| Secrets In The Past |
| Chapter 33 "Max, girlfriend. Come help me with the groceries." Maria said as she walked from the front door to the kitchen carrying two packed bags. "Here, give me the ice cream so I can put in the freezer." Max dug through the bags she had set on the table. He took out the four cartons, one for each couple, and put them in the freezer. He closed the door to see Maria standing right behind it. She took a step forward and grabbed his chin. She turned his face to the side, studying his cheek. Seemingly satisfied, she dropped her hand. "I was just making sure I didn't leave a mark." Max reached up to rub the cheek in question. "actually... Liz made me heal it." "Oh." she walked back to the table and began taking out the rest of the snacks. Abruptly, she spun around to face him. "Look Max, I feel like I should apologize for hitting you but at the same time I still feel like you really deserved it. I mean, Liz would never do it but she should have. I know you were not fully informed at the time and you were upset but its really hard for me to get past what you have done to her. She my sister, blood or not, and I have a sworn duty to defend her when she won't do it herself. "I know violence is not the answer but lets face it, you really deserved it. Frankly your lucky you still have all your limbs considering you were in this house with Michael." She paused for a moment trying to reign in her conflicting emotions, "I guess what I'm saying is that I'm sorry I hit you but if you ever do this to her again I'll do a lot more than that to you. Ok, so we're friends?" "Yes?" Max liked Maria a lot. They had bonded over the summer but he was still a little afraid of her. She was almost as protective of Liz as he was and more in some ways. "Good, I'm glad that's out of the way." She smiled broadly at him while dancing over to the pantry. "Now, about this whole fun business. Liz is right we need more fun. You two especially. On such short notice I can't plan anything too big but I know the fair is going to be here this weekend and I was thinking maybe we would all like to go out there. You know, rides, greasy food, rigged games where you get small, cheep stuffed animals made by a five year old in China. It'll be a blast." "Yeah that sounds good." Max agreed getting out plates for the pizza. He had been trying to come up with a few ideas of his own and the fair sounded as good as any. "There are only a few things I'm concerned about. First will it be safe enough for Liz. It will be night time and there are crowds but there will be eight more of us with her." "I think she should be fine. Its unlikely that between Michael, Gwyn and I any one else would even be able to brush past her." Max was liking the idea more and more. Liz glued to his hip all night long. He and Liz on say, the ferris wheel, alone. This was a great idea! "Okay good, the other thing I was worried about was if you and Liz would be okay with it. I don't want to give either of you a breakdown or anything." Max shook his head in confusion. "a breakdown?" "Yeah 'cause of the last time you two paid a visit to the fair grounds it did not exactly end in happy la la's." "Oh, right." Max was still for a moment trying to block the maraud of painful images flashing through his mind's eye. "ummm, yeah. I think it will be ok as long as we stay away from the house of mirrors." "and the carousel." Maria added "the carousel?" "yeah, Liz never really told me what happened but since she got back form Florida she won't go near a carousel. It has something to do with that night but she refuses to elaborate. Has she ever said anything to you about it?" "No. We've never really talked about it at all." "ok that brings me to something else. I was going to say this to both you and Michael but I think he's trying to get Liz to talk to him so I can tell him later. You and he are going to be spending the most time with Liz, I'm guessing. I think you guys need to watch her closely. Not physically but emotionally. I know Liz and she's strong but no one is as strong as she is pretending to be. I think she's ignoring how all this stuff is effecting her. "The day before yesterday she had a complete breakdown, threatened to kill herself, then almost bled to death from a dream. The next day she learned that one of her best friends aided in her murder in a past life on another planet, then the love of both lives ripped out her heart and did a little jig. Now today she all happy, having fun and taking over the meeting. I don't think so. She is not dealing with this stuff. "The thing is I don't think she even realizes it. Everything has been happening so fast I don't think she's had enough time to process everything. She hasn't even talked to you about Future Max yet, has she?" "No." "I know there are things that she saved only for you. There were too many gaps and pauses when she told me. There are things she only wants you to know. She's going to glide along just like Liz always does until she cracks. She never even cried when you yelled at her." Maria stopped her speech when she saw Max taking on that desperately scared look he got when he thought something was wrong with Liz. For someone so in control it was amazing how the simple mention of her name could spin the world off its axis and turn him into a completely different person. "I can see that I'm freaking you out, which was not my intention, I just wanted you to be aware of the possibility. I'm not saying she's going to lose it, I just think we should be careful until she's really come to terms with all this." Max stared at her for a minute longer going over what she had said. "You are a really good friend, you know that?" "I know." she grinned back at him. "Just remember what I said. You hurt her and I hurt you." "I would not expect any thing less." he met her eyes with a laughing seriousness. "Good, now, were do you keep the popcorn popper?" