Isn't something missing? [attn: Owen]

"I wouldn't say you don't know me at all," Owen started, "In fact, I might go so far as to say you know me better than anyone."

Lynne looked back at him for a moment before speaking. "You're closed off, too, then?" she asked. "I never let anyone in. I mean, other than my family, I'd say you know me better than anyone, too. Even Matthew never got to know me. Maybe, deep down, I knew right from the beginning that he was a mistake. I never open up to people," she said sincerely. "Like...my roommate? She doesn't even know what I do for a living during the day. She knows about the bar, but she doesn't know or probably care about the salon. She doesn't know about you..." Lynne paused.

"I feel different with you..." she said softly, looking back out the window. "You don't want anything from me...I don't think, anyway, although the only thing I could think that you'd want from me, I wouldn't mind giving," she said, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I hope you never stop wanting to see me or talk to me, Owen."

That was the truth. Lynne could handle it if Owen decided he just wanted to be friends with her, but she didn't want to lose him all together. Finally feeling like someone in Wales gave a damn that she existed wasn't something she was ready to let go of without a fight.

"I hope you never stop wanting to see me or talk to me, Owen."

"Me not seeing you anymore isn't really in my five year plan," Owen said, half joking. "I'm sorry. That was a bit forward, wasn't it?" He let out a small laugh.

Lynne felt her stomach flutter pleasantly at Owen's words. But her heart sank when he started backpedalling. "No, don't be sorry," she insisted. She paused a moment before craning her neck up a little so that she could reach and then fleetingly pressed her lips against his. "Not seeing you anymore isn't in my five year plan, either," she whispered, face serious as she looked him in the eye, trying to gauge how he'd react to that.

Not badly, she hoped...

Owen saw the serious look on Lynne's face and smiled to her reassuringly. He kissed the top of her forehead and looked back across from the couch, nodding slowly. "Looks like I've got a five- year plan," he let out a small laugh.

She felt relieved when Owen gave her a reassuring smile before kissing her on the forehead.

"Looks like I've got a five- year plan,"

The words in themselves made Lynne happy, but the way he'd looked back out across the room when he said them sent a somewhat mixed signal her way and Lynne wasn't sure how to take it.

"Owen..." she started slowly, never taking her eyes off him. Her stomach twisted with nervousness. "What are we? Is there something..." she paused and swallowed hard, composing herself. "Is there something here? Between us? I mean...other than this fuck buddy thing we've got going on?"

[i]"Is there something here? Between us? I mean...other than this fuck buddy thing we've got going on?"[i]

"To be honest," Owen said, looking back down at Lynne, "I haven't considered us fuck buddies since we went out to lunch. I've done the fuck buddy thing, and this isn't it. I..." He took in a deep breath and let it out again. "There is something here, between us, love. Not sure what it is, but it's there..."

"There is something here, between us, love. Not sure what it is, but it's there..."

She was glad to hear that he hadn't considered them fuck buddies; she really hadn't, either, honestly, but she didn't want to admit that when she hadn't been sure where he stood in the matter.

Eyes drifting away from Owen's face and down at her hands in her lap, Lynne took a deep breath as well, letting it out in a soft huff as she remembered her words to his sleeping form the night before. "I know what I want it to be. I just...don't want to scare you off or be burned again," she admitted.

"I know what I want it to be. I just...don't want to scare you off or be burned again," she admitted.

Owen squeezed Lynne gently and kissed the top of her head, letting out a soft sigh. "I know. I... I understand." He was terrified of being left again. He hadn't been this close, this open with anyone since Katie died.

Lynne shifted herself to lie down on the couch, resting her head sideways on Owen's lap so that she could enjoy the view out his window across the room.

"Since you can't tell me what you do at your job...can you tell me how you ended up getting the job in the first place?" she asked him, deciding to change the subject since neither of them seemed comfortable or sure enough to move it further forward. She'd get back to getting to know Owen.

Eventually, they'd have to learn enough about one another that whatever they were would define itself and neither of them would have to try.

"Since you can't tell me what you do at your job...can you tell me how you ended up getting the job in the first place?"

Owen shifted uncomfortably in his seat, Lynne's head on his lap. He promised her he wasn't going to lie to her, and he'd promised himself he'd tell her everything he was at liberty to tell. "Jack recruited me. Four years ago. I was working at Cardiff A & E at the time and he told me I was just what he was looking for..."

Lynne nodded. "Ahh," she replied. "Don't suppose they've any openings?" she said, only half-joking. She was more than ready to move onto an actual career and Owen seemed pretty happy with his.

Truthfully, though, Lynne just longed for something that she loved to call her own. Even if she'd been completely serious and there was an opening wherever it was that Owen worked, it wouldn't be hers; it'd still be his.

"I have, oddly enough, another full day off coming in a couple days...do you...get days...off...?" she asked awkwardly.

Owen smiled at Lynne's inquiry into a job.

"I have, oddly enough, another full day off coming in a couple days...do you...get days...off...?"

"I actually have Wednesday off," he said, playing with her hair. "We get one day off a week and one weekend a month."

