Disclaimer: Song is “Rhythm of the Night” by Valeria from “Moulin Rouge”
Part 11
Half an hour later they left the shop in their new outfits and with their new tattoos. Liz pulled Kyle into a dark ally, and after pinning up her hair with a few clips she placed her hand over the back of her neck and the faint blue glow returned. She then did the same with Kyle. He winced at first since the skin where the tattoo was was still pretty sensitive, but then he felt a tingling sensation and the discomfort was gone.
“Did you just heal that?” Kyle asked in exasperation.
“Yup,” Liz replied as if it were the most common thing in the world.
”Bu- Ho- Wh- Sin- WHAT THE HELL?!”
“Look Kyle, I can’t explain this, I don’t know why I can suddenly do this, and to be honest I don’t want to know. I don't want to think about it right now. Tonight is supposed to be about fun. So let's worry about the freaky alien powers showing up another time, okay? Please?”
Kyle stared at her like she was nuts at first. She suddenly developed alien powers, meaning that he probably had some too, and just wanted to ignore it?! Then he sighed. Liz was looking at him with puppy-dog-eyes, and he just couldn’t help but give in. Liz knew him too well. He always melted whenever she looked at him like that. “But we’re talking about this tomorrow,” he said sternly.
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Liz replied gravely, glad that he had let her off the hook so easily, smirking to herself since it had been so easy to convince Kyle.
A neon sign suddenly caught her eyes and she grabbed Kyle's hand and dragged him along with her in the direction of it.
"Where are we going?" Kyle asked.
"To that sign," Liz replied.
"Can I say huh?"
"It must be a bar or club or something. And I wanna dance."
"Dance? Liz, you know I don't dance."
"Kyle, this night out was your idea. You got me drunk. And now you're gonna make sure that I have a damn good time. Do we understand each other?" Liz demanded with authority in her voice.
Kyle held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. Let's go. Geez, if I'd have known that you'd be so much trouble when you're drunk I would have never given you that wine. You're like a fucking Field Marshal," he muttered, shutting up quickly when Liz glared at him.
They continued down the ally until reaching what turned out to be a bar and after showing their now fake IDs went inside.
It was crowded and the music was loud and upbeat. In other words, perfect.
"Come on," Liz shouted over the noise and dragged Kyle over to the dance floor. A new song came on causing Liz's eyes to light up and quicken her pace. "I love this song!" she exclaimed.
When it feels like the world is on your shoulders
And all of the madness has got you goin' crazy
It's time to get out step out into the street
Where all of the action is right there at your feet
Liz dragged Kyle onto the middle of the dance floor with her. The beat was pulling her into the music and so she started dancing, letting herself get lost in the rhythm.
I know a place where we can dance the whole night away
Underneath the electric stars
Just come with me and we can shake your blues right away
You'll be doin' fine once the music starts, oh
Liz listened to the lyrics and smiled to herself. It was true, dancing did shake the blues away. She felt great, like she was flying. Did that come from the alcohol or the dancing? She didn’t know, and frankly she couldn’t have cared less.
To the beat of the rhythm of the night
Dance until the morning light
Forget about the worries on your mind
We can leave them all behind
To the beat of the rhythm of the night..
Ooh the rhythm of the night
Liz felt free. Dancing had always had this effect on her. She felt like she was soaring up to heaven, light like a feather. For the first time in months it was like she didn’t have the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she was fully enjoying it.
Look out on the street now
The party's just beginning
The music's playing
A celebration's starting
Under the streetlights
The scene is being set
A night for romance
A night you won't forget, so
Liz closed her eyes and let her head fall back, the smile now permanently etched into her features, as she continued dancing, enjoying this perfect moment. Freedom had never tasted sweeter. She soaked up the warmness it spread through her veins, taking her to unknown heights, making her feel giddy and happy.
Come join the fun
This ain't no time to be staying home
Mmm, there's too much going on, oh
Tonight is gonna be a night like you've never known
We're gonna have a good time the whole night long, oh
The music's playin'
It's a celebration
The music's playin'
Everybody dance
The lyrics of the song once again brightened Liz’s smile as well as her mood, if that was even possible. The pace of her moves quickened, became more energetic. She let herself become one with the music, with the rhythm, wanting to go on like this forever.
To the beat of the rhythm of the night
Dance until the morning light
Forget about the worries on your mind
We can leave them all behind
To the beat of the rhythm of the night..
