"Why did you feel it necessary to give me a ride home?" Michael said with a sigh as he tossed his apartment keys on the kitchen counter. "I could have easily walked."
"All the way from the hospital? At night?" Maria said with a snort. "Brilliant Michael. Besides, it was no problem. And, I wanted some time alone with you Michael. I've missed you."
Now that her mother understood everything, she had decided Maria wasn't grounded. She understood that getting out of Roswell to save their lives was more important than getting in touch with their parents. That didn't mean Amy was thrilled with the fact that Maria was with Michael, an alien, alone, in his apartment. But, she hadn't stopped her daughter from driving him home.
She didn't notice the stiffening in Michael's back when she said she had missed him, and she didn't hear the stained tone in his voice when he said, "I've missed you too."
"So," Maria said, walking up behind him and putting her hands on his shoulders, "why don't we make up for lost time?"
As he turned around she kissed him gently. Michael let his lips linger softly on hers, but abruptly pulled away. "I can't do this to you," he told Maria in a tortured voice. "I can't."
"What? Kiss me?" Maria said in an incredulous voice, her hands on her hips. "I assure you Michael, that's not exactly a horrible experience for me. In fact, I like having it done to me."
Michael shook his head and walked around the counter, trying to put some distance between them. "No Maria, not just that. Us."
"What?" Maria demanded, "What are you talking about?"
Michael took a deep breath, "Kyle, you heard what he said in the hospital. He was right."
"About what exactly?" Maria asked angrily. "What revelation did Kyle make that made you think we shouldn't be together?"
"That aliens hurt people," Michael said in a tightly controlled voice, full of emotion. "That it would be better if we never came."
"Kyle was hurt, and he was lashing out," Maria said bluntly. "You do not hurt people, and we would not be better of without you. I would not be better off without you!"
"But it's true!" Michael said insistently, "If I wasn't here, would your life have ever been in danger? Would you have ever been hurt? Kyle, he was right Maria, you're better off without aliens in your life."
"We've been over this before you blockhead," Maria said through gritted teeth. "Nothing else matters but how we feel for each other. I make me own choices, and I choose you."
"But all I'll bring you is more pain and heartache," Michael said, closing his eyes. "I just want whats best for you. Kyle was right when he said us aliens just hurt you."
"Kyle nows nothing!" Maria said loudly, grabbing Michael's hand. "Kyle just sees the surface of things. Kyle doesn't know what I feel for you and what you feel for me. He doesn't realize that I'm only happy when I'm with you. Want to talk about heartache and pain Michael? That's a life without you in it. You leaving me will hurt me more than anything else ever could."
She took a step closer, still holding his hand tightly in hers. "This had nothing to do with you as an alien, this has to do with you, a man, the love of my life. I've been waiting too long for this, and I refuse to let you go."
"I just don't want to hurt you," Michael said, folding her in an embrace.
"You won't," Maria said, her voice muffled by his shirt. "Not if you stay with me."
She lifted her head slightly, "Now, listen Michael. We are never, ever, going to have this conversation again. No more crap about us being apart because I might get hurt."
Michael didn't answer, he just lowered his mouth slowly. Maria closed her eyes as he kissed her eyes, her forhead, and dragged his lips long her cheek till he reached her mouth. Their lips met and fused, and nothing else mattered to her in the world except Michael and how he was making her feel.
They fell back onto the worn out couch in the living room of the apartment, Michael on top of Maria. They didn't pull apart an inch. Maria was fully supporting Michael's weight but she didn't care.
When Maria came to her senses a few moments later, she realized that she had already pulled Michael's top off of him, leaving him in only his undershirt and her hands were working on his pants, when she realized that her hands still immediately. He had half-unbuttoned her shirt, her purple bra showing through.
"Michael," she gasped breathlessly, then said helplessly, "What are we doing?"
It took Michael a moment to get his bearings, being so caught up in the moment. When his brain finally processed what she had said, he didn't know how to answer. "Uh, we were...we were...."
Maria scrambled to out from underneath him and to her feet. "Uh, I really gotta get going," she said in a hurry, not wanting to address the issue of what they had been about to do.
"My mom will kill me if I don't get home soon, she's pretty suspicious when I'm with you. She's never really had anything to worry about, well I guess until now I suppose. Not that anything really happened, oh shit!" Maria's swear cut off her desperate rambling as she accidentally popped a button off her blouse as she hurried to do it up.
"Maria," Michael said quietly, putting a hand on her arm as she tried futilely to put the button back on the shirt. She stopped and just looked at him. "You're right, nothing really did happen. You don't need to feel guilty in respect to anything."
Maria nodded and took a deep breath. "What about to you? Even though I don't want to take the risk of..you know...I was being pretty....well, encouraging."
He shook his head, "You don't need to feel guilty with me, not about this, not ever. I don't need this Maria to enjoy being with you."
Maria almost felt tears tickle the back of her eyes. She had never known Michael to be this considerate, and have the ability to say the right thing at the right time. He wasn't pressuring her into doing anything, or making her feel bad they hadn't gone any farther, "When did you get to be such a great guy?" she said, bringing up her hand to touch his cheek.
She thought she saw the faintest hint of a blush on Michael's cheek, but she figured it was just part of her imagination. "I love you, you know that," she said as she leaned over to kiss him gently. As her eyes shut for this kiss, Michael's flew open. She had never said that to him, at least not in so many words.
When they pulled apart, Maria nearly felt herself blush under his intense gaze. She realized what she had said, they weren't words she took lightly. "I really do have to go," she said, averting her gaze from his. "No need to give mom more reasons to worry. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
Michael nodded as she walked towards the door. "When do you work tomorrow? I'll come drop in."
"The morning shift," Maria said as she opened the door. "I'll probably be done before you even wake up. Why don't we meet for a movie tomorrow night or something?"
Michael made a face, but Maria laughed, "I promise, something I'll have no interest on keeping my eyes on the screen for."
"Okay then," Michael agreed, "What time?"
Maria hesitated, "Late. I'm going to stop by the hospital to check on the sheriff, talk to Kyle."
Michael just nodded as she let herself out. He had actually had plans to go see the sheriff the next day at the hospital. Except for him, preferably when Kyle wasn't there.
TBC..........
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