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "Isabel, where's Liz?" Michael asked when he didn't see her in the living room with the other's. "She's upstairs on Max's computer." he nodded and went to find her. Coming to the open door he leaned against it watching her type. "I know you're there Michael." she said without turning around. "Oh right." he came in and sat on Max's bed. She continued what she was doing ignoring his presence. "Liz, could I talk to you for just a minute, please." "Hang on, just let me finish this." After a few minutes she sent her email and shut down the computer. Turning in the desk chair to face him she explained, "I was emailing my parents. I'm supposed to send them a note at least once a week so they think everything is ok." "Is everything ok?" Liz raised her brows at him. "Sorry, stupid question. What I meant was are you ok?" "I think so. I'm just waiting for things to go back to normal or as normal as things get for us." "Right." he looked down at his hands as silence descended on the room. Liz sighed heavily. It was obvious that Michael wanted to say something to her but he didn't know how to get the words out. She wanted to talk to him too but was having the same problem. Things had been so crazy recently with her mental collapse and all, that they had not really had any serious brother sister conversations. It was something they still had to get used to. Mostly it had been things like 'please don't cry' and 'don't worry I won't let any one hurt you' and orders like 'stay away from Max at all possible costs' and 'you may not go to the mall alone with Maria'. "Was there something specific, Michael or were you just checking on me?" "yes, no... I, umm. I'm not sure." he finally got out. He looked up at her "I thought I was doing the right thing." "about what?" whatever this was, it was really bothering him. "Everything. I was just- I didn't want anything to happen to you." he got up and started pacing around the room. "I only made it worse. But I didn't know, I didn't know it would do... do what it did to you. I was only trying to do what was best." he scratched his forehead in agitation. "Michael, I don't understand. What did what to me?" "Not telling you, not telling Max. Keeping you locked away. I thought I was protecting you and I ended up giving you a breakdown." "Michael no." She walked to him, putting her hands on his arms to still him. "That was not your fault. At the time it was the only way. Yes, Max should have been told sooner but you thought you were protecting my life by not telling him. I'm sorry but I can't find fault in that. Max even told me he would have done the same thing had it been Isabel, and you know how logical he usually is about those sorts of things." "but Max would never have let it go this far. He would never have let you get that bad. He never screws up that way." "I am so sick of that. I don't know how Max and I ended up on these pedestals you have all got us on but we are not perfect people. We make mistakes and we screw up. We do things that are completely out of character and we hurt the people we love. Its very dangerous to put us up there because the higher we are the harder we're going to fall when you guys realize that we don't always do everything the right way and we don't always have the right answers." "Who are you trying to convince?" he asked her softly. She stared blankly at him. "Liz I know you guys aren't perfect, especially Max. It's just that he does things right more often than not while I am the screw up. I think the question here might be do *you* know that he's not perfect?" Liz didn't answer him, just watched, glassy eyed, out the window. The question hung in the air for awhile. It became obvious that this was not a place she was ready to go so he didn't push her. "Are you still mad at me?" "About what?" "You tell me. You didn't answer my calls, would not come to the door, and were pretty nasty at that meeting." "I was not nasty, I was truthful." "Fine, just forget it." Liz rolled her eyes. How was it so easy for him to shift emotional gears like that? "Only if you promise not to yell at Max the next time we have a fight." "Sorry, Can't do that." "Excuse me? Did you not hear everything I said down there? Our relationship is none of your concern. I don't get in between you and Maria when you fight." "That's different." "How is that different Michael?" "It just is." "Michael..." "Don't fight me on this one Liz, you are not going to win. You can't ask me to stop looking out for you now that I've found you. That includes screening prospective suitors." "Prospective suitors? Michael its 2001 not 1812." "Cute. You know what I mean. I can't stand by while people hurt you even if that person is Max." "All right, I really don't want to argue. I don't have the energy for it. Just... I don't know, try to stay low key about it. I feel like I'm on shaky ground with Max right now and I don't need you and Maria to complicate things for us." "You didn't talk with Max? But I though-" "No, we talked for a long time... I- its just complicated Michael. I don't want to hurt him again. In any way, but I can't shake this feeling that something else is going to come between us. I don't think I could live with myself if I ever hurt him again." She turned away from him, her voice becoming thick with emotion. Michael came around to face her. Gently, he pulled her into his arms trying to calm her fears the only way he knew how. There was nothing he could say that would convince her she was wrong so he didn't even try. Liz let herself be held for a moment while she got control again. After a few moments she raised her head and smiled sheepishly at him. She didn't want to talk about this anymore so she changed the subject. "Gwyn and I were talking yesterday. She thinks it will be safe enough for me to move back home in a few days but I really don't want to stay alone anymore. I... I'm scared Michael. I don't want to be and I'm trying to block it out because I'm stronger than that, but I'm scared. We don't know who this guy is or when he could decide he's bored with this game of cat and mouse." "I told you nothing is going to happen to you. We won't let it." "I know and I believe you, but I still don't like being completely alone. My imagination just gets too