Ooh the rhythm of the night
Kyle watched Liz closely. Never had he seen her so happy, so careless, so at peace with everything. Not in the car on their way to Florida the one time he’d caught her singing along to the radio, nor at any other time of their vacation so far. And definitely not back in Roswell. This night out had been the best idea he could have possible had, and he prayed to Buddha that nothing would ruin it.
The danced a few more songs together till Kyle dragged Liz off the dance floor. "I'm dying of thirst," he told her, still breathing heavily from all the dancing.
"Yeah, me too," Liz said as they made their way over to the bar. They found two free bar stools next to each other and sat down.
"So, what do you wanna drink?" Kyle asked Liz.
"Just a coke," Liz replied.
"Coke? COKE?! We have IDs saying that we're twenty-one and can therefore drink whatever we want to and you just want a coke?"
"Kyle, I'm already drunk. I don't need anymore alcohol."
"Liz, that's exactly the point. We're already as pissed as can be, so what's the point in not drinking any alcohol? Trust me, it won't get any worse. It can’t get any worse. Come on Liz, have you ever tried a cocktail? There are some damn good ones out there, and it would be a shame if you missed out on that. Cause the way I know you, you're gonna stay away from alcohol for a very long time after tonight."
Liz thought it over for a moment, but she still hesitated.
"Drinks are on me," Kyle said.
"Okay, get me a cocktail. Something fruity and nothing too sweet. And now I have to go and pee," Liz said hopping off her bar stool.
"Thanks for sharing that with me," Kyle replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
Liz headed over to the toilets and Kyle signaled the barkeeper to come over. She did just that and Kyle ordered a Planter's Punch for Liz and a Long Island Ice Tea for himself. When the barkeeper turned around to mix their drinks he couldn't help but check out her butt. She was definitely hot. Average height with a slim but curvy figure. And her ass...he didn't even want to get started on that.
She started turning around and Kyle quickly averted his gaze. He didn't think that she'd be pleased if she caught him staring at her like that. She placed the drinks in front of him and Kyle paid for them, giving her a nice tip as well as his trademark smile. She didn't only have a hot body, she was also damn pretty. And she had the most beautiful blue eyes he'd ever seen.
Liz plopped down on her stool again, causing Kyle to come out of his self-induced daze. "So, what did you get me?" she asked him, not noticing what she'd been interrupting.
"Planter's Punch," Kyle replied
"What's in it?" Liz asked.
"Rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, lemon juice, a little sugar and some grenadine. It's good, taste it."
Liz did just that. "This is good!" she exclaimed, taking another sip, and another. Suddenly the strange feeling that she was being watched returned and she glanced around nervously, trying to find the person who was causing it. She saw nobody glancing in her direction, and so she turned back to her drink.
"Something wrong?" Kyle asked her concerned.
"NO!" Liz replied too quickly and too loudly. She didn't want Kyle to make the big fuss over her that she knew he would if she told him the truth. "I just thought I heard somebody call my name."
"Oh," Kyle replied, not sure if he should believe her. He made a mental note to ask her in the morning even though he knew that that was probably useless since chances where high that he wouldn’t remember a damn thing the next day.
After finishing their drinks Liz decided that she wanted to play some pool. They found an unoccupied table and started. Liz messed up pretty much every shot and then proceeded to tell the world what a klutz she was and how she had trouble even hitting the white ball since she was so drunk.
What the hell is wrong with her? Kyle wondered. Liz is normally great at pool. And even the alcohol doesn't explain why she's that bad.
Suddenly two guys came up to them, asking if they minded them joining them. Liz agreed, and they started playing.
After a few minutes one of the guys suggested playing for money. Liz agreed instantly, causing Kyle to hiss at her if she’d lost her mind. "Liz, we're never gonna win. I hate to break it to you, but you suck. This is a sure way of throwing our money out the window."
Liz ignored him and started discussing the conditions of the game. They agreed on ten dollars for every sunken ball. Ten minutes later the game was over. The guys had sunken all their balls, while Liz and Kyle still had quite a few on the table. "So, I guess you owe us fifty bucks," one of the guys said smirking.
"Come on, what about another game? It's only fair to give us the chance to win our money back," Liz said using her puppy-dog-eyes on them.
"Liz, are you crazy?" Kyle hissed. "We've already lost enough money, don't you think."
