Standard stuff:
Title: Consequences
Author: Kathryn C
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Category: Mainly Michael/Maria, maybe Isabel/Alex too,
but not near as much.
Spoilers: same as before
Disclaimer: I don't own, although I wish I did.
Feedback:Send. Can't emphasize that enough. No
matter whether it's good or bad.
Besides, I got a lot this time, and a part is comig
out the very next day!
*************
Liz Parker wiped the cloth over the counter at the Crashdown. Alex sat across from her, twirling on his stool.
There was a knock on the door to the diner. They were closed for the evening already. Liz glanced towards the door, half expecting to see Max standing there. Instead, she saw Maria waiting to be let in, her arms wrapped around her.
Liz left Alex sitting there and walked over to the door to let Maria in. As she got closer she saw that Maria looked miserable. Her eyes were red and puffy and she wore a forlorn expression.
"What's wrong?" Liz asked, concerned as she let Maria in.
"I don't want to talk about it," Maria said determinedly.
"Then why did you come to us?" Alex asked. Maria favored him with a scalding look and disappeared into the back. She re-emerged, carrying a tube of ice cream.
She grabbed a spoon and sat beside Alex at the counter, beginning to eat. "Listen Maria," Alex said finally, "Why don't you just tell us what's going on? You know you're going to eventually anyway."
"I'm not ready to talk yet," Maria said quietly, shoving a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
"Come on Maria," Liz said comfortingly, putting a hand on her arm. "It'll make you feel better to get it out in the open."
"Trust me, it won't make anyone happy," Maria said with a sigh. She furiously wiped at her already puffy eyes, blinking back tears.
"Why don't we just guess then?" Alex said reasonably, "You tell us if we get it right."
"Nobody would ever guess this," Maria said bitterly, resting her heads in her hands. "Please Alex, just let it go. This isn't like anything I've had to deal with before."
"Come on," Alex said reasonably. "I bet it's guy trouble. More specifically, spikey haired alien trouble."
"Well, you're right on that account," Maria said in a sad voice. If only he knew exactly how right he was. She didn't want to be the one to inform that his girlfriend was pregnant.
"Okay," he continued, getting into it. "What's the problem this time? You know Michael isn't one of those lovey-dovey types. You knew it when you got involved Maria."
"It's not that Alex," Maria said defeatedly. "It's a lot more serious. A lot more. I didn't want to be the one to tell you, but what the hell. Everyone's going to find out anyway right? It's not as if this is something they can keep a secret."
"They?" Liz asked, as she continued to clean up.
Maria nodded, "Uh huh, 'they'."
When she didn't go on, Alex prodded, "'They'? Care to elaborate a little? Oh, wait, don't go on. Let me guess. Michael cheated on you."
Maria covered her mouth with her hand and just nodded. Liz put down her cleaning supplies and squeezed Maria's shoulder. "I'm so sorry Maria. You didn't need that jerk anyway."
"It's not just that," Maria said. "It's a lot worse."
Maria refused to look at Alex as she continued to tell them. "Isabel's pregnant," Maria said softly. "With Michael's baby."
At that Maria began to cry. Quiet little sobs that made it sound like her heart was broken. Which, in truth, it likely was. Liz ran around the corner and hugged Maria, trying to comfort her.
Neither girl looked at Alex. His face had turned pale, and he said nothing. His expression was frozen into one of hurt. No anger, no shock, just a deep incurable pain. It felt as if someone had shoved a knife in his chest. He looked away from the crying Maria and tried to control his emotions.
"Pregnant?" he choked out softly.
Maria pulled away from Liz and nodded. "I found out earlier. It's true Alex. She's carrying his kid."
"What did Michael say?" Liz asked.
Maria shook her head, and ran her hand over her short hair. "Not a lot worth listening too. According to him, this happened in some dream, causing her to be pregnant. Oh, and it all meant nothing."
Maria stood up off her stool and began to pace. "God, I should have known, known it was too good to be true. I should have known that him wanting to get serious was all a lie. I should have known that I meant nothing to him. Nothing of value. Now, he's gone and my heart is lying in a million pieces Liz."
"What if it's the truth, you know about the dream?" Liz asked Maria who had collapsed at one of the booths.
"It wouldn't matter," Alex said in a despondent voice, playing with a salt shaker. "She would still feel betrayed. Isabel would still be pregnant. Michael would be a father to some child not hers. It would be impossible to trust him, or even believe that Isa...Michael wasn't dreaming of Isabel when he was with her."
