Way Back into Love ↪ Owen Grady

twelve ↪ that's an ankylosaurus

    Five days. That's how many days were left before I had to leave the island. The truth is I was full-on panicking. The only thought of going back to my old life was slowly consuming me already.

    "Don't think about it" Nick spoke up.

    "How are you handling this so well?"

    "I'm not" he shrugged. "I talked to Claire last night"

    I rolled my eyes, already guessing what she told him. Your sister trespassed the raptors' enclosure! They're carnivores! Which made sense, but still.

    "You ditched Owen?" he asked instead.

    I glanced up at him from the couch. "What?"

    "She said she was feeling bad because he snapped at her that night and the following morning you ditched him"

    I gaped my mouth open. I don't know if I was more mad that Claire knew about that or that she deadass told my brother about it instead of talking about real stuff. Their feelings. She was playing him dirty. They had a thing, but sometimes she would just act like they didn't. And that night? She legit kissed Owen. In front of Nick!

    "I wasn't feeling it" I sighed, knowing he would understand.

    "I know" he admitted. "She said he snapped at her because she kissed him"

    "I don't remember him pulling away"

    "Yeah. I don't either." he humorlessly chuckled. "I'm giving her one last chance. It's either me or Owen, she has to make up her mind."

    I bit my lip nervously and nodded. What if she picked Owen? And, even if she didn't, would he ever catch feelings for me? My insecurities were coming back all at once like a wave in the ocean.

    "What's up with you and Owen though?"

    "I like him" I admitted out loud for the first time ever. "Happy now?"

    "Who would've thought" Nick joked in a serious tone. "What does he think about it?"

    I scoffed. "I'm not telling him"

    "Claire won't shut up about how he never talks much to other employees but he constantly talks to you"

    "He's nice, that's what nice people do" I huffed.

    "Okay, listen up, I have a plan" he quickly jumped on the couch next to me and grinned. "If he likes you he would most likely get jealous, right? Right. So you try pretending you have a date or something and see how he acts"

    "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, even for you"

    "Just trust me on this one. At least you'll have your answers, right?"

.

    The main pathway to the paddocks was packed with people, all of the security employees and trainers. Something was up. I heard Roger and Claire yelling over the crowd for some reason, so I made my way towards the paddock they were close to. I spotted an Ankylosaurus, one of the biggest ones, lying in the Parasaurolophus exhibit.

    "Always wandering around, huh?" Dyson suddenly spoke from behind me, giving me a small jumpscare.

    "Hey, hi" I awkwardly greeted. "How did that walk in the enclosure?"

    "He broke the backdoor and just hopped in" he laughed. "They asked me to convince him to go away but he's such a hard-head."

    I nodded distractedly as I tried to get a better view of the action. Three or four men from the security team had teasers in their hands, ready to use those against the dinosaur.

    "I will not repeat myself: back up!" a familiar voice echoed through the crowd.

    "Can you make it move or not?" Roger scoffed annoyed.

    "I was in the NAVY, not in Disney" Owen deadpanned.

    "Wait, we need Elle!" Claire unexpectedly suggested.

    Dyson and I exchanged looks simultaneously. Good idea? Bad idea? Definitely better than shooting the poor thing. Roger's presence, though, worried me and made me anxious. I didn't know much about dinosaurs' behavior anyway, I probably was going to fail too. I could still try.

    My phone buzzed in my hands, an incoming call from Owen. Wait, Owen? — "Hey"

    "Hey! Are you busy right now?" he softly asked.

    "I'm in the crowd" I informed him. "Roger will never allow me in there"

    "Don't worry about it, I've got you"

    My whole being shut down at the sound of those words. Whatever he meant, those three simple words made me feel in some kind of way. It was pathetic how much of an impact any word he said had on me. I felt helpless, scared at how fast he was growing on me.

    My thoughts were interrupted by Dyson leading me to the enclosure's entrance. I stood there numb, Claire and Roger walked up to us.

    "Honestly we have no other option. Don't get hurt, you don't have insurance." is the only thing Roger said, leaving me completely speechless. He was allowing me to go in? With a bunch of parasaurolophus and a giant ankylosaurus? Ah, what?!

    I eyed Claire for a moment and nodded as I walked past them. Owen was leaning against the bars with his arms folded over his chest. He bored his eyes into my own and just shrugged with an almost unnoticeable smirk. I stepped into the exhibit with a smile plastered on my face. I tied my hair up in a high ponytail and stopped in front of the giant ankylosaurus. I studied him and the environment he apparently seemed to love so much to break the backdoor so he could get in.

    I kneeled down and patted his nose. "What's up, bud? You comfy?"

    The dinosaur moved his head around and stopped it in my direction. One of the parasaurolophus jumped on my way and pushed me back a little with his head. "What? You're in need of attention, too?"

    I smiled and stretched my arm out, softly pushing him backward so I could have a better view of the bigger dino's face. "Why don't we all go have a walk, huh? Let's get going, pals, up"

    The group of parasaurolophus followed me to the backdoor and ran freely into the valley. The giant dinosaur turned his head towards me and tilt it to the side, probably wondering what the heck I was doing. Truth is, I had no idea what I was doing either. Owen unexpectedly stepped into the exhibit as well and pushed the dinosaur aside, finally getting him on his feet. With the help of some parasaurolophus, who pushed the dinosaur towards the door with their heads, we managed to get him close enough.

    "Elle, hey" Owen spoke up. "You're the first person I came up with when I knew someone had to step into an exhibit with dinosaurs in it"

"You literally train velociraptors, you probably could've done it yourself in a heartbeat" I raised an eyebrow at him.

    Owen's lips curved up into a smug smile. "Technically, yes. But I kinda like the way you talk to dinosaurs, I didn't wanna miss that"

    At the exact moment, Owen was about to speak again, the crowd standing outside the enclosure clapped their hands. Nick and my dad appeared next to Dyson, both of them confused at why I was locked up in a paddock with loose dinosaurs and, well, the raptor trainer.

    "Just tell him" my brother mouthed, in a not so unnoticeable way. I bit my lip in embarrassment and glanced up at Owen, who already had his gaze on me, ready to speak.

    "We're a good team, huh?"