#post fk

It was a long drive back to Owen’s unfinished cabin. A quiet one mostly, but words didn’t need to be said. Maisie was content to watch the landscape unfold outside her windows, and Owen reached across the console to hold Claire’s hand. It startled her somewhat, given where they’d been before the start of all this, but she didn’t flinch. They had just risked their necks for each other back at the Lockwood mansion. And she had kissed him, after all.

The three of them stepped outside of the truck once they reached the property and stood there looking at the frame of a house. It was dejavu for Claire and Owen, who were finding it somewhat hard to believe how far they’d come since they’d last been here. Maisie spoke first.

“Is this where you live?”

The question as directed at Owen, as it always was. Claire smiled faintly, waiting for him to respond.

“It’s where we’re going to live, all three of us.”

He said it so confidently that it nearly stole Claire’s breath, but she knew there’d been unspoken communication between Owen and herself. They were going to take care of Maisie together. They’d raise her and keep her hidden from anybody trying to find her. That also meant though, they’d be skipping over trying to date each other again. They were just…together, in every sense of the word. And for now, that meant doing everything they could to be everything Maisie needed.

It was about Maisie, not them. Sort of.

Maisie tilted her head to the side.

“But there are no walls…or roof…or doors.”

Owen chuckled.

“Good observation, kid. Can you tell me what that is over there?” He pointed into the distance, his home away from home until his cabin was finished.

“A trailer?”

“Very good.”

“That’s where we’ll be living, Maisie. Until Owen and I can finish his cabin.”

Owen gave her an intriguing look.

“Oh, you’re going to help me build my cabin?” he asked, teasingly.

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

“It’ll be the end of the year if we let you do it by yourself.” She held out her hand for Maisie to take. “Come on, Maisie. Let’s see if Owen left any food for us in his little trailer.”

“Hey, now, that is a state-of-the-art trailer!” He called after them. “Good condition too!”

“But does it have food?” Claire called back, shaking her head when Owen only muttered something she couldn’t understand.

And so the next week went by with Claire tending to Maisie on and off, as well as doing some shopping – food, building supplies, etc. – and helping Owen build his cabin. They made a great deal of progress working together, but they didn’t talk much unless it was about Maisie. They stayed focused on the task at hand.

It was a few more days before Owen prompted Claire for more than that.

“So, I’ve been thinking,” he said between hammering.

“Yeah?” she asked, doing her own share of hammering.

“What are you gonna do with your place back in the city? I mean, are you gonna stay here with us.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Owen.”

“Well, that’s great and all, Claire, but you must have rent and all your stuff back at your place. You can’t just let it…sit there.”

She sighed and paused.

“You want me to go?”

“Hey, no, I don’t want you to go. Not permanently. But…” He shrugged. “Take care of your business, and then come back to us. You can take the truck, maybe fill up the gas a time or two.” He flashed a subtle smile at her.

She rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Okay. Just a couple days, then I’ll be back.” She glanced over her shoulder at Maisie watching them curiously.

“We’ll be fine,” Owen assured her. “She’ll be fine.”

Claire’s smile was a little more forced this time, but she nodded and started descending her ladder. She squatted so she was on Maisie’s level.

“I’m gonna go.”

“Shopping again?” Maisie asked curiously.

Claire shook her head.

“I need to go back to my apartment, get everything packed up and taken care of, and then I’ll be back. It’ll just be a few short days.” She lowered her voice. “Think you can watch over Owen for me?”

Maisie nodded confidently, smiling.

Claire smiled in return.

“That’s my girl.”

She stroked her hair softly and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I’ll be back.”

True to her word, Claire was back a few days later with some extra money in her pocket after selling the bigger ticket items in her apartment and a truck full of smaller things, things they’d need and mementos of things she didn’t want to forget, a picture frame with her and her sister in it, things of that nature.

Maisie actually ran and hugged her when she got back, which was a pleasant surprise, since Claire had only seen her act so affectionately towards Owen.

“Hey, I said I’d be back.”

