well.”

Amelia stopped talking immediately, noticing by the dark shadow in her son’s features that something terrible was happening.

“I am right on it.”

Lucas watched as his mother grabbed her cell phone on the counter and started making phone calls. In the meantime, he dealt with his brothers’ curiosity and concern, briefly filling them in on what had taken place and the discoveries he’d made that day.

About a minute that felt like an eternity later, Amelia hung up and looked at her son with heavy eyes filled with sadness.

“Luke, I am so sorry…” she started, just as confused about the meaning of the situation, but aware now it wasn’t the best time to ask questions. “Mrs. Spencer passed away early this morning. The resident on call said her youngest daughter signed all the paperwork already,” the neurosurgeon shared. “Emily’s mom died today. I am so sorry.”

In any other moment, Lucas would notice the look of sympathy and concern on his mother’s face and be thankful for it. But at that moment he was so shocked that he simply couldn’t process anything.

Emily Spencer was back. She had dropped everything behind and come home because her sister had buried her family in a financial crisis and their mother was sick.

Earlier that morning, Emily had just lost her mom.

And on that very same day, Lucas had been the one to stand in front of her face and accuse her of horrible things, including being too selfish and focused on her career to care about anything else, family especially.

It was no wonder she had left that room looking so destroyed. Emily was already hurting. And he had only made it worse.

Feeling like the worst of human beings, Lucas turned around and grabbed his car keys, storming outside after making a quick stop at the living room to snatch an old photograph. His impulsiveness and unresolved issues had caused too much damaged already.

It was time to finally start repairing it.

  --

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