out of hand. I can't stay with Max and Izzy, their parents will be home soon. Amy would be too suspicious and I can't continue to impose on Gwyn when she has barely moved into her house. So I was thinking, you could come stay with me until my parents come back. I can't stay with you. There is not enough room and if someone found out they could get the wrong idea. We have a guest room, we would not even have to share a bathroom." She worried her bottom lip while her eyes pleaded with him. Michael was going to suggest the idea himself but he was glad she beat him to it. This way he knew she was comfortable with him being there. "ok, but not for a few days. Let Max and I check the place out thoroughly during the day." "Of course. I'm going to change the window into a wall too. Just in case. I can change it back later but that's the fastest way into the house other than the front door." "Good idea" "You know that we're going to drive each other crazy, right?" "yeah," he put his arm around her shoulders to lead her downstairs, "but I kinda like it." She grinned up at him "me too." Chapter 34 Max, Liz, Michael, Maria, Alex and Isabel piled out of the cars and started for the front gates of the fair grounds. They had spent most of the day over at Gwyn's helping her unpack her things and getting to know her better. She was a wonderful addition to the group with or without all the information and contacts she had. She was a little like a mini mom. Her parting words to them had been 'be safe and have fun'. Michael half expected her to send them off with a Tupperware full of the brownies she had made them earlier in the day. It was very hard to believe that she was the same age as the rest of the group. She had stayed behind because with all the traveling and unpacking she was just too tired to spend the evening at the fair. Tess didn't want her to be left out so she stayed behind in the hopes she could get to know her newly found sister better. Kyle had stayed with the girls because he didn't want to leave Tess and he wanted to have a chance to make a better impression on Gwyn. She was Tess' older sister he wanted her to like him and so far he had not gotten that impression. Once there they decided to split up. Michael didn't even put up a fight about letting Liz go off alone with Max. After spending so much time with all nine of them stuffed in the same house they were anxious to spend a little time alone. They would all meet back by the taffy machine in two hours to see where they wanted to go from there. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "Michael, I'm not so sure about this." Maria danced in place anxiously eyeing the roller coaster ahead of her. Michael had dragged her over here and was insisting they take a ride. The coaster this year was much bigger than any other that had visited the Roswell fair grounds and he was desperate to try it out. "Maria, don't be chicken, you know you want to." He looked down at her with a gleam in his eye. He had a plan. Maria might not want to go now but once she was on he knew she would have a hard time getting off. "Michael, please..." she tugged at his hand trying to get him out of the line. "You know I have a weak tummy." she whined. "You'll be fine, Maria." The line began to move as a fresh round of people started filling the cars. When they reached the front the attendant roped off the entrance. "Sorry, this one is all full. You have to wait for the next ride." he informed them. Maria's brows rose in panic as she looked up at Michael again. "That means we will be in the first car. Michael, I really don't think this is such a good idea. I know. I can wait right over there," she pointed to a near by ticket booth, "and you can ride." Michael smiled at her attempt to thwart his plan. "I'm not leaving you out here alone. I want you to ride with me. You'll have fun Maria, I promise." Maria huffed in defeat "Fine, but if I throw up on my new shirt you are replacing it and then some." "Fine, whatever." She better not throw up, he thought. That would be so much grosser if she knew what he was planning. They waited in line another ten minutes waiting for their turn. Finally the cars ground to a stop and the new passengers were aloud to file on. "Couldn't we just sit one car back?" she glanced longingly at the car behind the one Michael was already getting settled in. "Maria, would you just get in the freaking car." he sighed in exasperation. She swallowed before slowly climbing into the car. Sitting, she looked for the seat belt. "There's no seat belt Michael. How come there's no seat belt?" Her voice was becoming shrill. Michael wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close to his side. "You have been in car chases with elite units of the FBI and you need a seat belt to ride a little roller coaster?" "There was not a chance I was going to fall out of the car then." she snaked her arms around his waist trying to get as close as possible. "And there's not now." He told her "there are no loops on this, no going upside down, you won't fall out." "What about going down the hills? We're in the front car." "That's what the safety bar is for. Besides, you know I won't let you fall." He looked down into her eyes to make sure the message was getting across. "You'll have fun, just give it a chance." The cars jerked forward then started their slow assent to the top of the first rise. "Looks like I don't have a choice now." she said ruefully. When they were almost the the top Michael leaned back and tried to extract himself from her arms. "What are you doing?" she cried. "You'll see." he smirked at her. "Oh God, I'm going to die." she exclaimed. "You're going to do some weird hocas pocas and its gonna blow up the track and I'm gonna die." "Maria, stop. I'm not going to do any hocas pocas, at least not of the alien variety. Maria look at me." They were coming to a temporary standstill at the top of the drop. Maria's eyes were riveted to where their car would soon be plunging down. Michael grasped the sides of her face and turned her to lock eyes with him. He was smiling from ear to ear which