Crushing
By deah
Rating: PG-13
Category: Other
Disclaimer: Original Characters and Storylines are the property of Warner
Bros, Jason Katims Productions, Twentieth Century Fox, FOX, Regency
Television and Melinda Metz.
Summary: The story takes place 22 years into the future. It features the
Roswell characters & their kids.
Writers Note: Feedback is great (bad or good)


Mariah blew a huge bubble while listening to Ryan drone on about Jimmy
Valenti and how Lexi's "Power prank" could have exposed them all. She watched
his head bob up and down in pure frustration. He was making her dizzy. She
wondered if they made tabasco sauce flavored gum?

"He's a jerk, Ryan, he deserved it," Lexi answered, chipping the fingernail
polish from her nails. She was getting mad, Mariah thought. They all
respected Ryan as their undisputed leader, but he could go too far with the
father-figure stuff. Anyway, Jimmy Valenti had deserved it.

"Yeah. And while that's true, Lexi, we can't get even with every dumb jock
who ticks us off. He..." Ryan stopped long enough for the waitress to put
their pizza in front of them. The Flying Pizza, how long had this place been
here? Mariah looked around, it was definitely in need of some repairs. "He
could be a real problem for us."

Lexi glanced up at him then to Parker, who seemed to be embarrassed by the
whole thing. He blamed himself for what everyone, but Mariah, considered
Lexi's irrational act. She thought it had been hilarious.

"Look, I take full responsibility for this. It was my fault." Parker shifted
in his seat. Mariah wanted to jump up and give him a big hug. Ok, that would
be just a little over the top. Their eyes meet briefly. Was there anyone as
gorgeous as Parker? She could stare into his eyes all day. Maybe she would
just tell how she felt. Yeah, right. She could hear herself stuttering out a
love confession. Parker would turn around and tell Matthew, who would never
let her live it down. Speaking of the cheeseball, he was currently staring at
her with a sarcastic smile lighting up his usual stoic face. That can't be
good.

"I think Mariah has something to add," Matthew announced. Oh, she'd get him
for that!

Everyone turned to look at her. "I just...I just don't see what the problem
is. Jimmy had it coming. He had been getting on Parker's back all day. Lexi
did what I wanted to do." It was true. She had wanted to do something. Lexi
just beat her to the punch. "She pushed him into cafeteria trash can, for
crying out loud. It isn't like his head exploded."

"Not a bad idea, though." Lexi smiled sweetly at Ryan.

"I give up," Ryan sighed. "Someday Jimmy is gonna catch onto these mysterious
pushes."

Mariah wondered what was going on in Beth's head. She had been remarkably
quiet. Usually she was the first to jump on the Ryan "Stay safe, stay away
from Jimmy Valenti" campaign. She was definitely out of it.

"Ok, I call this meeting of the Magnificent Alien Six adjourned." Parker
stood up. God, he was tall. Tall and cute. Tall, cute and not mine, Mariah
concluded. "Lets go see a movie."

"Can't, got homework," replied Ryan, taking the last bite of his pizza.

"I do too, but like that's gonna stop me," Matthew chimed in. Mariah rolled
her eyes. Was it her or was his head just a tad bit pointy and completely
absurd looking?

"Well, since the let's-all-beat-on-Lexi discussion is over, I think I'll
pass. Parker's taste in movies leaves something to be desired." Lexi grabbed
her purse and with an air only Lexi could pull off, headed out the door.

"The princess has left the building," Parker joked. He really should cut her
some slack. She stuck her neck out for him. Hopefully, deep down he realized
that.


***


Beth sat sandwiched between Matthew and Mariah. Parker was on the other side
of Mariah. Did this mean something? Did Matthew really want to sit next to
her? He had the chance to sit next to Parker, but he didn't even seem to
notice. Ok, you're losing it. He just wanted to have the aisle seat.

She looked up at the screen. How long was this movie going to last? Lexi was
right, Parker had no taste in movies. She hadn't been able to define a plot
yet. Just a bunch of guys doing karate. Then again, the movie wasn't really
what was on her mind. In fact, nothing had been on her mind all day except
Matthew.

She glanced at Mariah, who caught it and gave the thumbs up sign. Beth
smiled. She wished she was as bold as Mariah. She nearly sitting on top of
Parker. Of course, he didn't get it. He was too engrossed in the movie.

"If it isn't the children of the corn. I thought you guys only went to ritual
killings for fun." Beth turned around to see Jimmy leaning against the back
of her seat. Oh no.

"Get lost, Valenti," Matthew said in a deadly tone. Nobody was in the mood
for Jimmy after this afternoon.

