Disclaimer: I own nothing. I wish I did. 8D I'd make them do naughty stuff that makes me giggle.

Warnings: Gay characters, language, implied things later.

Notes: Part 3, of my Raptor series. You should read part 1 and 2 before reading this. But here's a vague, brief summary: Wu turns Owen into a raptor. Owen now shifts into a raptor. He raises the girls like kids (they even call him dad a couple times). Enter Zach and Gray. Owen tries to fight it but feels an immediate attraction to Zach. Then Ida (the Indominous Rex) attacks. Charlie gets her tail blown off, but is still alive. All the raptors are still alive. Simon is still alive. Ida's half blind but escapes. Delta kills Dr. Wu. And Hoskins is nowhere to be found. At the end, Owen remains behind with the raptors to save the island. And Lowery stays behind to help Owen. Then in part 2, Ida has a next, Owen steals the nest, Ida attacks, nearly kills Owen. Echo figures out how to call Zach. Zach convinces Simon to take him to the Island. Simon takes Owen to a hospital (that is secretly the largest animal hospital but Owen doesn't find out until the end) and Owen's doctor is Tim Murphy. Zach stays on the island, raises the eggs. Owen gets better. Come back to the island. Then Zach leaves. Basically.

Pairings: Owen/Zach, background Claire/Zara
Summary: Zach's an adult now. He's graduated high school. But he still can't fulfill his destiny of living with his Alpha mate on the island and raise their dinosaur babies together. He has to go to college! And his new roommate is pretty noisy. But maybe Zach likes him. He kind of reminds Zach of his brother Gray. And then one night, he gets a little too drunk. And it pretty much ruins his life.

Raptor
Periphery
Chapter 1: Plunge

He let out a sigh as he stood up a beat behind his classmates around him. The robes looked stupid. The hats looked stupid. The tassels looked stupid. Everything looked stupid. A sea of stupid swarming around him and ushering him towards the rows of seats. Why did his parents even make him come? So, okay. Big deal. He graduated high school. With better grades than anyone ever thought possible. He did all his assignments, studied every spare moment, passed all his tests, and did all the extra credit that he could. He passed his senior year with A's in everything and that helped him bring up his total grade point average. But he didn't do it for them. Or even for himself, really. And still! He could celebrate just as easily at home. In his room. With his phone. And a certain raptor trainer.

He hadn't talked to Owen in nearly 3 days! And with everything going on, both on the island and with school and his parents, Zach hadn't been back to the island! And it was driving him crazy! His birthday had come and gone. He turned 18 and had gotten a part-time crappy job at a gas station for a few months, specifically to save up money to spend spring break on the island. But his parents had said no, he couldn't go. He considered going anyways, because he was legally an adult and could do whatever he wanted. But Owen talked him out of it, saying Zach needed to do the responsible thing and blah, blah, blah and sometimes Zach really hated Owen. He didn't, of course. But hated him for a second made Zach feel better about the situation. He'd glared at the man every time they video chatted for almost a month afterwards.

He sunk down in his seat as his classmates around him did the same. They were all facing a large stage and in the center there was a podium. Some woman who was vaguely familiar was standing there, leaning over the microphone. But Zach ignored her as he pulled his cell phone out. He sighed as he sent a quick text to Owen. This is so boring! He typed, followed by, What are you doing?

Pay attention! Owen quickly texted back. Or you'll miss your name being called.

Zach rolled his eyes. He didn't want to hear them call his name. I'd rather listen to you call my name.

Zach! Pay attention!

I don't want to!

PAY ATTENTION! Was sent in all caps.

Zach glared down at Owen's text. Why? He replied back.

Cuz they just called your name.

Zach jerked up. The kid beside him was gone, walking down the aisle. He blinked. He hadn't heard his name being called. He hadn't really heard any of the names being called. He hadn't realized they were at that part of the ceremony yet. He swore they just sat down and started. What the fuck?

"Zachary Mitchell, you awake, son?" The Principle was standing at the podium on stage, staring across the crowd at him.

