-1Did you know I never realised how many alerts I had for this story? Seriously-- hundreds! It's barbaric, because I think that this story sucks monkey butt compared to my others. Haha. But I do love Sarah Dessen. I get about 3 or 4 story alerts for this one every day, but I just guess they add up and I didn't even notice. I would have tried harder to update then. For those of you who don't read my Twilight fics and don't read my blog, you would not know that I have taken an unofficial hiatus from fan fiction for the time being. Not because I Don't love you guys any more! The opposite. I love writing so much, that I have gotten behind in my studies, and especially now is my exam period.. I have three essays due this week alone (all 10 pages) that I still need to START! Yeah! And an exam on Wednesday. I don't finish until the 27th. Then you guys will see me so much, you'll get fed up with how many alerts you get in your email inbox! I'm sorry this chapter is short, but I promise that there will be another one before the weekend. I promise on Kellan Lutz's life.. And that's a big promise for me.

Chapter 10

"Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe you got confused." Clarke's voice was so quiet, that I was lucky I heard it all. I was shaking my head even before she finished her sentence.

"It was him. I would never, ever, forget that face. " I sighed and leaned against the wall to appear a bit more casual, less stressed -- which I was far from at the moment. Clarke didn't speak again and I didn't look at her. I shut my eyes, trying to think of anything other than what had happened only a half hour ago. We were standing in an outdoor hallway of sorts that ran along the side of one of the main buildings, the parking lot straight ahead of us. I could see it in it's entirety so that I knew when Owen would be here to get me.

There wasn't really anything I could do, because technically he didn't harm me. Will, I mean. Maybe I had blown everything out of proportion. My cheeks began to flare in embarrassment. … Maybe it wasn't him…

Tires screeched and a horn honked as someone drove into the parking lot. I opened my eyes to see Owen's car speeding in between the parked cars, cutting across the lot and stopping on the curve close to me. I pushed away from the way and made my way out onto the cement sidewalk. Owen met me there, wrapping his arms around me. The air that I didn't know I had been holding in side of me, shot out of my lips as I sighed. Now I knew I was safe.

"You okay?" He whispered into my hair.

"Now I am." I said back. I was still embarrassed. "I over reacted. I shouldn't have called you from school. I'm sorry." I didn't look up into his face. All I could see was his red button up shirt, unbuttoned to show off a white muscle shirt underneath. I breathed his scent in, not wanting to pull away. Owen's arms tightened around me, and I wondered why he wasn't trying to console me. Maybe he was angry that I called him away from work? Another wave of shame swept through me and I tried to pull away. Owen tightened his arm on me and leaned his face into my hair. I could feel his breath coming in short and deep. I eyebrows furrowed in confused and I pushed my head back to look into his face. His eyes were dark, rings were underneath from lack of sleep -- but that was my fault. He hadn't looked this angry in front of me in a long time.

"Owen?" I whispered.

"Where exactly did you see him?" he asked, his lips tight. He looked down at me and tried to smile. To reassure me, but it wasn't working. His eyes never left my face as he waited for his answer.

"Uhmm… Over near the Thirsty Otter restaurant. But Clarke was talking to me, and maybe she said that it wasn't really him.. That I was mistaken." Owen looked away from me and at Clarke who was standing a little ways away.

"Really?" Owen asked, I knew my Owen so well that I could hear his sarcasm before he even began speaking. "Do you really think that this is someone that she could mistake? Where were you all this time?"

"Waiting for her!" Clark said in defence.

"Owen, don't" I whispered as quietly as I could when I heard his chest tighten with a contort. "It's okay, Clarke. You can go home now, I'm fine." I was fine now that Owen was here. I turned to look at Clarke and she nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She said and then turned on her heel. She walked off, but I knew she'd be calling me tonight to see how I was. She really was a good friend.

"Let's go." Owen said, turning and leading me towards his car. I sighed. He was going to become Mr. Protective now. Did I need protection? Everything was confusing me lately. I pulled on Owen's hand to try and stop him. He turned to look at me.

"Kiss me, please." I whispered. Owen's eyes closed and his lips curved up in his smile I loved so much. I tried not to notice how his eyes darted behind me while he lifted my chin and pressed his lips to mine. I made sure my mind didn't wander as I moved my lips against Owen's. But Will's face kept popping up in my head. I pulled away with a sigh and made sure Owen didn't see the look of disgust on my face. "Thank you." I murmured.

"You're okay." Owen said against my forehead. "I'll make sure no one ever touches you." I didn't like the tone that Owen was taking.

"Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was someone else.. I-"

"Annabel, humour me, please." He said, tightening his hand around my waist. He steered me to his car and opened the passenger door. I sat down, dropping my bag on the floor. Pressing my fingers to my temples, I waited as he walked around the front of the car. I had no idea what I was going to do when I got home. What was I going to tell my mom? She would be crazy worried for no reason. No, this was my problem, and I was going to fix it. I was not going to drag my family into this. I decided that I was going to ignore the topic around Owen and even Clarke. I hoped that at one point everyone would forget and life could go on like normal.

Owen took my hand after he shifted into gear and we were speeding out of the parking lot. I kept my eyes closed, making plans in my head. "Can you drop me off at my sister's?"

"Don't you want to go home and tell your parents?" He didn't take his eyes off the road, but his fingers were tracing patterns on the back of my hand.

I lied. "I'm gonna call them from Kirsten's. I already told them about what happened after I called you."

"Oh." He said, his foot hesitating on the pedal. He sighed after a moment and drove forward. "How do I get there?"