"Kyle, just trust me," Liz said through gritted teeth. "So, what do you think?" she asked the guys. "Double or nothing?"
They agreed immediately and let Liz break. But this time she didn't mess up the shot. It was strong and precise, sending two full balls into the corner pockets. She continued in this manner, sinking one ball after the other, not messing up a single shot. When she was finished all the full balls were gone.
"So, I guess you owe us a hundred bucks, huh?" she said with a smirk.
The guys just stared at her disbelievingly. "You...you..hustled us!" one of them finally exclaimed.
"Now, I wouldn't call it that. You were trying to make quick money on us cause we're drunk. Taking advantage of us like that isn't exactly fair. And we taught you an important lesson. Never underestimate your opponents."
With that said Liz grabbed the money out of the guy's hands and sauntered off with Kyle following her, shaking his head and grinning.
"Liz, will you please clue me in the next time you have something like that planned?"
"It was more fun this way," Liz insisted. "So, want another drink?" Liz asked, waving around the bundle of money.
"Sure," Kyle replied. "I think I'll take a Pina Colada. What about you?"
"I want Sex on the Beach," Liz replied, causing Kyle to choke and Liz to break out into hysterics.
After that they proceeded to only drink cocktails with very suggestive names, the dirtier the better. After another round of dancing the crowed began to thin out and Kyle and Liz decided that it was time for them to go home too. They walked the twenty minutes over to Mandy's house, went upstairs and collapsed onto Kyle's bed.
Don't dream it's over (DA Xover, Liz/Alec /ADULT)(Complete)
Moderators: Itzstacie, Forum Moderators
Don't dream it's over - DA xover, Liz/Alec, Parts 1-20
Part 12
An annoying beeping sound penetrated Kyle’s sleep, pulling him out of his dreams.
He blindly reached over to the bedside table trying to find the offending object. When he found it he picked it up and pried one eye open to see what it was. Liz’s cell phone. Maria was calling. Perfect timing as always.
He glanced over at Liz who was still fast asleep and sighed as he pushed the button to answer it. “Hello,” he muttered.
“Kyle, is that you?” Maria shrieked into his ear. Or maybe it just sounded like she was shrieking to him since he was still half asleep. Either way, it annoyed him.
“Maria, why are you calling in the middle of the night?” Kyle asked slightly irritated.
“It’s 10am,” Maria told him.
“You’re point being?”
“Funny Kyle. Is Liz there? Why are you answering her cell phone? Why did you leave without telling anybody? Is she avoiding talking to me? Why couldn't I reach you earlier?”
“Yes, she’s asleep, we were in a hurry, no, our cell phones were turned off. Answer your questions? Can I please go back to sleep now?”
“Is that Maria?” Liz mumbled, stirring beside Kyle.
“Was that Liz? I just heard Liz’s voice. ARE YOU TWO SLEEPING TOGETHER?!” Maria shrieked, causing Kyle to wince.
“Wow Maria, I would have even heard that without the cell. Look, as nice as it was chatting with you, I’m going back to sleep now. We’ll get back to you when we’re up.”
With that said Kyle hung up, very effectively cutting off Maria who was obviously in desperate need of some cedar oil, pulled the blanket over his head and mumbled something about not wanting to be woken again till noon.
Liz shook her head. She’d thought that the amount Kyle could eat was amazing, but it was nothing compared to how long he could sleep.
Suddenly Kyle sat up abruptly, his eyes wide open. “Oh my God!”
“What?” Liz asked.
”The dream. I remember. I remember everything. That night…”
“Oh my God,” Liz said, also sitting up. “So do I.”
“Wait a minute, you had a dream too?” Kyle asked confused.
“Uh-huh. About the night we got drunk,” Liz replied.
“Me too. What exactly do you remember?”
“Everything.”
* * * * *
At noon Liz and Kyle were still sitting in bed. They had spent the last two hours going through every little detail of their dreams, confirming what the had suspected all along. They’d had exactly the same dream.
“How is that possible?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know,” Liz replied. “I mean, I don’t just remember everything that I was feeling and thinking, I also remember you’re thoughts.”
“Yeah, me too,” Kyle said, trying to come up with an explanation for this.
“Maybe…” Liz began.
“What?”