"That hurt, Guerin." Jimmy looked at Beth. "I can understand the strange one
down there in this group, but you...I think you're misguided."

"Misguided?" Beth repeated.

Jimmy nodded and put his hand on her shoulder. "And I think I can guide you
back to the right side."

Matthew put his arm around her, knocking Jimmy's hand off. Oh, this felt
nice. More than nice. Perfect. She leaned into him and he tightened his hold.
"She's not interested."

"Whatever. When you decide to think on your own call me." He moved behind
Mariah. Beth saw Mariah's jaw flex. This is where they get kicked out, Beth
mused. Please don't use power. Please don't use power.

"So, how about you?"

"I'm the strange one, remember?"

"I'm lonely. I'll let it slide." He leaned closer to Mariah's ear. "We don't
have to talk for what I'd like to do."

Mariah licked her lips. Beth threw Matthew an alarmed look, but he was
watching Jimmy. His eyes were black with anger. This was gonna go bad. You
did not mess with the Guerins. Was he nuts?!

"Jimmy," Mariah started in a low, sexy voice, "I believe there's a trash can
over there. Would you like to end up face down in it, you Cretin?"

Jimmy smiled. "You're a bitch."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth he had flew backwards. Parker was
grinning with satisfaction and shaking his hand. Parker had punched him
without warning. Beth was impressed. Her cousin wasn't the violent type at
all. He would let people walk all over him before he stood up for himself,
but Jimmy had crossed that line. She imagined Jimmy was hurting. Parker was a
head taller than him and no light weight.

"Let's get out of here." Parker stood and the others followed suit.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your life," Jimmy promised, rubbing his
cheek.

"Please remember to throw away your litter." Mariah took out her gum and
stuck it on the end of Jimmy's nose. "Have a nice day."


***


Outside Matthew took a long, deep breath. He had never seen Parker so pissed.
He knew they were all in for it once Ryan heard. Oh well. If Parker hadn't
done it, he would have. No one messed with Mariah but him. As for Beth...he
better not touch her again. Period.

"Ok, what now?" Parker asked, poking his hands into his pockets.

"Home," Beth announced with a yawn, "I'm tired. Plus we've done enough damage
tonight. Ryan is gonna kill us." Was that her way of saying she didn't want
to hang with him-them anymore tonight? It was only eight, she couldn't be
tired.

"I'm only sorry Lexi missed it. She would've been proud of you, Parker,"
Mariah gushed. Ok, Parker had to be brain dead not to notice that he had his
own cheerleader. The guy was oblivious. "You think she's home?"

"Yeah, unless mom got a new shipment in that she can paw through."

Thank you. "I'll walk you home, Beth," he offered.

Beth smiled that full mind blowing smile of hers. "Ok. See ya tomorrow," she
told Parker and Mariah. They waved at them and walked off in the opposite
direction.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Millions of things crossed his
mind. Nothing that would make it to his mouth, though. He could ask her about
doing something tomorrow- no that would sound like a date. He wasn't ready
for that. He just had gotten used to the fact that he liked her. A date was
too big of a step.

"Matthew?"

He jerked his head up. She looked amazing. The moonlight was bouncing off of
her dark hair. She looked like an angel. Ok, he should slap himself. That was
almost the most sickening romantic thought he had ever had. Thank God, Mariah
couldn't read his thoughts. She would go to town with that one.

"I just, um, wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

Beth reached out and touched his hand lightly. It sent a shiver up him. Her
brown eyes turned soft. "For getting Jimmy away from me. We've gotta stay as
far from him as we can."

"That's close to impossible since he seems bent on messing with us."

"I know," Beth sighed. She did look tired.

They had reached the Crashdown, but Beth didn't go in. She gazed up at the
stars. "Do you ever wonder what they're not telling us?"

"Who?"

"Our parents. There's so much I want to know, but they've told us only enough
to keep us from exposing ourselves. Do you ever feel like there's more? That
they're hiding stuff?"

Oh yeah, he knew there was. He couldn't count the times he had walked in on
his parents talking in hushed tones. They would stop and never say any more,
but he always got the feeling that they were arguing about telling them more.
If Ryan was their leader, Uncle Max was definitely theirs. He would bet that
he was the one that placed that gag order on the subject. He didn't care, he
wanted to know more- had to know more. It was driving him crazy.

"Matthew? You don't think I'm being stupid, do you?"

He had zoned again. "No. They know more."

There was a short silence. Beth yawned, covering her mouth. "I guess we
should trust them," She finally said.

He wasn't much into the trust thing. Too much of his dad in him, his mom had
said. He wanted to trust them. If they would only tell them what they knew.
Could they really expect them to survive on blind faith alone?

