I Never Meant to Hurt the Ones Who Cared

"Mommy chocolate" Owen giggled before sprinting towards the candy aisle and grabbing armfuls of candy. Bellona rolled her eyes with a smile before tracking down the three year old and telling him to put whatever he wanted in the cart. She knew she should have not spoiled him and gotten a shopping cart which he could sit and be strapped into, and also not to buy him so much chocolate. His pouty face always got to her though, just like his father's.

She then had him hold her hand which was always an awkward position since he she towered over him. They walked towards the fruits and vegetables section where she picked out some food to cook along with Owen's favourite, celery. At least he liked healthy food with all that chocolate.

"Owen can you go get the popcorn please? Pick whichever one you'd like, they're just down the aisle over there" Bellona sightly cooed at the little boy pointing him in the direction. Once he left she bent down and grabbed some pop and several bags of chips for their movie night. When she went to grab some Ruffles she heard a loud "ooph" followed by a very loud yet scared sounding "sorry" from her little boy.

She turned and quickly walked towards Owen who was sitting there facing a rather big guy.

"I'm so sorry about that-" The guy looked up at her from his crouched position before giving her a huge smile "Hey aren't you in my class? Bellona correct?"

Bellona stood there wide eyed for a while staring at her music appreciation teacher who had the most adorable grin on his face. After a second of just standing their dumbfounded she nodded "Yeah, hey Mr. Sanders"

"No, call me Matt" He smiled and stood up "Is this adorable little boy your son?"

She nodded bending down to pick up Owen who was still sitting on the floor with popcorn. She giggled as he tried to chuck the popcorn into the basket and missed. Matt laughed as well and bent down to pick it up.

Bellona thanked him with a huge smile as Owen just sat in her arms pouting at his lack of aim. Matt noticed the little guy and chuckled before staring to ask questions about him.

"Mommy can Matty come over and play?" Owen asked struggling in her grip. She was shocked at his question for a minute before she turned her gaze to the man standing in front of her.

"Only if your mom's okay with it" He answered with a grin and eyes full of excitement "I wouldn't be intruding right?"

Bellona shook her head "Of course not!" before asking if he had anything else he had to get from the grocery store. When he said no she just eyed his basket which was filled with pepsi, gummy bears, chips, and beer with an amused expression.

They then made their way towards the front of their store where they went through the tills and paid for their items. He then offered to carry her groceries to her car. Then they both headed towards Bellona's house with Matt following her car.

"Mommy" Owen whined pulling on her jeans "I'm hun-gy"

She nodded before asking what he wanted to eat for dinner to which he replied "bu-gu's". The poor kid still had trouble pronouncing his "r"s. Or perhaps he was just joking, you never know with kids. When she looked at Matt asking if he was okay with that he was more than excited for the fact that he didn't have to - one: eat a microwaved dinner and two: cook for himself.

As Owen took a seat on the island with crayons and paper in his hands Matt walked over to Bellona to help her with cooking and to get to know her a bit.

"So is his father around?" He asked lightly leaning up against the counter. Something told him it would be a touchy subject to approach but he was honestly curious.

"No, he passed away when I was still carrying Owen" Bellona said softly.

"I'm sorry" Matt said "I didn't know."

She gave him a small smile reassuring him it was fine before going back to cooking the burgers. After she was done they all sat down at the dinner table so that they could munch on the food and like most dinners - make awkward small talk with the company.

"How did you get into teaching?" She asked Matt. He definitely didn't look like your typical teacher - him and Baker, Seward, and Haner. They were all mostly decked out in tattoo's and looked rather… fierce for a teacher.

Matt pressed his lips together unsure of how to answer her. "Well… it was a back-up. The other job didn't work out."

Bellona nodded and sighed softly "Things never work out, do they?"

After she said that Matt immediately felt his heart drop. She looked completely heartbroken and hurt when she said that. It must have been hard for her, having Owen's dad passing away before he was born. He could see the pain that was always embedded in his eyes and only hoped that one day he would see her truly happy.

They all finished their burgers and Owen started jumping up and down saying that he wanted to watch a movie. It cause Matt to get a huge smile on his face, the little boy was just so cute. He led Owen into the living room where the kid ran to pick out a movie to watch. Bellona emerged from the kitchen, put in the DVD and took a seat next to Owen who was now between her and Matt.

"You don't mind, do you?" She asked regarding the movie that Owen chose which was Toy Story 3. Matt shook his head and responded about how he loved the movie and had watched it quite a few times already.

When it neared the part where they were headed towards the dump Bellona looked over to see Owen soundly asleep leaning into Matt's side and Matt's gigantic arm around Owen. She felt her heart race up as she stared at the most adorable thing she had ever seen.

Matt must have caught her staring in awe because he chuckled and gave her his to-die-for dimpled smile. Bellona cleared her throat awkward with heat rising up to her face.

"I should put him to bed" She whispered across the sofa to Matt. He told her he would carry him up and he did so putting him into his bed and tucking him in. The whole time Bellona was watching from the door seeing how Matt was so gentle and loving with the little guy.

They both made their way back into the living room where she turned off the DVD and returned it back to it's case. Matt stood there with a smile on his face staring at her.

"Well I must go, gotta wake up early tomorrow" He said grabbing his coat "Thank you so much for everything tonight, really. He's such a cute kid."

Bellona gave him a huge smile before walking with him to the door "No problem, he seems to like you a lot."

His smile only got bigger as he heard the last part. They said their goodbye's and Matt got in his car. On his whole drive towards his lonely home he couldn't help but think about how that was one of the best nights he's had in years.