Peachy hadn’t wanted to come to the stupid auction in the first place; she couldn’t count on one hand how many hours she had spent just begging her mother to let her stay home. But Cherry Kennedy would have rather chewed off her own hand than have let her youngest daughter spend the night playing her cello - to let her pass up an opportunity to meet a nice young man to marry her off to. And while it made her sick to her stomach to think of marrying anyone.. A date hadn’t been the worst thing she could think of; a chance just to talk to somebody that wasn’t Andrew or Blue, or freakin’ Boone. Being faced with Owen, though? With the future that her sister had lost, and one of the people Peach had trusted most? It was just the icing on top of the cake that had the youngest Kennedy feeling like she was falling off of the edge of the Earth in a wave of anxiety. “I don’t want your stupid money, Owen Heine!” Peach bit through the chatter in her jaw, every ounce of her struggling to control the tears that were already spilling down her cheeks in a tidal wave. Surfaces cracking that she thought she had paved over the moment she had resigned herself to hate the man standing before her for the rest of eternity.
“I want you to get the hell out of this town,” Peach growled, hating herself for feeling a twinge in her heart at the way he shielded her; the way he was still trying to protect her, even if she was intent on tearing him down. Hating herself for the way it just made her cry even harder; every pair of eyes that were trained on her be damned. “I don’t want to see your stupid face ever again,” The words felt like they were ripping through her throat, “And I want you to stop ruining everything!”
She was more mess than girl for a moment as she glared up at the man, hands pushing against his chest; a force of nature that went nowhere as Owen stood solid before her. Peachy’s resolve cracking so hard she was sure the whole room could hear. “You ruin everything, Owen! Everything.”
He wasn't sure what to do, how to act. Every instinct in him was urging to bundle her up and take her far from prying eyes. She didn't seem to care that much now, not with her rage solely focused on him. Offering to pay her the money back was a bad idea, that was something he could add to the evergrowing list of situations where he should have known better. Should have done better.
“I can't do that Peach, you know that.” Rationality was way out of the window at this point, but he tried to tether to a semblance of it. A feat that proved to be harder than he could imagine, especially when what little control she had over the downpour slipped away. The tears were flowing freely now, and with each one that rolled down her cheek, Owen felt his heart drop lower and lower until he was weighed down to the one spot where he was standing. Every so often his hands would rise as if to do something to comfort her until sense knocked back in, reminding him that if only seeing him resulted in that much pain for her, he would be wise not to make any physical contact.
Again her fists collided against his chest, though Owen could barely register it. Not when her face was so open and so full of hurt. He would have rather taken the hits and the disapproving stares ten times over than having to look at the girl he once saw as a sister and know he was the cause of her pain. “I know, and I'm so sorry. I can't change what I did, I wish I could. But I can't.” Despite himself, his hands finally rose before falling on either of her shoulders. His movements cautious, gentle. “I know I didn't only hurt your sister by doing what I did back then.” He couldn't say her name, both from selfishness of the sting it left and the worry of how that might just be thing that sent Peach over the edge. “I can't even put into words how sorry I am. About all of it.” The life he could have had, the people he could have called family - all forceful reminders of just how big of a mess he had made pushed forward to the center of his mind. “I can't promise you what you want to hear, I won't lie to you and say you won't ever see my face again. I can't stand how I'm making you upset, and there's not much I wouldn't do to make that right if I could. But I can't uproot my life, Charlie's life, just to run from my mistakes.” That's what got him here in the first place. “I don't expect you to believe me, or for it to change anything because I deserve all that anger you've got harbored and then some, but I'm tryin' Peach. I've been tryin' to do better, to fix the damage I caused.”