"What he said," Maria said, waving her hand at Alex. He just nodded and continued to sit there, a pensive expression on his face.
There was another knock at the door to the Crashdown. Again, it was not Max.
It was Michael and Isabel.
Maria stood up slowly. Her legs felt heavy, and her vision blurred just looking at them. She didn't want to do this, but she had to.
She walked slowly over to the door to the diner. As she turned the key, she was reminded of the time that Michael had come to her during that incredible heat wave. But that was another time, it meant nothing now.
Maria opened the door halfway. "What do you want?" she asked, trying to put steel into her voice. "The diner's closed."
"To talk Maria," Michael said. "That's why we're here. Can we come in?"
Maria shook her head. "There's nothing to talk about Michael. Why don't you and Isabel just leave."
Isabel saw Alex sitting at the counter, and felt her stomach sink. This was going to come sooner then she had hoped. Michael was continuing. "Please Maria, just let us in."
"Do whatever you want," she said, turning her back and leaving the door open.
Michael walked in, pulling Isabel with him. As he shut the door, Isabel walked over to where Alex was sitting at the counter. He didn't look up, just continued to play with the salt shaker.
"Alex...." she began softly, putting a hand on his arm.
Alex pulled away from her touch and refused to look at her. "Don't talk to me," he said in a voice as hard as nails, and as cold as ice. "Don't waste the time Isabel."
"It's not what you think," she said pleadingly, sitting down beside him. "I care about you Alex, I didn't let this happen on purpose. I can't control what I dream about. I never wanted to hurt you."
"This story about goddamn dreams," Alex said in a bitter voice, laden with pain. "I know it's a load of crap Isabel. You and I know there's only one way to get pregnant, and it doesn't take place in a dream."
She shook her head, "Alex, it did. You don't understand, I like you a lot..."
"I understand perfectly," he said, finally, looking at her. "But hey, my broken heart is mostly my fault, right? I mean, the thought that I actually meant something to Isabel Evans, the most popular girl in school, I mean it's ludicrous. I mean, I should have known better. I'm not good enough for her."
"You're more than good enough," Isabel began, but was again cut off by Alex.
"Actually, you're right. I am more than good enough. I never cheated on you, or played with your emotions. I mean, I may have been foolish enough to give my heart to an alien, but at least I never gave myself to her. I never thought I wouldn't regret us not going through with it that night, but I don't. In fact, I'm glad."
"Listen Alex," Isabel began, "You have to understand.."
Alex continued as if she hadn't spoken, "Well, better finding out now how much I meant to you than later before it went too far, right?"
"You mean the world to me Alex," Isabel said insistently.
He shook his head, "Then why the hell are you pregnant with his child?"
Alex shot to his feet, and turned to Maria and Liz. "See you guys later," he said in a distant voice, and turned to leave out of the diner. Isabel stood up to chase after him, but Liz grabbed her arm.
"Let him go," she said, her eyes flashing. "You've hurt him enough." Her once cheery, humorous friend had just had his heart stamped on by a woman he thought he cared about, and who returned his feelings.
Isabel watched the only guy she had ever been serious about walk away from her, likely for good.
"Have you told Max?" Liz asked. Her words were cordial enough, but the tone of her voice wasn't. She was angry and upset on behalf of her two best friends.
Isabel shook her head, and Michael answered, "Not yet."
"Please don't tell him," Isabel said pleadingly, "We'll tell him, just not yet. We have to do it in our own way."
Liz shrugged, "I'm not going to go out of my way to tell him, but you should know, I don't keep secrets from Max, and well, I certainly don't cheat on him."
"Is that a dig?" Michael asked, whirling at Liz.
She shrugged again. "If the shoe fits......"
"Let's just go Michael," Isabel said, standing up. "I know you want to explain everything to everyone, but it's not going to work. Let everyone calm down first."
Isabel started to walk away, but Michael hesitated, staring at Maria who hadn't said a word since their arrival. She wasn't looking at him, but instead at her folded hands on the table.
"You coming?" Isabel demanded, her hand on the doorknob.
Michael hesitated one last time, looking back at Maria. Then he followed Isabel out of the door.
Maria didn't say anything as he left. She didn't break down, she didn't cry. She just sat perfectly still as she felt her heart shatter as she watched the stupid alien she had come to love walk away with another woman.
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