Zach jumped up quickly and shoved his phone into the pocket of his robe. He turned and ran down the aisle to join the line of students filing up the steps to the stage. He tripped over himself and a wave of laughter erupted around him. Zach hung his head as he trudged across the stage. He felt his face flush and why not? That was just his lot in life. Now his face would be red in all his graduation pictures. And he had no doubt Gray caught the whole thing on video. He hardly glanced up as he approached the podium. The man smiled at him and shook Zach's hand. Words were shared about the Principle being impressed with Zach's efforts over the last year. Being proud. Blah, blah, blah. Why was everyone making such a big deal about it? Why were they all acting like it was a big surprise?

Zach returned to his seat as fast as he could and sunk down as the rest of the ceremony went on. His phone buzzed in his pocket. Zach sighed as he pulled it out.

You're cute when you stumble.

Zach stared at his phone for a moment. Then a smile slowly spread across his face as it finally sunk in. Owen was there. How was Owen there? Where are you?

Standing with your family.

Zach's eyes widened. He turned in his seat for the first time, his eyes searching the crowd. He honestly had no clue where his parents were sitting. There were too many people. He couldn't see anyone. He sighed and glanced at his phone. Can't see. He typed to Owen.

Pay attention. Put your phone away. I'll see you after.

You better! Zach sent and shoved his phone back into his robe pocket. His classmates were standing again. The ceremony was coming to a close. Zach quickly scrambled up. It wrapped up and suddenly, his classmates were running all over the school courtyard, hollering and laughing and throwing their hats around like Frisbees. Zach couldn't join in on the fun, though. His mind was suddenly wrapped up in the fact that Owen was with his parents. Why was Owen with his parents? How was he with his parents? Were they talking? What would they talk about? Would they somehow find out? Zach tried not to worry as he weaved through the crowd.

"Zach!"

He turned at his name and smiled at his waving brother. "Hey Gray."

Gray threw his arms around Zach and hugged him tightly for a moment. Then he stepped back and held up his phone with a wide smile. "I recorded the whole thing for you."

Zach rolled his eyes and pushed Gray lightly. "I hate you."

Gray only seemed to smile wider. "Mom says to make a copy for grandma."

Zach stepped around him and looked around. "I'm ignoring you now."

Gray grabbed his hand and shook his head. "We're over here." He said and started tugging him along.

The brothers weaved through the crowd. Zach followed closely and lowered his voice. "Gray." He hissed. "How's it... uh... going?"

Gray glanced over his shoulder and smiled slyly. "You'll see."

Zach sighed. "That's not exactly reassuring." He mumbled. But Zach's doubts were short lived when Gray stopped and he looked up. A chorus of congratulations and way to go's and clapping erupted from the small crowd suddenly gathered around him. Owen wasn't the only surprise guest standing with his parents. Claire, Zara, and Simon were there. All smiling. At him. Zach honestly had no clue which of them was a more surprising guest. Probably still Claire. He quickly ducked his head and turned to the side. He wasn't used to so much attention. It was weird. He'd never in his life gotten so much attention for something school related.

Simon was the first to step forward and give him a hug. "My boy!" He said, pulling away a bit but keeping his hands on Zach's shoulders. "I'm so proud of you! Graduating and getting into the college you wanted!" Simon hugged him again. Zach squirmed for a moment and Simon pulled away again. "Lowery sends his regards. We invited him but he said he was too busy to attend. He's sorry to have missed it."

Zach smiled and nodded his head. He actually wasn't surprised. He hadn't really talked to Lowery a lot since he left the island. He wasn't sure what he'd done, but he was certain he'd done something. He called a handful of times and Lowery kept ducking him. Too busy or getting ready to leave or another phone call. Or Lowery didn't answer at all. Zach left messages. Lowery returned them a couple times, but always at hours that Zach was at school. He felt like the guy was purposely trying to not look like he was ghosting Zach, while ghosting Zach. It kind of sucked, but he tried not to think about it too much.

Simon continued on talking. "One day, you still come work for me!" He said, squeezing Zach's shoulders. "If you still want to, when you are done."

Zach forced himself to look at the ground as he nodded his head. Because he really wanted to look at Owen and proclaim loudly how badly he wanted to do that. Instead, he nodded his head. "Yes, sir." His voice came out in a mumble. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes, sir." He said louder.

