Menagerie

Chapter 13 - Penny

Owen was awake before me in the morning. He was sitting upright with is head cradled in his palms – a pose I had come to associate with abject misery. I reached out tentatively and put a hand on his shoulder. "Owen?"

He shook his head a little like he was trying to bring himself out of a daze, and when he looked at me, it was with clear eyes and a tight smile. "Good morning, Penny. Sleep well?"

I grinned at him. "I slept fine. I liked the other parts of the night better, though."

Dimples flashed in his cheeks as his smile turned genuine. "Me too." He pressed a kiss to my forehead and stood up, crossing to his suitcase and digging through it. "Do you think your brother and friend would mind if my friends joined us for breakfast?"

"Of course not!" I glanced at the clock and stood up too. "Do you think we can meet them downstairs in half an hour?"

"I'll let them know," he said. Then he shut himself in the bathroom and I was left to start getting ready. I shot off a text to my brother and hurriedly got dressed. Then, since the bathroom door was still firmly shut, I started dabbing makeup on my face in the only mirror in the room. It was in a poorly-lit corner and I was left trying to apply my makeup one-handed while I held my phone in flashlight mode with the other. The result wasn't quite as neat as I preferred, but I made do.

Owen still hadn't come out of the bathroom yet fifteen minutes later. Was this what the rest of my life would be like? Having my mate hog the bathroom with no warning? I shook my head at myself. I was being silly, I knew that. We would learn how to be together. I checked my phone and saw that Jasper and Serena would be ready on time. That was good. Nerves fluttered through me and I wiped suddenly sweaty palms on my jeans. It was so odd, having to formally introduce Owen to them... and would having his friends there be awkward? We would just be two factions of strangers, joined by the fresh bond Owen and I had established last night. It was a bond I could feel between us even now, and when I focused on it, I could feel that Owen was upset.

"You okay?" I called through the door, suddenly worried.

"Fine," he said.

I frowned. What was it with people saying they were fine? It almost always meant that they weren't. Besides, he should know better than to try that on me. I knew the turmoil that was roiling through him – I just didn't know what was causing it. Since he clearly wasn't going to come out any time soon, I settled down in front of the dim mirror and started braiding my hair. Since I didn't have a curling iron or a straightener, it was the only way to tame my hair without slicking it back, which I hated.

I couldn't help glancing at the door every few seconds. What was going on? I didn't know him well enough to know whether this was normal. He wasn't running the shower and I couldn't hear anything else, either. Maybe he had some kind of bowel condition and just took a while to use the restroom? Colitis or something? That seemed like an awkward question to pose on our first morning together, so I decided to wait him out.

Only, a few minutes later, Owen called through the door, "Why don't you head down without me? I'll meet you there soon."

I was too shocked to respond right away. Why would he ask that of me? The whole point of this breakfast was to introduce each other to our traveling companions. That would be kind of hard if only one of us showed up.

"Please?" Owen asked.

My chest felt tight and I could feel tears just under the surface. The last thing I needed was to start crying over what could be nothing. Until I had reason not to give it, Owen had the benefit of the doubt. I cautiously felt for him through the bond again and gasped, tears spilling from my eyes as I registered just how upset he really was. I couldn't parse it all. Guilt, anxiety, pain. And he clearly wasn't going to explain why right now.