Owen joins Auburn in the tent and holds her. He confesses that his brother and mother died in a car crash, and he was the driver. His father was in a coma, and he was afraid that if his father died too, he’d have no one. His father lived, but he was never the same after he learned his wife and son were dead. Owen is forever changed too and says, “‘Sometimes I miss them so much, it hurts me right here,’ he says, making a tight fist with his hand against his chest. ‘It feels like someone is squeezing my heart with the strength of the entire world’” (151). Auburn can relate because of how she feels when she’s not able to be with her son.

Owen goes on to explain how his mother used to comfort him with her smile. The only way he can make himself feel better is to paint her, and it’s why he has approximately 20 paintings of her. Owen tells Auburn she smiles at AJ the way his mother used to smile at him. He tells her Lydia takes advantage of her insecurities and that Auburn is a good mother, something no one has ever said to her before.