Claire rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You have no authority in who gets hired! I run the island!"

Simon tilted his head to the side. He dropped his arms and turned towards her. "I own the island."

Claire shook her head. "The island is owned by a trust."

Simon shrugged. "Maybe, if you want to get technical. A trust that I manage. So that still technically makes me your boss."

Zara pushed between them both, shaking her head. She grabbed Zach's arm and looped her own through his. Then she turned him and steered him away from the bickering match. "Get the two of them talking about who's really in charge and we'll be here all day."

Gray fell in step on Zach's other side and let out a laugh. "Oh yeah. She's not exaggerating either." The younger brother said. "We all rode over together in Simon's limo. They wouldn't shut up the entire time!"

Zach glanced over his shoulder. Owen was right behind them. And behind him, were his parents. Owen smiled and winked at him. Zach smiled back and turned around.

Zara kept steering them away, towards the parking lot. She chatted idly as they went. About the island, wedding plans, the new PR program she's heading. "Social media." She said. "Is a wonderful thing. Right now, we're doing a contest. Winner will get to name the baby triceratops that just hatched."

Zach smiled. He already knew all of that. He was sure that she knew he did, as well. She was trying to distract him, trying to get the focus off of him. She was a new member of their growing weird family dynamic. But she'd quickly caught on to his aversion to being the center of attention. Because if he could have skipped this whole day, he would have.

They reached the parking lot and Zara pulled away from him and turned as his mom, Karen, stepped forward and started asking questions. Scott, his dad, hung back a bit. He crossed his arms but seemed in an okay mood. Both of his parents seemed to be behaving. The divorce was still going on. They'd finally sat the brothers down and talked about the divorce one on one with them. The brothers already knew. They'd been hearing things for well over a year. There'd been talk of one or the other of their parents moving out. But for now, they were keeping the house. At least until after Zach went off to college, they said. Scott had moved out of the bedroom and had been sleeping in the basement. Both parents actually seemed happier. Gray was certain Scott had a girlfriend. Zach wasn't sure about that. But Gray had overheard him talking on the phone a couple times. And once, caught a glimpse of a picture of a woman on Scott's phone. But the man had evaded the questioning kid and told him to drop it. But whatever. What mattered to Zach was that they seemed happier. And they were able to play nice at his stupid graduation. That he was suddenly very happy to be at.

Zach edged closer to Owen. His parents were still talking to Zara, Scott having joined in finally. Gray was also yammering on with them. Zach wasn't even sure about what but none of them were paying attention to him or Owen. And Claire and Simon still hadn't caught up. Zach brushed his shoulder against Owen's and he breathed out. Finally, after almost 9 months of being apart, just being around Owen again was everything in the world and why the hell couldn't they just find a dark corner somewhere for a couple minutes?

Owen turned towards him and pulled him against him. He wrapped his arms around Zach tightly. "Proud of you." Owen whispered. Zach smiled and buried his head against Owen for a moment. But it was just a moment. Then Owen ended the hug and stepped back and punched him playfully in the arm.

"Zach!" A girl came running over, waving. "We found you!" She practically squealed. A boy followed a few steps after her.

Zach blinked at them. "Uh... hi!" He stepped over to meet them, waving his arms and trying to steer them away from Owen.

"Carly!" Karen smiled and stepped forward to hug her. "Congratulations! You, too, Seth!"

Zach sighed as he grabbed Carly's hand and pulled her back. "Mom!"

Gray slunk closer to Owen and stood on his tiptoes. "That's Carly." He whispered.

Owen leaned a bit closer to Gray to whisper back. "Who's Carly?"

"Oh, sweetie." Karen let out a laugh. "I wasn't going to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend."

Zach's eyes widened. "Mom!"

"Zach's girlfriend." Gray whispered to Owen.

Carly just smiled and stepped closer to Zach. She wrapped her arm around his and leaned her head against his shoulder.

Seth smiled and turned to Karen and Scott. "A group of us are going to hang out for a few hours. Drive around, probably get something to eat. Just goof off." He explained. "For the last time of our adolescent lives." He added in a dire voice.