briefly distracted Maria. "Michael, what-" Just as he felt the car start to spill over the top he crushed his lips to hers. Maria instantly went into sensory overload. Her eyes widened in shock and her stomach dropped from the rapid decent. On instinct, she opened her mouth to scream but the sound was swallowed into Michael's. He took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. His tongue invaded her mouth searching for hers, inviting it out to play. They rounded a quick curve and her long hair whipped around to hit him in the face. He slid his hands from her cheeks to her neck to her back, pulling her closer. Recovering from the initial shock, Maria's eyes slid shut as she let the rush take over. Her arms slid around his shoulders of their own accord, one hand going further up into his hair. She gave into his demands, her tongue following back to his mouth. Caressing it gently at first, until he felt them going over another dip, then he began to suck on it intently. A mutual moan was released but whipped away quickly by the rushing sound of the coaster. Coming up for air briefly, they stared into each other's dazed eyes. The next incline began and by silent agreement their lips fused once again. Ten minutes later the cars pulled to a stop. The attendant gave the two panting, flushed teens in the front car an odd look before unlocking their safety bar. They walked off the platform silently holding hands. Michael turned to look down the row of rides when he felt Maria pulling him in the other direction. He turned back to look at her, "What?" She was beaming as she pulled him along. "I want to go again." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Ok this is where we enter the new and innovative world of interactive fan fic. This is the scene with Isabel and Alex. Unfortunately due to their inability to cooperate with the writers and directors their scene has been cut severely. Here's the interactive part: TPTB (me) will give you a few possible scenarios and you make up a nice little scene in your head. If you would like to tell the rest of us about it, great. If not, great too. So here you go: 1. Isabel wins Alex a prize at a shooting (basketball) booth. 2. They go on the tilt-o-whirl and it does not agree with Alex's delicate stomach. 3. They are on some ride that involves a dark tunnel, Isabel stalls the ride unbeknownst to Alex. Face sucking ensues. 4. They play that kids game where you fish a numbered rubber duck out of a wadding pool with a net (I loved that game), Alex trips and brings Izzy down into the pool with him. 5. Alex buys Iz a candied apple. It gets caught in her hair and he must help her get it out. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~ "Which one Miss.?" The man running the dart game asked Liz. "That one right there." She pointed to a medium size stuffed billy goat. He brought it over to her. "Thank you." "Are you sure you don't want a teddy bear?" Max asked her. "I have a teddy bear. I need a goat." "You need a goat?" "Mmmhmm. Isn't he cute?" she wave the goat in his face "Thank you Max." she smiled up at him. Her eyes were sparkling in the swirling lights of the rides. "Sure." He smiled back at her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her away from the game booths. "What are you going to call him?" "Russell I think." "You name your toys very odd things. Has anyone ever told you that?" "Believe it or not, yes." He chuckled, coming to stand in a line. "So, why Russell?" "After Russell Crow." "You like him now, do you? I thought it was George Cloony who held your heart." Liz giggled "No, well yes, but its because in Gladiator he played Maximus... Maximus the Goat King" She giggled again. Max rolled his eyes. "You're very silly." He told her while bopping her nose with his index finger. Liz looked around realizing they had come to a stop. "What now?" "I have never been on the Ferris Wheel." "You have never been on the Ferris Wheel?" Max shook his head in the negative. "That's just wrong. Its a good thing we can remedy that right now." "Yes it is." "I've never been on one this tall. I bet we'll be able to see all the way to the pod chamber." "Cool." Max was concentrating more on the way the lights were reflecting off her shiny, soft hair than what she was actually saying. He was going to run his fingers through it, something he had been longing to do for months, but decide to wait until they were on the ride so he could do it properly. Liz looked up at him when she realized he wasn't really paying attention to her. "Oh, Max, you've got a little..." she gestured to his chin and a spot of caramel from the dessert they had shared earlier. "Oh thanks," he tried to wipe it off but only succeeded in spreading the sticky stuff further. "Here," Liz reached up running her finger over the sharp line of his jaw removing the caramel. Max caught her wrist before she could pull away. Slowly, he brought her extended finger into his mouth. Liz gasped at the sensation of Max languorously wrapping his tongue around her small digit to suck it clean. Her glazed eyes remained locked with his hooded ones. After God only knows how much time had passed, he let her finger slip from his mouth. The chilly night air hit the wetness of her finger sending shivers through her body, contrasting with how warm she was becoming. They heatedly gazed at one another until the man running the ride broke them of their reverie. "You kids getting on or not?" he asked roughly. Reluctantly Max broke the staring contest. Never letting go of her hand he helped Liz into the car and settled in next to her. "Isn't it beautiful?" Liz asked in awe. The car stalled at the top for a moment to load another car at the bottom. "Yeah, there something tranquil about the desert at night. Its so... exposed. At night its like it can't hide anything from you, can't hide its secrets behind the heat and the glare of the sun. The light from the stars and the moon reveal all its secrets, its mystery." Liz looked up thoughtfully at him. "Most people would say the opposite. That at night is when it hides. The stars cast a low light and