Our past is our future... [attn: Owen]

Owen didn't really know how to respond to Lynne. A part of him was flattered, but another part of him was creeped out. She wasn't wrong about the other girls. They were just a quick bit of fun, but he'd grown tired of that scene. "I... uh..." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't really know what to say..."

Lynne frowned and shook her head. "Don't say anything. If I could, I'd take it all back because it sounded a million times creepier out loud than it did in my head," she groaned miserably, rubbing her forehead with one hand and closing her eyes.

Suddenly, going home and crying into her own pillows in her own bed in her own room of her own flat sounded very appealing. "Never mind. I'm...an idiot," she added, looking up at him pitifully.

"No, no, no!" Owen said, trying to calm her down. "I just, uh... It's okay, really." This conversation had really taken a turn for the worst, but he found himself unable to concentrate on anything else long enough to actually change the subject.

Lynne sighed and ducked her head a little as she tried to blink away the tears prickling her eyes. She'd mucked this one up plenty. Clearing her throat and confident that the tears weren't actually going to fall, she finally looked up at Owen again. "I'm sorry," she said. It was all she could think to say.

"Um...look, if you want to call off the rest of today, I'll understand," she said, back to offering him an out much like she had the first time she'd gotten a case of foot-in-mouth syndrome that first night she'd officially met him. "I just..." she shrugged and looked away again. "Apparently I'm as big a failure at complimenting someone as I am taking compliments someone gives to me. So...I'm sorry," she finished sincerely, looking back at him and not even bothering to try to smile. She knew it'd look as fake as it'd feel, anyway.

Owen looked down at the remainder of his pizza. "Lynne, we've been... official... for less than a day, and I offered to take you to Paris. I'm going to have to say that's pretty up there when it comes to creepy..." He looked back up at Lynne and squeezed her hand gently.

"Lynne, we've been... official... for less than a day, and I offered to take you to Paris. I'm going to have to say that's pretty up there when it comes to creepy..."

Lynne looked back at him for a moment before speaking. She mentally added that to the list of things she loved about Owen. She'd made an ass of herself and instead of taking the easy out, he tried to make her feel better.

"No, you asked if I wanted to come," she pointed out, finally starting to smile a little. "If you'd offered to take me, I'd have said yes," she added with a small giggle accompanied by a wink.

She hadn't thought it was creepy at all. She'd thought his offer was impulsive and romantic. If anything, she'd been flattered, which went to show how much better Owen was at this than she was...

"Can we, like...go? Before I say something even more stupid?" she asked, giving a half-laugh, half-sigh.

Owen waved down the waitress so he could pay and get a box for the leftover pizza. "Well," he said after she had left for the box, "If I had known to offer to take you... Three weekends from now, that's not too soon to make arrangements, is it?" He smiled at her and leaned across the table, kissing her on the forehead.

"If I had known to offer to take you... Three weekends from now, that's not too soon to make arrangements, is it?"

Owen kissed her forehead and Lynne felt as though a weight had been lifted off her chest. He still wanted her to go and now he was offering to take her...even though she'd made herself sound completely moronic only a few moments before.

"Screw 'em if they don't like it. I've never been and I'm going if you're offering," Lynne replied. She could find another job or jobs, if she really needed to, but going to Paris with Owen might be a one-time opportunity. It wasn't like she'd miss her jobs an awful lot if she lost them, not that she thought she actually would. "I don't think it'd be a problem, though, getting the time off, if you still want me to go..."

Owen let out a small laugh. "Of course I want you to come with me. And I will speak to your bosses personally if they don't let you take the time off," he joked, smiling at Lynne as the waitress returned with the box.

Lynne giggled a little at Owen's remark and shook her head. "I think I can handle it, but yeah, if it's an issue, I'll make sure they know that my bad ass boyfriend will have it out with them verbally. That'll show 'em," she joked back.

"You're amazing, you know that?" she asked off-handedly. He was willing to move past her faults to continue to spend time with her when she'd given him a free pass to run like hell. Lynne didn't think she'd ever met another man that she thought would do that if she'd ever given them the chance.

Owen laughed as Lynne joked about him threatening her bosses. "I could take the people at your hair salon," he said in a mock-serious tone before smiling broadly.

"You're amazing, you know that?"

Owen leaned back in his chair, pretending to be hot shit. "I know," he said airily before laughing at the ridiculousness of himself. Regaining his composure, he replaced his hand on hers and smiled. "You're pretty amazing yourself. God, that sounds cheesy."