Carly glanced at him sidewise and tilted her head. "Anyways... yes!" She exclaimed loudly and seemed to tighten her grip on Zach. "Can we kidnap him for a while?"

"For the last time." Seth whispered dramatically.

Karen smiled and nodded her head. "Sure."

"Mom! Don't we have... like... family stuff?" Zach tried.

She shook her head. "Everyone's staying in town tonight. You can see them all tomorrow."

"But..." He tried again.

Scott shook his head. "Go have fun with your friends." He said loudly. "You've earned it."

"For the last time!" Seth said again.

Carly frowned at him and shoved him away. "Stop saying it like that!" She snapped. "It's creepy!"

Seth let out a laugh as he grabbed Zach's other hand and the two friends started pulling Zach away. Zach's eyes flashed to Owen. Fuck his life! Seriously! This just wasn't fair! But he couldn't exactly dig his heels in and tell everyone why he didn't want to hang out with his friends and celebrate graduation. Just fuck everything!

Owen stepped back and grabbed Gray. He pulled the kid out of earshot and leaned down. "Girlfriend?"

Gray smiled and nodded. "Yup."

"He said he broke up with her." Owen said softly.

"He did." Gray nodded his head. "Mom and dad still think they're dating." He explained.

Owen straightened back up and crossed his arms. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He breathed out slowly and shook his head. So much for getting to spend time with his mate and celebrating, even if it was while being surrounded by spying family. But, maybe, it was good Zach was spending time with his friends.

Gray smiled and poked Owen in the side.

Owen glanced down at him. "Did you just poke me?"

Gray nodded his head. "Yup."

Owen smiled. "Why did the dinosaur cross the road?"

Gray tilted his head, thinking. "Because the chicken wasn't around?"

Owen laughed. "Close. Because the chicken joke wasn't invented yet."

Simon and Claire finally realized they'd been abandoned and hurried towards the parking lot. Both seemed disappointed that Zach was gone. Zara snapped about them needing to stop fighting all the time. Then the whole lot filed into the limo and left.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

He was crammed in the back seat, sandwiched between Carly and Seth. They were in a giant van, belonging to the parents of whoever was driving. Zach wasn't even sure who it was. He hadn't been paying much attention. He was slouching as far down as he could, just wanting to disappear. There was music blaring and everyone was singing along. Loudly. And off-key. Any other time, he might have joined in and had fun with his friends. But Owen had surprised him by showing up! And Zach just wanted to be around him, even if he had to do it with his parents in the same room! He wouldn't complain. At least not out loud. They were in the same time zone and he was being pulled away again! It just wasn't fucking fair!

Carly stopped singing and turned towards him. She leaned closer and pinched him in the side. "Sourpuss."

He narrowed his eyes and glared at her. "You seriously just pinch me?"

"Yes!" She said, nodding her head. "And, I repeat, sourpuss! What's wrong with you?"

Zach glanced sideways at Seth, who was still singing loudly and leaning towards whoever was in the front seat. He looked back at Carly. "My friend came today." He said softly.

Her eyes widened. "The one you met on the island?"

Zach nodded his head slowly. "Yeah. I haven't seen... my friend in a few months. We talk and text and video." He breathed out. "But it's not the same."

"Hmm..." Carly tilted her head to the side. "I don't remember seeing... your friend there." She frowned slightly. "But... I guess I have no clue what your friend looks like so..." She shrugged slightly.

Zach smiled. "Yeah, you don't."

"I'm so sorry!" She sighed. "If I'd known, I would have just pulled Seth off without you."

Zach shook his head. "It's fine. Everyone's staying the night, I guess."

Her eyes widened slightly. "At your house? Awkward!"

Zach shook his head quickly. "I hope not!" Even if that meant Owen in his house. And sneaking Owen into his bedroom. "My aunt, her fiancé, and their boss showed up, too. From the island."

"Full house." She said.

Zach breathed out and nodded his head. "Yeah." His phone buzzed and he pulled it out.

New text from Owen. Girlfriend?

Zach smiled. As far as my parents know. Perfect straight son.

She knows right?

Zach rolled his eyes.

"What?" Carly asked as the car pulled to a stop. Everyone was suddenly getting out of the car and they followed. They were at a fast food place. Carly grabbed Zach's arm and pulled him back from the crowd. "Answer me!" She hissed.