“Maybe only one of us had the dream and the other one joined it by dream-walking. I mean, we know now that we do have powers after all. Isabel always had to touch a picture of the person to dream-walk someone, but maybe we didn’t need that because we were so close together. Or maybe we were touching during the night. I don’t know.”
“Yeah,” Kyle said slowly. “That would explain a lot.”
“Yeah, it would.”
“You were being watched?” Kyle suddenly asked, a stern look on his face, clearly upset that Liz hadn't told him about it.
“Oh…um…well…I’m not sure,” Liz replied. “I just had the feeling. Maybe I was wrong. Or maybe it doesn’t mean anything. I mean, we were at a bar. It’s inevitable that people look at you.”
“Yeah, but there’s a difference between people looking at you and watching you. Did you ever have that feeling before that night?”
Liz looked away, refusing to meat his eyes.
“When?” Kyle demanded through clenched teeth. He couldn’t believe it! There was some psycho stalking Liz and she didn’t tell him about it. “Liz, this is serious. What if it’s an alien? You could be in danger. We both could.”
Liz sighed. She knew he was right. It was just so nice to ignore it. Like the old saying sais, ignorance is bliss.
“The day we went job hunting for the first time,” Liz finally admitted. She knew that Kyle wouldn’t stop digging till he got every last detail out of her, so why try getting out of it? “But I’m not sure. Maybe living in Roswell for so long just made me paranoid.”
“You’re not telling me something,” Kyle said still not satisfied.
Liz sighed again. Since when was Kyle so observant? “The first night we spent here I couldn’t sleep and so I went down to the beach and I ended up falling asleep on my blanket. When I woke up a few hours later I was wrapped up in it.
“So? I mean, you could have done that in your sleep. Or maybe you woke up and did it and just couldn’t remember it in the morning.”
”Yeah, maybe,” Liz said, obviously not convinced.
”You don’t believe that, huh? Why not?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right,” Liz replied. She hadn’t wanted to tell him about it at first because she knew that he’d just be even more worried but it was so nice getting it off her chest.
”So you think somebody else did it. Who?”
“I don’t know. It wasn’t you, and it wasn’t Mandy, she would have woken me up.”
“Maybe someone you met last year?” Kyle suggested.
“No. I wasn’t exactly a very social person last summer,” Liz admitted.
“Oh,” Kyle said, once again feeling bad for her and what she’d gone through. If he ever got his hands on Evans…
“But you think that the person that covered you when you were asleep and the person who’s been watching you are one and the same?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know. It’s a possibility. I mean, we don’t even know if either of those things actually happened. So I guess obsessing about them won’t get us anywhere one way or the other.”
“So you just wanna pretend like nothing’s going on? Ignore it?” Kyle asked getting upset again.
“What else can we do, Kyle? You wanna go running back to Roswell because of a feeling I had that I'm not even sure of?” Liz shot back, knowing that that wasn’t a possibility for either of them.
"No, of course not. Just promise me to tell me if it happens again. And be careful. And don't go anywhere alone. And always tell me where you're going. And with whom."
"Yes, mom," Liz said, rolling her eyes. When did Kyle turn into such a mother hen?
"Liz, I'm serious. Promise me," Kyle demanded.
"Okay, I promise. Satisfied now?" Liz asked slightly annoyed.
"Yup,” Kyle said. “Come on, let's get something to eat, I'm starving."
* * * * *
Liz and Kyle were sitting in the kitchen eating sandwiches and reading the newspaper when Mandy came into the room.
"Hey," Liz said.
Kyle only grunted a greeting, his mouth was too full with sandwich number three as that he could have actually said something.
“Got everything packed?” Liz asked, referring to the business trip Mandy was just about to leave for.
“I hope so,” Mandy replied. She felt horrible for leaving Kyle and Liz alone only a few days after they’d arrived in Florida, but something had come up with her travel agency and it was necessary for her to leave town for a few days. But she'd promised herself that she would find more time for them as soon as she got back.
“Don’t feel guilty,” Liz told her aunt. “Kyle and I will be fine. Really, don’t worry about us.”
"I’ll try,” Mandy said smiling. “So, did you two have fun last night?" she asked.
"Yup. We were at a bar," Kyle answered after swallowing.
"A bar? How did you get in there?" Mandy asked.
Busted! Kyle thought suddenly looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Fake IDs," Liz replied, not even bothering to look up from the newspaper article she had turned her attention back to.