With every moment she loved Owen a little more. ...liked Owen a little bit more...

He was funny and he was sweet. She wondered if the people with whom he worked knew as much about him or if she got an exclusive look at who he really was. She smiled widely back at him in amusement.
"A little, yeah," she replied, giggling.

"So, now what do we do with ourselves?" she asked. "Like I've said, I don't get out much, so, pretty much everything is new and exciting to me... Still feel like taking me to a game or have you got something else in mind?"

Owen rubbed his forehead, trying to remove anymore cheesy thoughts he had up there. "Do you still want to go to a match? Because I'm ready if you're willing," he smirked. "And I was thinking, maybe afterwards, there's this... band from London in town, they're playing a bar tonight, thought we could stop in and listen for a bit."

Lynne nodded at the bit about the match, but was distracted and excited by the second part of the sentence. "Like...just a small-time band or...one that you'd hear on the radio?" she asked.

Please, God, let him say small-time...I will have to marry this man someday if he says small-time, seriously... she thought in awe and amusement simultaneously.

Owen smiled, looking back down and rubbing his neck. "The drummer was my roommate in Uni, actually. These guys, I think they had a song or two on a local London station, but even if they could make mainstream, they said it'd 'oppress the music', or something..." He looked back up, "I mean, they're good. They come to Cardiff about twice a year..."

"The drummer was my roommate in Uni, actually. These guys, I think they had a song or two on a local London station, but even if they could make mainstream, they said it'd 'oppress the music', or something..."

Lynne's jaw went slack as she listened. She blinked at him. "I totally want to make out with you right now," she deadpanned. "That's, I mean...save the classic rock, which, hello, is a given...that's my favorite kind of music. Live music, little-known local bands who aren't on the radio specifically because they don't want to sell out. I kid you not. Like...that is the most perfect thing you could've suggested for tonight. I mean...wow. Yeah. Yes! I definitely want to do that," she gushed.

Owen smiled and blushed a little. What was wrong with this meal? He never blushed, and now three times in one pizza joint. Shameful. "I'm going to ask him to have a drink with us between sets. We don't get to see each other much, and we usually take his trips out here to, you know, catch up, that sort of thing. I hope that's alright with you." He smiled.

"Oh, yeah, completely," Lynne said quickly. "I used to have a friend who was a drummer in a local band...only time we ever got to see one another once our holiday season job was done was at his gigs; I totally get it."

She took Owen's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "All right, should we go to the match then? In the mean time?"

"Yeah, but we should head back to my flat first," Owen said looking at the boxed pizza. "And we should get the car." He took the pizza in one hand and Lynne's hand in the other, kissed her on the cheek, and led them back to his flat.

Lynne followed Owen without question, excited for the rest of their day's plans. She almost hated to know what they were going to do for the rest of the day, because it only made her realize that she'd be on her own the following day and would have to go home to kill the day for the first time in what seemed like ages.

"Hey, Owen?" she asked suddenly. "You know what I think we should do next time we both have a day off...?" She found herself smirking at the random suggestion she was about to make.

Owen turned his head to look at Lynne when she started to speak.

"You know what I think we should do next time we both have a day off...?"

"I do not know. Please enlighten me," he said, smiling at her.

"...I miss driving," she admitted to him. She hated having to walk and take cabs everywhere. It got to be tiring and expensive, after a while. "But, I think I have to retake a driver's exam, you know, to prove I can drive on the left side..." she said. "Can you take me driving? Your cars are set up opposite the way ours are and the whole being on the 'wrong' side of the road thing sort of freaks me out," she went on using finger quotations for the word 'wrong' so that he would know she didn't actually think it was the wrong side.

Owen looked ahead thoughtfully. "Well, I know tourists drive without taking another test, so I think if you have a license anywhere, it should work. But we can go driving. I can think of a few good roads outside the city," he began to smile mischievously.

"Well, I know tourists drive without taking another test, so I think if you have a license anywhere, it should work. But we can go driving. I can think of a few good roads outside the city,"

"Right...but, um...my American driver's license expires on my birthday this year, so...I have to test for a license here, anyway," she said, crinkling her nose at the very idea of it. "I thought I was going to be condemned to public transportation forever, but my parents promised if I could get a license here, they'd find a way to float me a loan for a car...hopefully I can get a loan at the bank to cover the other half of the cost I'm sure their loan won't cover and then all will be well with the world again," she joked.

Owen nodded and smiled. "Alright, then. Next time we can go driving. Uh... When is your birthday, anyway?" he smiled sheepishly. Seemed like something he should know...