Lynne let out a reflexive hum of pleasure and closed her eyes as Owen began to play with her hair. There was nothing Lynne liked more and no one ever did it; she was always the one playing with other people's hair. Granted, it was her job, but...

"I actually have Wednesday off," he said, playing with her hair. "We get one day off a week and one weekend a month."

She sighed. "I have Thursday off, but I have a shortened day on Wednesday. Just have to work at the salon for a couple of hours to cover a shift in the morning..." she offered. "You should show me around Cardiff..."

"You should show me around Cardiff..."

"Yeah, sure," Owen agreed. It'd be his first day off in a while he hadn't spent reading medical journals and sleeping. He tried suppressing a yawn. It was getting late and it had been a long day. "We really ought to be getting to bed," he said begrudgingly. Going to bed meant waking up to going back to work and not seeing Lynne til evening.

Lynne heard Owen surpressing a yawn and then she frowned slightly in disappointment when he spoke.

"We really ought to be getting to bed,"

She was tired, too, but going to bed meant falling asleep...and falling asleep meant waking up and having to leave Owen again. Slowly, she rolled over so that she was looking up at him. "Probably," she agreed, albeit begrudgingly. She groaned. "I'm so comfy, though," she said, laughing a little. Stretching her legs, though, Lynne sat up and gave Owen a tired smile. He was right, even if she hated to admit it.

"Not it for turning out the light," she said with a smirk. She wasn't planning on sleeping in Owen's shirt - it was a little tighter than she figured would be comfortable in bed, but she also wasn't planning on letting him see her take it off. Funny how one off-handed comment set Lynne into an internal panic. She was used to it, but it was never a welcome feeling, anyway.

Owen gave Lynne a short, sincere kiss, before leading her into his bedroom. He turned out the lights in living room before returning, shutting of the bedroom light and slipping into bed. "Goodnight, love."

Lynne propped herself up on one elbow and leaned down to kiss him goodnight. She pulled a hair's breadth away and smiled a little. "G'night," she whispered before cuddling up to him and resting her head on his chest, closing her eyes.

If Owen didn't hate alarm clocks before, he most certainly did now. He instinctively hit it as it went off, groaned miserably, and hugged Lynne, hoping to make the morning go away.

"God I hate your phone..." Lynne mumbled. "Let's play hookie," she pouted when he hugged her.

"Let's play hookie,"

"Oh, god, I wish we could," Owen said, burying his face into her hair. "I don't think my boss would very much appreciate it." He gave another miserable groan before sitting up. "I'm going to go hop in the shower real quick. Then I'll bring you home." He started for the bathroom, but stopped and turned around. He looked at Lynne quizzically for a second, looked at the floor, then back up. "Actually, if you want to bring some stuff to leave here, toothbrush, that sorta thing, I mean. You don't have to, but... if you want to..." He looked down to the floor again.

Lynne thought about asking somewhat jokingly if he wanted company in the shower when he stopped and turned to face her again.

"Actually, if you want to bring some stuff to leave here, toothbrush, that sorta thing, I mean. You don't have to, but... if you want to..."

She was taken aback by that. That was a step...forward. Toward what, she wasn't sure, but a step forward nonetheless. Lynne looked down a little and smiled slightly before looking back up at him. "Yeah...? That wouldn't be...I mean, that wouldn't make you feel, I don't know...trapped?" she asked, because she most definitely didn't want him to feel obligated in any way. "Because, that would make things a little easier..." she added quickly so that he wouldn't think she was trying to turn him down. That was certainly wasn't what she was doing.

"Yeah," Owen said, a bit startled by himself. "I mean, it's easier, yeah. If you don't want to, though, it's just a thought. I have some empty closet space and I could make room in my dresser... If you'd like..." he was a bit flustered at this point, a state he didn't generally enjoy. He smiled nervously at Lynne before exiting towards the bathroom.

He wasn't just offering her a spot on the sink for a toothbrush; Owen was talking about clearing space for her to keep clothes. She was torn between disbelief and excitement. He smiled a little nervously at her and started to turn away.

"Owen, wait," she said quickly, reaching over the side of the bed and snatching up his shirt and yanking it over her head, still buttoned, before climbing out of bed and practically bouncing across the room toward him. "I do want to," she replied. "I do, if you're really okay with it."

"I do want to," she replied. "I do, if you're really okay with it."

Owen smiled. It was a big step to him, one he hadn't made in a long time, and he was afraid she'd turn him down. "Good. I'm glad. And of course, it's okay." He kissed her softly before continuing into the bathroom.

Lynne didn't want to let him leave her alone in the bedroom after that, but she thought it better that she let him have his shower in private. Something told Lynne, given Owen's body language and the awkward tone in his voice as he'd said it, that it was a big step for Owen. That wouldn't be strange; it would be a big step for any guy...hell, it was a big step for Lynne to have agreed.

She waited until Owen shut the door behind himself to take his shirt off and dress herself in her own clothes. Then, she sat down on Owen's bed to wait.