provide shadow while during the day the heat cooks and sizzles the ground, boiling away any pretense." Max took the opportunity to let his hand drift through her soft, dark hair and settle cupping the back of her delicate neck. "Yes, but I'm not most people and there is nothing comforting about the desert during the day. During the day the desert is deadly. The heat, the light, they only expose what they want to. It targets those who want to stay hidden and rips away their security, their safety. Leaving them naked to wither in the desolate landscape." "But not at night?" He leaned in closer, his warm breath feathering across her face. "No, not at night. The night is the blanket, safety and security. The night lets you see the desert's secrets while keeping your own. The stars to light the way, keep the blanket from smothering you. The quiet sounds to lull you into peace. The shelter of the midnight sky lets you seek what you will, leave what you won't." "What are you looking for Max?" she asked him quietly. He looked down into her chocolate depths, letting her see the answer. "I've already found it Liz." Without looking away he laced his hand with hers. "I love you, Liz." he told her, barely above a whisper. Liz had tears pooling in her eyes. She wanted to return the sentiment but the lump in her throat prevented it. A peace, like the desert night he so affectionately described, began to steal over her senses only to be replaced by panic. Max's eyes were fluttering closed and he was leaning in closer. He was going to kiss her. A real kiss this time, not the pecks on the cheek and forehead they had been limiting themselves to. Liz let her lids start to slide closed until she remembered exactly why she had been avoiding this situation, she could not let him see. She wasn't ready, she couldn't expect him to deal with all the emotions that would come with the flashes is she wasn't ready to do so herself. Smoothly, Liz turned her head so his lips encountered her soft cheek instead of her full lips. She could feel the surprise that rippled through him when he encountered the difference but ignored it. Not wanting to see what kind of disappointment his eyes held, she turned her body away from his. After a moment she felt the arm that was not holding her hand wind around her waist and pull her small form closer until she was leaning her back against his hard chest and his chin rested on her head. They spent the rest of the ride in stillness, watching the desert night. They stepped off the ride as quietly as they had gotten on but the atmosphere was decidedly different. Max wasn't sure how to proceed. Did she not want him to kiss her? Was he moving too fast for her? The finger thing had even shocked him a little, he was not usually so bold. He just could not help himself when he was with her. She clouded his senses and at the same time made them sharper. By her posture and body language he could tell that something was wrong, bothering her. She was slipping back into that protective shell she had built up over the past few months. He was not sure if he should press the issue right now or wait a while. He didn't want to push her away anymore by pressuring her but he was terrified that she would close herself off from him again. He looked down at his watch, "We have about fifteen minutes before we have to meet everyone. Anything else special you want to do?" She shook her head no, not quite meeting his eyes. He looked around for a minute. "There's a gypsy tent. Do you want to have your fortune told?" He asked starting to lead her in that direction. He stopped when her hand tightened painfully around his and she would not move from her spot. "Let's do something different, ok?" she smiled weakly and his questing look. "This will be fun, its not real, just something for entertainment." He tried to persuade her. Really, he didn't care about the fortune teller but he did care about her reaction. Why was she afraid of getting her palm read? "I don't want to Max." she implored. "ok, Liz. I won't make you do something you don't want to." He assured her. "Come on," he lead her to a near by bench to sit. Pulling her down, he tucked her neatly under his arm. Max noticed she was trembling slightly. He wasn't sure if it was from the cool desert night or whatever she was trying to keep from him. "You want to tell me about it?" he asked her softly as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Tell you what?" "You know what." He pressed "Why you were afraid of the fortune teller." "I wasn't afraid." "Liz..." "I wasn't, they upset me sometimes and I'm having a nice night and didn't want to spoil it." she attempted a cheerful tone but failed miserably. "Why do they upset you?" "Max..." He pulled back some, turning her chin so he could meet her eyes. "You promised Liz. You promised not to shut me out anymore." She shifted her gaze to the ground, chewing on her lip nervously. Nodding, Liz returned her head to his shoulder before speaking. "That night... the night he came back, before he appeared at my window, Maria took Alex and I to see her mom's psychic." "and what did she tell you?" he rubbed his hand up and down her arm in comfort. "she umm, she said that you chose love over d-destiny. She said you chose me." "Smart lady." She could hear the smile in his voice and laughed a little then let her voice resume its somber tone, "I was really happy but then... well, you know." "Not really." he paused for a moment "I don't want to push you on this Liz, but I want, no I need you to tell me what happened. All of it, not just the basic stuff I got from Michael. Its obviously still bothering you despite what you said to everyone else about moving on and forgetting about it. Its going to keep coming between us unless you let me in again." "I know." she replied on a sigh. "Its just... its hard Max." "I can only help you if you let me Liz. Please let me." "I want to Max, but not tonight. Ok? I just can't talk about it tonight." He moved the hand he was holding to rest over his heart and bent his head to rest on hers. "all right, but you can't let it go on. You