Zach shrugged. "He was asking about you." He said. "Wanted to know if you knew we weren't dating anymore. Uh... you and me." He added awkwardly.

"I'll tell him." Then she darted forward, catching Zach by surprise when she grabbed his phone. She darted back out of reach and Zach actually tripped over himself. He flailed a bit from the ground and Carly stood over him for a moment, dangling the phone above him. She let out a giggle. "I'm just teasing you, Zach. You know I'd never do that, right?"

Zach breathed out in relief and nodded his head. He got his feet under him and stood up slowly. He brushed himself off.

And suddenly, the phone in Carly's hand started ringing. She let out a squeak in surprise, "Oh!" Her eyes widened and she looked at Zach. "Uh... I didn't mean to look... it says Owen... I'm sorry!"

Zach scrambled the rest of the way up and snatched the phone back from her. He pressed answer and put it to his ear. "Hi!" He said quickly, sounding a bit out of breath.

"Zach? You okay?"

"Yeah!" He said a bit too quickly. "I uh... tripped..."

There was a pause over the line. And then Owen burst out laughing. "Of course you did."

Zach pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment and glared at the phone. "Asshole is fucking laughing at me!"

"Well... you did trip." Carly said, tilting her head to the side. "And you tripped earlier at the ceremony."

"Is that her?" Owen asked.

Zach put the phone back to his ear. "Yeah." He mumbled.

"Zach..." Owen let out a sigh.

"We're just friends!" Zach said quickly. "I swear!"

"Let me tell him!" Carly said, stepping forward.

Zach hesitated a moment. Then he pulled the phone away and hit speakerphone. "Okay, tell him."

"Hi, Owen!" Carly actually waved at the phone. Then quickly lowered her hand and blinked. "Uh... I waved at the phone. Oh my god. I'm such a dork!" She giggled and shook her head.

"A little." Owen said over the speakerphone. "Sorta cute, too."

Carly smiled widely. "Thanks! Uh... but yeah. We're not dating anymore. We broke up when he got back and said he had a boyfriend."

Zach rolled his eyes and shook his head. This was a mistake. He should have just ran for it the moment he got out of the van. He the track star. He was faster than all of them.

Carly smiled and stuck her tongue out at Zach. "But like... I'm not seeing anyone right now, not really interested. So I offered to pretend at school and with his parents. Because he wasn't ready to come out yet."

Zach sighed at that. "Understatement." He mumbled.

"But we are totally breaking up for real when we go off to college!" Carly said, pointing a finger at Zach. "Because I'm totally going to meet some awesome, not-gay college guys."

Zach held up his free hand and nodded. "Fair enough."

"So..." Owen strung out the word over speakerphone. "Carly, right?"

"Yes!" She said. "I'm Carly! Hi!"

Owen let out a laugh. "Hello, Carly."

"Zach didn't tell me your name." She added quickly, interrupting whatever Owen was going to say. "You called after I stole his phone and I looked at the display by accident."

Owen laughed again. "Yeah, anyways. Carly. You're really okay with this?"

Carly got quiet for a moment. She looked away and lifted her hand to her mouth to nibble on a nail. "I uh... I mean..." She stumbled over the words for a moment. Then she breathed out loudly and turned back to stare at the phone in Zach's hand. "I'm a little pissed. And a little hurt. I really liked him. But it's not his fault he's gay. Or his fault he met you. Fate or some stupid shit. But we were friends before I asked him out. So..." She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I kinda still wanna be friends. And friends help each other so..."

"Carly! Zach!"

Zach quickly took the phone off speakerphone and pressed it to his ear as Seth came walking towards them. "Hey uh..." He turned away and whispered into the phone. "I gotta go."

"Yeah, okay." Owen sounded disappointed.

"I'll text you." Zach shoved the phone in his pocket and the three of them headed inside.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Author's Notes: Hope you enjoyed the beginning to part 3! Also, I started writing a side story, revolving around Gray. You don't really have to read it, but it will be mentioned way later in this part. So... it's titled: Raptor Sides: Gold and Red and Gray?