THE CRIMINAL FILES ~ Happily Never After

T H R E E

/Somebody said you got a new friend. Does he love you better than I can? There's a big, black sky over my town. I know where you're at, I bet he's around. And, yeah, I know it's stupid. But I just got to see it for myself. I'm in the corner, watching you kiss her. Oh, oh, oh. And I'm right over here. Why can't you see me? Oh, oh, oh. And I'm givin' it my all, but I'm not the guy you're taking home. Oh. I keep dancing on my own/ ~ Calum Scott {Dancing on My Own}

Owen's Perspective

"C'mon, you're gonna' miss it!" She shouted down to me. I shook my head, smiling. She continued upward, stopping at the top, waiting for me.

My feet were killing me, and my back ached, and my hands hurt like hell from all this climbing, but seeing her like this...so full of adrenaline. So lively. So...happy. It was definitely worth it. After what seemed like forever, I reached the top, and ahead of me, I saw her figure lying on her back on the grass.

Her body was symmetrical with the ground, but her legs were raised and bent at the knees, her feet pressing against the blades of dark grass.

Yeah. This was worth it. She was worth it. Her blonde hair flowed around her head, sprawling all over the ground, tangled into the blades of grass and the collar of her plaid shirt.

She had light, blue skinny jeans on, with black and white Converse, that was put together with a light purple plaid shirt and a white tank top. Her eyes were fixed up on the sky that was clear of wispy, black clouds and replaced with a backdrop of an indigo sky, dotted and painted with clusters of white stars. Some were farther apart from others, while most of seemed to huddle together. But my eyes...my eyes continued to go between the stars and her.

I joined her on the ground, getting on my back and into the same position as her.

It was the Fourth of July, and while everyone else was getting drunk, and out partying - we were up here, by ourselves, watching the stars and waiting for the deep blue sky to be shot up with different arrays of colors.

I put my arms behind my head, sighing loudly. Neither of us said a word, but it was good. The entire thing seemed so cliche, but perfect. She was perfect. And the way her eyes lit up even more the second the fireworks went off, I didn't know what got into me right there. All I know is that something snapped. Something was different.

My heart grew, and the feeling I had towards her strengthened. My breath was stuck in my throat. My heart pounded against my chest, the world beginning to spin. Except for her. She stayed perfectly still. I looked to my left and everything I saw about her wasn't different but felt stronger. Her chest rose and fell peacefully, and soon she was sitting up, her legs wrapped around her knees and the pupil's of her eyes expanding at the sight of the exploding colors.

"Isn't it beautiful? The fireworks? The view? The stars?" Her voice trailed off. And while I said, 'yes, it is beautiful', I found that I was no longer looking at the stars, or the fireworks. I found that I wasn't even listening to the faint music that played somewhere else, or the cracking and whistling of the fireworks. I was too transfixed on Kristen to notice anything else. She was curled up against me, her hand balling into a fist in the fabric of my shirt, and her breathing steadying as she drifted off to sleep.

I smiled at that memory.

I was leaning back in one of the seats of our jet. Jackson was playing cards with Jessica who continued to beat him at whatever game they ended up playing. Lily was listening to her music. Country. I think it was. My parent's listened to it. And, quite frankly, I enjoyed most of it. Delilah and May were watching the latest episode of Doctor Who on our flat screen TV that Jackson convinced Charity to put in, Landon was doing whatever he was doing {honestly, I could care less}...and then there was Kristen. Her face was against the window, her hand holding her head up, and her legs were curled up beneath her on the chair. Her chest rose and fell peacefully. Her eyebrows weren't knit together. She didn't have any serious expression on her face. All her stress was relieved, and honestly, I felt myself become all giddy again.

As a teenage boy, I only thought feeling giddy was for girls, but after meeting Kristen, things that I thought were impossible, became possible. While I walked around like I owned the place, or, the way I demanded respect and paid it to anyone who gave it to me, whenever I saw Kristen laugh or smile, and even just...seeing her...I would feel my heart rate pick up, my hands would become all clammy, my breathing would go a mile a minute, and my knees would buckle.

Kristen Genevieve Walker made me weak. And I loved it.

I loved her.

***

His arm instantly found its place around her shoulders, and jealousy roared through me. That was supposed to be my arm. That spot was mine. She was mine.

No...no, she wasn't. I had only wished she was mine. She was his. And he was her's. And I was lonely. End of story.

I turned my head slightly to see Jessica walking beside me with her suitcase. "You gonna' tell her?"

I looked at her, feeling heat rise up to my cheeks. "Te-tell her what? What're you saying?"

Jess shook her head and smiled. "C'mon, Faraday - you think that no one on this team see's you gawking at her? The way your jaw clench's and your eyebrows knit together, whenever you see...that?" She titled her head towards Landon whose arm was now around her waist.

"Yeah. I give them dirty looks. But only because they should be acting professional on cases, not going overboard with the PDA." I grumbled.

Jess smacked her hand on my shoulder blade. "Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, tough guy." She teased, and stalked back over to Lily and D. Sighing, I looked forward.

I hated looking forward. Because whenever my eyes trailed forward, they always caught a hold of something that I didn't want to see. I would rather get run over by a car fifty times than watch Landon forever touching her. And she was okay with it! Of all things, Kristen Genevieve Walker was okay with it!

There was two taxi's ready for us, and I grumbled and groaned as I watched Landon making the obvious choice to sit in the taxi with Kris. Just for Kris' sake, {because believe me, I would love to through around some insults at Landon right now} I took the passenger's seat of the next taxi. Jackson, pitying me, and his obvious hatred for Landon as well, went into the first taxi, along with Delilah. Because, although everyone on the team, except Kristen hated Landon, D was the only person anyone trusted to be in the same room with him. Only the God's or some higher-power would know what would happen if Landon was ever alone with one of us. But maybe, for the way I'm feeling right now, maybe it wouldn't be as bad of an idea.

May, Lily, Jess and I took the second taxi - and we just started the car as the first one slowly drove away. Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes and prayed I could think of something else beside what I saw this morning...

Jackson had walked into the bullpen, his face pale. "There, I brought her and 'Wonder-Boy' over here, ya' happy?!" He stalked off. And when I looked up, {yet again, looking forward has become my new enemy} I saw Kristen smiling, giggling. Landon's hand was on the small of her back, guiding her towards the room where Joan would go over the case with us. I stood up, and my eyes caught sight of a bruise on her neck. A love-bruise, my mom called it. I couldn't determine it, but I thought I felt tears reach the corner's of my eyes.

And...from the way the two stood so close to each other, I knew why Jackson was upset and looked pale. And I knew why Kris was smiling and giggling. Except...when I was a teenager, I had hoped, that maybe one day, I'd be the reason she'd had a love-bruise, or I'm the reason her heart flutters and she smiles and giggles...or maybe even the reason when she loses her breath...

But...I was a teenage boy. I was hormonal. I was in love. If only I could've stopped. It would've stopped the pain. And I wouldn't have to feel hurt.