Would Claire ever get self conscious, thinking Owen might like one of those stereotypical girls better than her? How would Owen reassure her?
I like to think she would. I love, under all that hard exterior we see in JW that she really is soft and vulnerable and doesn’t know what she’s doing in romantic relationships because she’s never had time. Suddenly, all those feelings that should have come out and been dealt with in her teens and early twenties rush to the surface. Plus, if she has dated, it’s been in this bubble of the island that isn’t complete reality anyway. It’s her kingdom. But, Claire and Owen, off-island, settling into real life. It scares her.
Owen’s attractive and he knows it. Which, to Claire comes at a fault of ‘he knows he can do better than me’ and ‘he cannot resist the charms of other women’. She sees pretty blondes who like the same things as him, who make him chuckle that filthy little laugh she only hears when his eyes are flooded with lust and his hands are tugging at some part of her, trying to undress her or tug her into his lap. She sees more appeal in those girls than herself. He should be with someone cute and a little airheaded, who lives at the gym 24/7 and would let him use her as a weight set.
Owen is not great with expressing his feelings. Especially towards Claire, because no one has meant as much to him as she has and he’s petrified about fucking it up. But if there ever was a time to tell her how he felt, that would be the moment. When she’s standing there, frustrated and near tears, having a bad day (because their shared nightmares kept her up and it always leaves her tense and on edge). When she tells him he should find someone else, someone fun, prettier than her. He knows it’s now more than ever.
He tells her he doesn’t want to be with them because he’s with her. Claire is whip-smart, funny, scary serious but keeps him energised, honest, on his toes. He loves her because of how she is, this businesswoman exterior that can run circles around him and the vulnerable woman inside who relates to him more than they both realise. She makes him want to be a better man and in being with her, he feels like he is. They still have a lot to learn in regards to compromise but he knows, together, eventually, they will work it out. He really cannot describe how beautiful she is, but that he’s never met anyone quite like her. He has to resort to cliches because it’s the only way he can begin to tell her how no other woman can hold a candle to her. There’s a lot of sex involved too. Because that’s just how Owen operates.