know that, right?" "yeah," she admitted quietly. "There's other stuff too. Stuff we both need to talk about if we're going to move on." "I know and we will, its just going to take some time." She felt him nod and kiss the crown of her head. "as long as you promise not to shut me out again. You can tell me anything Liz, just please don't shut me out. I don't think I could take it." his voice was becoming horse from the emotion of admitting one his greatest fears. "I won't Max. I promise we'll get through this, I just need some time to come to terms with everything that's happened... and I can't do that with out you either." She snuggled in closer to his body emphasizing she meant what she said. They sat in companionable silence for a few more moments, comforted by each others arms and listening to the happy sounds around them. They were roughly where they should be to meet the others so they could sit until they saw them. Max felt Liz's arms break into goose bumps and pulled her closer thinking she was cold. As he did so she stiffened. "Liz?" he tried to pull back to see what was wrong but her grip around him tightened, preventing his movement. Slowly, deliberately, she moved her mouth up to his ear. To the average passer by it looked like they were necking. "Someone is watching us." She whispered in his ear. He lifted his eyes cautiously to inspect the crowd. "Are you sure?" he whispered back, pulling her even closer. "I can feel it, like before." Her frightened eyes met his. "Stay calm, no one is going to hurt you," he reassured her. Standing slowly, keeping her plastered to his side, he scanned the area. "The others should be here any second then we're going, ok?" He could feel her nod as she buried her face into his shoulder. He saw Michael and Maria break through the crowd to the left. Michael was giving Maria a piggy back ride. She was eating a large spool of pink cotton candy and getting it caught in her hair. To the right Max saw Isabel and Alex come through the crowd passing what was left of an elephant ear between them. Michael let Maria slide off his back when he got to them. "What's wrong?" Liz was still clinging to Max and he was barely hiding his distress. "There is someone watching us," he answered through tight lips. "What? Where?" Maria started looking around franticly. Michael grabbed her to him and whispered harshly in her ear, "Don't do that. We don't want them to know we know." Her eyes widened at her mistake while she nodded her understanding. "Hey guys, are we all having fun?" Alex asked cheerily as he and Iz walked up to the group. He caught sight of their various disturbed demeanors, "Is that a no?" "Max, what's going on?" Isabel asked, noting how he kept Liz firmly pressed to his body. "Someone is watching us, we have to get her out of here." "What are we waiting for then?" Alex began leading the way through the crowd without another word. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* He watched them all from his perch above the rest of the crowd. He was getting too close to her. Something might have to be done. It was interesting that she knew she was being watched but he didn't. They walked off to their cars poorly disguising the fact they knew they were being followed. When they pulled away he pulled out his cell and dialed. "Yes." "Is he up?" "Just a minute" footsteps could be heard in the background. "What?" "I think the other one my be getting too close. I need to know if you want him out of the way." "No, not yet. I can use him to my advantage right now. Wait 'till later but if he does anything stupid do it." "Got it." "Anything else?" "That's all." "Fine." then there was a dial tone. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Gwyn hung up the phone with a triumphant click. "I think that takes care of everything. News paper, cable company, my car will be delivered from the shipping company on Tuesday and the rental company will come pick up the other one." She checked off the few remaining things on her to do list. "Thank you guys so much for all your help today. This would have taken me over a week to do all by myself and I have no idea when Justin will be able to move back here with me. He's still deciding if he wants to keep his office there and commute a few times a month or move it permanently to Roswell." "What does Justin do?" Tess asked as she cleared away the remainder of the chinese cartons from the table. Gwyn had wanted to cook for them but she and Kyle had firmly objected. She was already tired and there was no need to wait on them when she was barely moved in to the house. They ended up having to promise that she could hold a small dinner party for the whole group then they could all be introduced to the joy that was Gwyn's cooking. Gwyn was thrilled to no end with the idea and agreed to do take out for this evening. "He's the CEO of this huge company, you have probably not heard of it, they do mostly research and development. Stuff like cloning, medical research, advanced computer technologies, research on preserving endangered species, those kinds of things." "Uhh, I thought you said he was an alien?" Kyle asked. "He is, a hybrid just like the rest of us." "Did he hatch earlier than the rest of you?" "No, he's seventeen." "Ok, throw me a bone here. How can he be the CEO of a major company if he's a seventeen year old alien?" Gwyn laughed. "Two reasons. Justin and I have almost all our memories from Antar including those of our advancements in many fields and no one knows that he's a seventeen year old alien. Its so cool. Kind of like Charlie's Angles. None one has ever seen him. Forbs has been hounding the corporate offices for years trying to get his picture. We had a close call a few years ago. Imagine the shock of the country if they would have found out one of the richest men in America was a fifteen year old with no concrete background." Kyle chocked on his root beer. "I'm sorry did you just say one of the richest men in America?" "Yup." Gwyn grinned. "Although, technically its in name only. The money that comes off of the labs is divided. There is an account for