"Oh," was all the Mandy said. "Look guys, I wanted to talk to you about something. I know that you're grown up and old enough to make you're own decisions, I just wanted to make sure that you're being responsible."
"Responsible?" Kyle asked confused. Huh?
"Yeah. I mean, you're still so young. I'd hate to see you mess up your lives because of a stupid mistake. And I'd hate to have to explain to my sister why her little baby girl is suddenly forced to grow up much too quickly and has to take on responsibilities way past her years. So just tell me you're being careful."
At this Kyle started choking on his sandwich. She wanted them to be careful? As in careful?
"We're not sleeping with each other," Liz told Mandy, still not looking up from her newspaper. "We're just friends."
"Oh. Well then, have a nice day. I'm off, I don’t want to miss my plane.”
"Bye," Liz said. “Have fun.”
Kyle's choking finally made her abandon her newspaper to slap him on the back. "You okay?"
Kyle just stared at her, and when Liz was sure that he was okay she once again got back to her newspaper.
* * * * *
"So, what do you wanna do today?" Kyle asked Liz. They were sitting in the living room, freshly showered and fully dressed, watching TV. Since their lunch of sandwiches was already a few hours ago Kyle was once again ‘starving’ and therefore munching away on a bag of chips.
"I guess we should work on our powers a little bit. I mean, we know how to use them now, but we don't have any idea what we're capable of. And Michael always had a hell of a time keeping them under control. I don't want anything like that happening to us. We could expose ourselves, and that's just about the last thing we need right now."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Kyle said sighing. His powers were the last thing he wanted to think about right now, not to mention work on, but he knew that it was necessary. "You wanna start?" he asked.
"Okay."
Liz tried to change the color of the couch, mend a torn piece of paper together and heat up a glass of water, succeeding in all three tasks without a problem. "This is so easy," Liz said. "I really don't know why I couldn't do this the other day."
"Yeah well, things are always easy once you can do them," Kyle replied rolling his eyes. “Why do you really think that we couldn’t use them the last time we tried?”
“I’m not sure,” Liz said while changing the color of the cushions on the couch. “Maybe the alcohol triggered that because it somehow brought out the alien side and therefore made it possible for us to access our powers. Or maybe it had something to do with losing all our inhibitions and therefore just following out instincts. Your turn," she said handing him a cushion.
Kyle took it and placed his hand over it, concentrating on a dark shade of blue. He felt a tingling sensation in his hand and a small surge of power leaving it.
"You did it!" Liz exclaimed excitedly, causing Kyle to open his eyes. But when he looked down at the cushion he realized that it hadn't worked out quite the way he had intended it too.
"No I didn't. At least not the way I wanted to. I was aiming for midnight blue, not baby blue. Come on Liz, why should I change it to baby blue? That is such a gay color."
Liz rolled her eyes. "As if that matters. We're gonna change it back anyway."
Kyle muttered something that sounded oddly like "chicks" and "don't understand anything" before handing the pillow to Liz so that she could change it back to its original color.
"Well, try something else," Liz said handing him a glass of water. "Heat this up."
Kyle tried to do it, but once again it didn’t work out exactly the way he had wanted it to. The water was warm, but not anything near hot like he'd been aiming at. He also couldn't quite fix the torn paper.
“I don’t get it,” Kyle said, frustration evident in his voice. “Why are you so much better at all this stuff than me?”
"Because I'm a girl," Liz said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We're better at everything."
Kyle gave her a look.
"Just kidding," Liz said, not entirely meaning that. "I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you were healed a year after I was. Maybe they just need some more time to develop completely.”
“Yeah, maybe…” Kyle said absentmindedly.
“Come on,” Liz said pulling Kyle up from the couch. “I know how we can find out.”
They headed upstairs to Liz’s room. Liz went straight to her closet and started rummaging around for something.
“Here it is,” she said, pulling out something obviously heavy that was wrapped in a plastic cover. She placed it on her desk and removed said cover, revealing a microscope.
“You have a microscope here?” Kyle asked not believing it. Then again, this was Liz. “What exactly are we doing?” he asked, already not liking it.
“Checking our blood. The Czechs look the same as we do on the outside, but their cells are different. And so ours might be different now too,” Liz explained, using their code word for the aliens since she and Kyle had agreed that it would be better to not use the word 'alien' here, even when they were alone.
“Oh. Great. Now I have alien blood. Just what I needed,” Kyle muttered.
