Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: Liz, Max, Alex, Isabel, Michael, Maria and any other people you're familiar with such as Diane Evans or Kyle belong to Melinda Metz and Jason Katims and the WB. Alyssa and Matthew and Alan and Pete and Tonya and the ones you don't recognize are all mine.
Rating: R for language, violence and content.
Category: Well, a lot of this is about Liz, but it's also M/L, A/I, and M/M...
Spoilers: Up through "Blood Brothers" from the tv show, Roswell High book 5, and my fic, "Matters of Trust."
Author's Note: This is a sequel to my fic, "Matters of Trust" and if you haven't read it, I strongly suggest reading it before you read anymore of this one. Hold on guys, this isn't even half finished yet, I don't think...There's a long road ahead...
Ghosts (Part 16)
Michael Guerin stared at his old home in Roswell's trailer park. He wondered what happened to Hank after he'd left for college. Wondered if Hank ever thought about him, if he even cared that Michael was still alive.
He kicked at a rock that was lodged in the dirt until it came lose and skitted across the road, illuminated by the stars that were out tonight in full force, their light radiating in the sky.
Michael thought about Hank a lot. It was hard not to. Hank was the only father Michael had ever known. Phillip Evans was very kind to him, but he hadn't been raised by him, either. And he no longer resented Max and Isabel for having a nice family while he'd been stuck with a raw deal. And a big part of the reason for that was because of what had happened to Liz. Because of her, he'd finally realized that just because someone appears to have a perfect family doesn't mean that they don't have problems.
After all, from all appearances, Liz had a wonderful, loving family. Her parents owned a nice restaraunt and money wasn't a problem for them, her mom and dad got along, and then of course, there was Liz herself. She'd always been friendly and popular at school, and she made straight A's, and had two best friends since the fifth grade. He used to think she had everything, everything that he had wanted. But now he knew differently. He knew now that Liz's life had been hell and all the appearances were just that.
People saw what they wanted to see and ignored the rest. They didn't want to know about what happened behind closed doors. Didn't want to get involved.
Michael stared up at the sky.
That's why he'd realized that going back to wherever he was from wasn't as important as he'd always thought. What if it was no better there? What if his real father didn't care anything about him, the way Hank hadn't? At least here he had four good friends and of course, Maria.
He smiled as he thought about her. He never thought anyone could love him for who he was and not try to change him. But she had. She loved him unconditionally, and didn't care if even after all these years, his powers still weren't as advanced as Max and Isabel's, or that he was getting a C in advanced calculas, or that he still felt angry with Hank sometimes and needed to spend some time alone.
Maria understood him better than he understood himself sometimes.
That's what a real family was about. Understanding, love and support. And he didn't need to go to another planet in search of those things. He had them right here on Earth.
Alyssa woke up in a cold sweat, her mind and heart racing. She glanced around her dark dorm room, and quickly flipped on her bedside lamp, blinking rapidly.
She knew she'd had another nightmare, but she couldn't remember what it was about.
She shoved the covers down to the foot of the bed, and stood up. She turned on the overhead light, desperate to get rid of all the darkness in her room.
Alyssa looked around. Everything appeared to be as it had been before she'd fallen asleep, but something felt...wrong. She took a deep breath and opened her dresser drawer, searching. She threw aside tapes and books she'd stuffed inside to get them off the floor. She dug deeper and finally found what she was looking for.
She slipped the tiger's eye bracelet that Matthew had given her onto her wrist, and instantly the bad feeling began to dissipate. She let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes. She looked at the clock on her night stand as she crawled back into bed. 11:21.
11:21.
Liz stared at the red digits of her alarm clock. She'd hoped that she would be able to sleep here at her parents' house, in her old bed, better than she'd been sleeping at Blueridge. No such luck.
She sighed and threw the covers off, crawling out of bed. She opened her window and slid outside onto her roof.
She used to spend so much time out here, either star-gazing, or writing in her journal, or talking with Max or one of her friends. It was her special place, her place of refuge. From bad dreams, or overwhelming sadness or fear. She would come here and feel at peace again.
Liz sat down on her old lawn chair, instantly comforted by the familiar feeling she got. She looked up at the sky, full of stars. She was so tired, but for some reason she was afraid of falling asleep now.
Her dream from the previous night flashed through her mind and she froze. The man had a knife, was coming towards her...
"I want you."
That voice...had sounded so familiar...
But where had she heard it before?
"Liz?"
She jumped and looked over at the ladder.
"I didn't mean to scare you...I couldn't sleep, and I had a feeling you couldn't either, so..." Max stood a few feet away from her, staring at her in the semi-darkness.
Liz sighed in relief. "It's okay."
He moved towards her and sat down next to her on the lawn chair. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Max."
Max nodded, but she knew he didn't believe her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her cradled against his chest. They sat in silence, and she listened to the calming sound of his heartbeat. He brushed his lips against her forehead and then laid his head on hers. Within moments, Liz fell asleep.
Max smiled as he heard her soft breathing, wishing he could hold her like this forever. But when he glanced down at her, his smiled faded. Even in sleep, he could tell something was bothering her.