“We missed you,” Owen said, walking towards them. His eyes lowered to her lips, but he didn’t do what he wanted to in that moment. Mostly because of Maisie, but also because they hadn’t kissed since that night in the Lockwood mansion, and he was afraid she’d reject him.

“Well, I’m back.” She smiled, letting silence hang after she’d spoken the words. “I thought I could just keep most of my stuff in the truck until there’s space to put it someplace else.”

Owen nodded.

“Sounds like a plan. Food’s inside,” he said.

“Oh?”

“He’s been cooking,” Maisie informed her.

“Well, color me intrigued. Let’s check it out.”

Maisie took her hand and led her into the trailer where food awaited in the little kitchen.

Later that evening when Maisie was asleep, Owen approached Claire digging around in the truck for some of her belongings. Maybe some clothes, he guessed, but there was no harm in asking.

“I thought you were going to keep your stuff in the truck for a while,” he said, his hand practically hovering over her ass sticking out of the open door. If it had been a year ago, he would’ve smacked or grabbed it playfully, but he didn’t know where they stood right now. Not really. So he retracted the thought and his hand.

“Just getting some clothes.”

She jumped out of the truck with a bag in her arms partially unzipped. Owen spotted some lace and reached for it.

“Ooo, what’s this?”

“Owen!” She tried to reach for the garment, but it was out of reach as soon as he’d snatched it from her bag.

“I remember this bra. I remember taking it off of you.”

Her cheeks flushed bright red.

“Yes, well, that was another time.” She managed to reach it and stuff it back in her bag. “It’s not like that anymore. We’re not-”

“We’re not?” he asked, and she thought she heard a sad tone to his voice.

She avoided eye contact.

“The priority now is Maisie, not us.” She tried to move past him, but he caught her arm.

“Uh-uh, not so fast.”

Her eyes fastened to his, and she couldn’t move.

“You feel a responsibility to Maisie, and I understand that. I do too. But this is about more than just protecting and raising a 10-year-old, who just so happens to be a replica of Lockwood’s daughter.”

“It is?”

“You kissed me, Claire. And I know you meant it.”

“I…” She didn’t know what to say. She had meant it, but it had also been a device to get him to go save Maisie at the time. It had all been for Maisie.

“You still have feelings for me. Admit it.” He sighed when she didn’t respond. “We’re not in a van on the side of the road anymore, and obviously I’m fine with you driving my truck.”

She scoffed. “Owen.”

“I love you, Claire.”

Her eyes went wide.

“I know I didn’t say it when we were together, and neither did you, but you should know that’s how I feel. I want us to be together again – not just raising Maisie as pseudo parents, which is a big job in and of itself. But together. You know?”

Claire hesitated, then dropped her bag, grabbed his face and kissed him.

“I want that too, Owen,” she said when they parted.

“Oh, yeah?” he asked, teasingly. “Well now we’re talking that.”

She rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Come on. There’s another bag in there you can help me take in.”

She started to walk away, so he smacked her behind before she could get too far, and she yelped.

“Owen!” She yell-whispered.

He shrugged innocently.

“If we’re together…?”

She laughed and shook her head.

“Come on.”

Grinning from ear to ear, he grabbed the second bag, locked up the truck and followed her into the trailer. Luckily there was a partition between the bed and the makeshift couch where Maisie was sleeping, and Owen took that opportunity to kiss her some more until finally Claire pushed him away.

“She’ll hear!” she insisted.

“Then be quiet,” he mumbled, yanking her towards him again and kissing her some more. “I like the way you taste.”

Claire whimpered at that remark, going weak in the knees. She would never survive his little remarks and living with a 10-year-old not too far away. Not if they were going to be a real couple again.

But she succumbed for just a few seconds to the giddy feeling threatening to overwhelm her.

“I do taste pretty damn good,” she said.

“Hell yeah you do,” he agreed, with a grunt.

The sound turned her on and made her want to strip herself naked right then. But they heard Maisie rustling in her sleep, and that put a halt to everything.

“We’ll find a solution to this,” Owen said.

Claire smiled slyly and removed his hand from her ass, kissing him once more quickly.