"I better go in." But instead of walking in, she had leaned into him. She
looked at him as if sizing up what she was about to do. Her arms wrapped
around him. He put his hands on her waist and drew her closer. "Thank
you...for everything," she whispered.

Her hair smelled like citrus. He could stay like this forever, he thought. A
light inside the Crashdown flicked on. They quickly let go. Beth avoided
looking at him as she waved goodnight and went inside. He watched her as she
and Aunt Liz sit down at a table. They looked so much alike. He sighed. Only
one more minute and he would've told her everything. Would that have been so
bad? He grinned, still feeling the pressure her arms had created on his body.
He definitely looked forward to more of that.


***


Parker walked up the steps with two sodas. Lexi wasn't home. Typical. She was
probably with the 'court'. The name he dubbed her nonalien friends. They
worshipped the ground that she walked on. They would go to the mall, gossip
and look for guys. They had, maybe, enough intelligence to score one hundred
on an IQ test between them. He couldn't figure out why Lexi would want to
hang out with them. They were ridiculous.

He entered his bedroom. Mariah was on the floor, examining his old star wars
action figures like they were the most interesting thing she had ever seen.
Would George Lucas ever stop capitalizing on Star Wars? He doubted it. He
loved the movies, so who cared? He and Matthew use to light their plastic
sabers with power and battle- until his mom saw them and had a huge fit. Ok,
they had been fifteen, but heck, it was fun.

"So, what did you think about the movie before we were interrupted?"

He handed Mariah her soda. She laid down Luke Skywalker. "Honestly?"

"Of course."

"It sucked the big one, Parker."

He sat down on the edge of his bed. He knew it. The girls had looked totally
bored. "Ok, next time no karate, huh?"

She leaned her arm on the bed next to him. "Karate's ok, but a plot would be
a plus."

"I thought the visual effects were amazing. It was like they were right there
in the theater," he countered.

"They were...you and Jimmy," she laughed. "I wish I had that on tape. Bam! He
nearly flipped over the seat!"

Parker groaned. He shouldn't have hit him that hard. He was in for it.
Valenti and his goons would never let it rest. "I don't want to talk about
it."

"Why?" Mariah looked truly perplexed. She shook her head and her blonde hair
swayed side to side. It was cute. Lexi may be beautiful and Beth exotic, but
Mariah had the corner on cute. That's why he had punched Jimmy. It wasn't
right to insult something...someone that cute.

"I got everyone in deeper. It was bad before, but he's gonna be watching me
like a hawk."

Mariah's lips curved into a smile. "You never do anything, so what's he going
to see?"

That was the problem. He did use his powers. He was slick about it unlike
Lexi, but he used them. At least he had stopped dream walking during classes.
He had a nasty habit of talking out loud when he dream walked. It was more of
a mumble, but it was enough that it could've got them caught. He didn't even
know he did it until Beth had told him. Since then, he had left dream walking
for the privacy of his own home. He did manage a few pranks on the popular
crowd with Matthew and even Ryan. No matter how hard Ryan would deny it, he
wasn't above a good get even once in a while. It just had to be pulled off
the right way.

Had Mariah put her hand closer to his leg? Maybe it was his imagination. "He
shouldn't have said that to you. I guess I went into overprotective mode."

"Really? You feel protective of me?" She was turning red. What was that all
about?

"Sure. We're almost family. I'd never let him get away with calling Lexi
that."

Her face instantly fell. He had not imagined that. What was going on with
her? It wasn't like...like she had a crush on him. His mouth opened, but he
pulled it shut-fast. No, that was way too weird. Mariah only thought of him
as a friend. That's the way he thought about her at least.

"I'm gonna get home," She announced, getting to her feet.

"Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, but it just didn't have the bouncy 'Mariah' feel. She was
acting more like Matthew now. He had never seen her go into a shell. Had he
hurt her feelings?

She glanced up to him almost on cue. Oh, crap. Bingo. Hurt was reflected in
her eyes. She liked him. This was mind blowing.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." With that she went out the door. He rubbed his
face with his hands. Wake up, wake up, wake up, he yelled, but when he opened
his eyes they fell on the Luke Skywalker figure on his bed. This wasn't a
dream. Mariah was crushing hard and he had just pulled the carpet from under
her.

He needed to talk to somebody, but who? Lexi would laugh. Matthew would be
pissed that he was a total jerk to his sister. Ryan had his own love life
problems. That left Beth, and this just wasn't something he'd feel
comfortable going to Beth about. If he needed a girl's advice he always went
to Mariah. That was not going to work. He sighed. This was one he was going
to have to figure out on his own. He didn't think Mariah was going to
appreciate the product of those thoughts either.

The End

Go to "No More Guerins Please"