the living expenses of the rest of the underground that is here on earth, one for the expenses incurred by the underground, spying, hotel bills and that kind of thing. There are accounts for each of the five of them," she pointed to Tess, "and another for the expansion of the company if need be. Its all done very covertly, of course. Dummy corporations and stuff, we have to be so careful not to draw attention from the government. As for the money that is actually Justin's... lets just say being the only two noble members of the Antarian Underground still living has its perks." She gestured widely indicating how she bought the house. "But I assure you its all completely legal. We pay our taxes and make sure everyone is well taken care of. In a few of the towns where are labs are we are the largest employer." "You employ humans?" "Oh yes. In about ten states." "My god. How long have you been here?" "Our ship delivered us in 1960 but we hatched the around the same time as Tess and the others." "How many of you are there?" "Kyle, enough with the twenty questions, ok? All she has talked about since she got here is this stuff. Maybe she would like to talk about some normal things for a while." "Oh umm, sorry. I didn't mean it the way it sounded. Its just fascinating and at the same time really frightening when you find out about all this stuff that has been happening under everyone's noses for years." "Its ok, I don't mind. I'm sure you all have tons of questions." There was a pregnant pause while they groped for something else to talk about. "So, are you guys dating?" Gwyn inquired. "Yeah." Kyle said defensively. "and you live together?" "Yes, but she sleeps in my bed. Wait no, I mean, in my bed alone. I sleep on the couch. I just fall asleep in there sometimes but..." Tess patted his arm "Kyle stop now before you dig yourself any deeper." He sighed grateful that she would take over this part of the conversation. Gwyn may be the same age as they were but there was something about her. It was like she was a mom trapped in a teeny-boppers body, flip flopping between the two personalities. Plus she was Tess' sister, he needed to make a good impression. Gwyn smiled at his falter. It showed good character that he was nervous about admitting something like that. She liked Kyle, she just wanted to look out for her little sister. "It's ok Kyle," she reassured him. "I didn't mean to pry or insinuate anything. I'm just trying to get to know you guys better." "We-we've never done anything." Kyle could not help the things that were coming out of his mouth. For some reason he felt like he was being confronted with Tess' parents. Tess turned bright red and hid her face in her hands. Gwyn laughed at the two. "Hey, that is none of my business. I really want to know nothing about anyone's sex life except my own. So lets change the subject." When nether could even look her in the eye she fumbled for a more neutral topic. "So, umm, Kyle, Liz tells me your dad is the sheriff." "Yeah, so was my grandfather." "Really? Are you thinking about following in their footsteps?" "No. I don't really know what I want to do right now." "Well that's ok. You have plenty of time, as long as you get a good education." Even Gwyn thought she sounded like a parent just then, she would have to work on that. Kyle nodded. "Its getting kinda late do you need to call your dad or anything?" "No, he's away on a trip with Mrs. Deluca." "I see, and you guys are staying alone, together?" Gwyn covered her mouth at her own words. "Oh my gosh I did it again! Please don't listen to me. I'm really sorry. I am the last one who should be lecturing you on living arrangements." She smiled over at Tess. "I'm sure you can understand that I'm just looking out for her." "Yeah. I understand and I think I should say that I would never make her feel uncomfortable. I know we have unique circumstances and we really have only been dating for a few weeks so we're still working out all the kinks but I would never let things go farther than she would want them to." Tess blushed some more, this was getting really embarrassing. "Thank you Kyle." Gwyn smiled at him with a light sheen of tears in her eyes. She regretted not being able to find Tess sooner and save her a lot of the heartache being away from the others had caused her. "and Tess, you are welcome to stay here any time you like." "Ok, enough of that," she brushed away the wetness in her eyes. "Now tell me about your dad and Maria's mom." Tess grinned. They were so cute together. "Well," she leaned forward conspiratorially, "I am betting that there will be a wedding in the near future." "You're kidding?" "No, you should see them together. It is so sweet and really they are perfect together." "Married? What are you talking about?" Tess rolled her eyes. "Maria and Kyle are in denial about the whole thing, but its going to happen." "Maybe someday but not while we are still in high school." Kyle tried to reason with her. "I give it until summer. I'm thinking a June wedding." Kyle gasped. "Ooo a wedding! I love weddings. If there is anything I can help with let me know. I have this great punch recipe, oh and if you want you could have the shower here." "That would be so great. Of course we will have to coordinate with Maria." "Oh, of course." "Could you guys slow down? They have barely been on a few dates and you are literally planning the wedding." "Kyle, honey, think about it. Your dad went away for an entire week leaving two teenagers alone in a house. Love is the only thing that would let a man do something that stupid." Tess patted his hand. Kyle was looking a little shell shocked. "Would you excuse me for just a second?" Gwyn got up from the table. "I need to check something." She left the room to go upstairs. "Have you noticed how much older she acts than us sometimes?" Kyle asked when she was out of earshot. "Yeah, I think it might have to do with how old she was when she died. She said she has most of her memories from home. It must be really difficult to regulate between the two lives." "I never thought about that." "Listen Kyle, do you think maybe I could have a little time to talk to her? I-I need to..." "Get to know your sister better," he smiled at her. She nodded gratefully, it was amazing how understanding Kyle could be sometimes. "That's fine with me. I'll just slip out now. Give me a call if you want me to pick you up or if you are going to spend the night here." "I will, thanks." He gave her a soft kiss on the forehead before making his way out of the house. