better off without you

38

the next morning i slip out of bed not wanting to wake up owen
"morning" mom smiles
"hey, owen came home last night and stayed over. i was going to tell you but you were sleeping"
"no problem, you're an adult now" he she laughs
"i know but it's your house"
"as long as you don't wake me up it's okay"
i nod and grab a bowl
"you're still watching blair today right?" she asks
"yeah"
"okay i have to run to work, colin is already out and heading back to school and blair is up just get her in a few minutes"
"okay, have a good day love you"
"i love you too!"
she rushes out the door while i fill my bowl with yogurt and granola i set it down on the table and grab blair from her room
"hi blair baby!" i say in a slightly high pitched voice
i make eggs for her and leave some for owen when we wakes up

"morning" owen groans walking into the kitchen
"hey" i smile and look over his toned body in grey sweatpants revealing more tattoos spread across his chest and back
"what are you doing today" i ask
"probably gonna see cole and shane, can i bring jack and ellie over here after"
"yeah sure"
he leans on the counter next to me
"so, how was italy. we didn't really get to talk lastnight."
"good, saw some family, did some work it was boring mostly"
"that sounds fun"
"eh, i have a few things for you at my house remind me to bring them"
"i don't want anything"
"you turned eighteen you're getting something"
"you turned nineteen two months ago"
"yeah and?"
"you weren't here which means i could give you your gift on time"
i run up to my room and grab the bag that was in my closet then run back down
"alana no. this is your weekend not mine" he says
"would you stop and open it"

he pulls out another nike sweatshirt, nike sweatpants, vans and a phone charger since has always asking for mine.
"lana" he smiles
"check if the vans are your size, the receipt is in the box and same with the nike stuff"
"you didn't have to do this you know"
"it was your nineteenth birthday"
"thank you"
he pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head
"alright i'm gonna meet the guys i should be back in like an hour ish"
"have fun"
"without you there? i don't know if i will" he winks and heads out the door

blair and i spent a while inside watching tv along with a few meltdowns from the two of us
i was exhausted and she clearly was too
i didn't know why i was so tired but i literally just wanted to go back to sleep

"blair please stop crying" i groan into the floor as she climbs on my back bawling her eyes out
"are you tired girl? cuz me too"
she moves off my back and lays next to me
"we can sleep on the floor i don't really care"
she continues to cry i figured she just needed to sleep but she wouldn't let me pick her up and she wouldn't walk so the floor was really our best option
"go to sleep" i stroke the side of her head pulling her close to me hoping to calm her down
thankfully she stops crying and falls asleep as uncomfortable as it is i don't want to risk waking her up

i hear the front door open and footsteps coming closer
"hey i'm back" owen says walking into the living room with jack and ellie holding bag in his hand
"why are you on the floor" he asks
"there were a few tantrums and someone refused to move without screaming so here we are"
"do you want me to take her upstairs"
"yeah" i sigh
"are you okay?" he asks
"tired that's all"
"alright"
he takes blake upstairs and hands me ellie as i move to he couch
owen runs back down and sits with me while jack plays on the floor with a few toys he brought

owen grabs the bag from the floor and hands it to me
"happy birthday" he smiles
i open the bag and see a few different perfumes, a sweatshirt, sweatpants and stuffed animal that was a llama
"stop these are so cute, thank you"

*

"did you not sleep last night? i woke up a few times and you were out" he says
"i did i just- i don't know the past few months have been weird for me"
"why" he smirks
i knew he wanted me to say it was because he wasn't there but i couldn't boost his ego even more
"just stressed"
"i know things that can help with that" he moves his hand so it's resting on my thigh
"sleeping helps too you know"
"sleeping isn't as exciting" he tells me
"sleeping doesn't make you sore when you wake up"
he smirks, there was the ego boost.