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Gwyn came back into the kitchen to find only Tess. "Where did Kyle go?" "He went home. I think we were scaring him with all the wedding talk." "ahhh." "Is everything ok?" Tess notices she was looking a little sad. "Oh, yeah. I thought that maybe Justin might call me tonight. I was checking to make sure the battery in the cell phone was charged." "You miss him, huh?" "So much. We haven't really been apart all that much. I know we have to be right now, there are more important things, but its hard." "Have you guys always been together?" "It certainly seems like it. We were married on Antar and since we have all those memories from then we still pretty much consider ourselves married." "Wow." "Yeah, it was a little hard in the beginning. We were six when we hatched, but our minds were pretty much that of adults complete with umm, adult memories." "Oh. Ohhh. So what did you do?" Tess wasn't sure she wanted to know but this was really fascinating. Gwyn laughed. "Get your mind out of the gutter. While our minds had the memories and the knowledge to take care of ourselves and begin our mission the added human DNA and the change in our biochemistry altered our personalities a little. And we still had the maturity of six year olds. I'm not sure about Justin but until I was about fifteen I blocked that stuff out. While we were very close we still matured the way humans do. "Sometimes its a little difficult because the older we get and the closer we become the more we remember. Personal stuff like favorite colors and childhood memories as opposed to just the ones pertaining to our mission. Sometimes it gets hard to separate the two lifetimes. I have this incredible pull to tell you you can't live with Kyle because your too young. At the same time I can't wait till my boyfriend gets back and we can continue to live in sin. I'm a complete conflict of flaky teenager and conservative adult. Sometimes one just takes over the other and I end making a complete ass of myself." Tess laughed. "Don't worry about it. The eight of us have such conflicting personalities no one will notice." There was a lull while Tess decided what she wanted to ask her sister. "Were we close?" she asked with a bit of hesitance in her voice. "Not terribly no." Gwyn looked down at the table. "You have to remember that I was eleven years older than you and we really didn't even know each other until you came to live at the palace at the beginning of the war. We did start spending quite a bit of time together then though. You were marrying Zan and I was already married to Kyron. You were so young and unsure and I was lonely with him away. We became closer because we didn't really have anyone else. I had lost everyone close to me and Kyron was off fighting with Rath, you were all I had left. "Before you were crowned we used to sit in my parlor and you would ask me to tell you stories about Lilly and Zan. I was never really sure why. I think you wanted to be the kind of queen she would have been and you wanted to fill that void for him." "Did I... was I- in love with him?" Gwyn drew in a breath and exhaled loudly. "As much as a sixteen year old can be in love with someone ten years older than her. I don't think you were in love with him so much as you admired him. Zan was always very kind to you. Given the choice I don't think its something either of you would have done but you were pushed into it by Zan's advisors. "He treated you very well, gave you anything you asked for but it was not a marriage, it was a friendship. You wanted desperately to please him and be a good queen. You had no intention of taking Lilly's place in any aspect, you just wanted to do what was best for the kingdom. Not everyone saw it that way." Tess shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand." She looked up, near tears. "If we were just friends, if I was so young and naive, then why do I remember some of the things that I do?" Gwyn reached out and took her hand across the table. "Its expected that you would recover some of your memories especially under extreme stress. Like Liz reliving the murder." Tess shook her head, her blond waves bouncing around her face, "but I think I remember things that could not possibly have happened." Gwyn frowned, "like what?" "I-I remember that he loved me. Loved me like a wife not like a friend. We-we were together, lovers." Gwyn's eyes popped wide open. All she could do was stare for a moment. Recovering from her shock she saw that Tess was crying in earnest now. She came around the table to give her sister a hug. "Tess, I don't know what happened. I suppose there is a chance that the two of you were together like that but... I don't know. He was away for the majority of your marriage. You used to crawl into bed with me because you got lonely by yourself in the royal suit. I don't know what happened but I promise Tess, we'll figure it out. There are a lot of missing pieces here but I promise when Justin gets back we'll do everything we can to figure this out." She rubbed the girls back as her sobs subsided. Tess pulled back after a moment. "I'm sorry. This has been a bit much for me. Its hard to find out that basically everything you have ever been told is a lie. I didn't mean to slobber all over you. I'm not usually like this." "Its ok honey." Gwyn gave her a wide smile, "That's what sisters are for." Tess sat back down while Gwyn went to the pantry and started pulling out stuff. "Do you like hot chocolate? I make killer hot chocolate. The secret, if your Antarian, is cayenne pepper. Not added after its cooked but while the milk is simmering. Trust me you'll love it." Back Next |