Liz ignored his ranting and prepared a slid with her own blood and then one with Kyle’s. Looking at them under the microscope confirmed her suspicion. Her blood looked exactly like Max’s cells had when she’d looked at them in AP Bio the day after the shooting. Kyle’s on the other hand was different. I was like a mixture of normal blood cells and alien ones.
“Well?” Kyle asked impatiently.
“I guess I was right. Here, take a look. See? This is my blood. The cells are all alien. And this…” Liz said changing the slides “…is your blood. It’s a mixture between human and alien cells.”
“Okay, our cells changed? But how does that explain our powers?”
“I’m not quite sure about this since I never really got the chance to talk to any of the aliens about it, but I have a pretty good idea how that works. You might now that humans only actually use a very small part of their brains. The part we don’t use is the part the aliens use for their powers. The alien part in them somehow makes it possible to use the full capacity of the human brain, and since we have that alien part in us now we can gain access to those parts too.”
“Are you saying that their alien powers are actually very much human?” Kyle asked surprised.
“Yup. Just more like the humans in a few thousand years.”
“Wow.” Kyle said.
“Yeah,” Liz said while putting away the microscope. “Wow.”
An annoying beeping sound penetrated Kyle’s sleep, pulling him out of his dreams.
He blindly reached over to the bedside table trying to find the offending object. When he found it he picked it up and pried one eye open to see what it was. Liz’s cell phone. Maria was calling. Perfect timing as always.
He glanced over at Liz who was still fast asleep and sighed as he pushed the button to answer it. “Hello,” he muttered.
“Kyle, is that you?” Maria shrieked into his ear. Or maybe it just sounded like she was shrieking to him since he was still half asleep. Either way, it annoyed him.
“Maria, why are you calling in the middle of the night?” Kyle asked slightly irritated.
“It’s 10am,” Maria told him.
“You’re point being?”
“Funny Kyle. Is Liz there? Why are you answering her cell phone? Why did you leave without telling anybody? Is she avoiding talking to me? Why couldn't I reach you earlier?”
“Yes, she’s asleep, we were in a hurry, no, our cell phones were turned off. Answer your questions? Can I please go back to sleep now?”
“Is that Maria?” Liz mumbled, stirring beside Kyle.
“Was that Liz? I just heard Liz’s voice. ARE YOU TWO SLEEPING TOGETHER?!” Maria shrieked, causing Kyle to wince.
“Wow Maria, I would have even heard that without the cell. Look, as nice as it was chatting with you, I’m going back to sleep now. We’ll get back to you when we’re up.”
With that said Kyle hung up, very effectively cutting off Maria who was obviously in desperate need of some cedar oil, pulled the blanket over his head and mumbled something about not wanting to be woken again till noon.
Liz shook her head. She’d thought that the amount Kyle could eat was amazing, but it was nothing compared to how long he could sleep.
Suddenly Kyle sat up abruptly, his eyes wide open. “Oh my God!”
“What?” Liz asked.
”The dream. I remember. I remember everything. That night…”
“Oh my God,” Liz said, also sitting up. “So do I.”
“Wait a minute, you had a dream too?” Kyle asked confused.
“Uh-huh. About the night we got drunk,” Liz replied.
“Me too. What exactly do you remember?”
“Everything.”
* * * * *
At noon Liz and Kyle were still sitting in bed. They had spent the last two hours going through every little detail of their dreams, confirming what the had suspected all along. They’d had exactly the same dream.
“How is that possible?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know,” Liz replied. “I mean, I don’t just remember everything that I was feeling and thinking, I also remember you’re thoughts.”
“Yeah, me too,” Kyle said, trying to come up with an explanation for this.
“Maybe…” Liz began.
“What?”
“Maybe only one of us had the dream and the other one joined it by dream-walking. I mean, we know now that we do have powers after all. Isabel always had to touch a picture of the person to dream-walk someone, but maybe we didn’t need that because we were so close together. Or maybe we were touching during the night. I don’t know.”
“Yeah,” Kyle said slowly. “That would explain a lot.”
“Yeah, it would.”
“You were being watched?” Kyle suddenly asked, a stern look on his face, clearly upset that Liz hadn't told him about it.
“Oh…um…well…I’m not sure,” Liz replied. “I just had the feeling. Maybe I was wrong. Or maybe it doesn’t mean anything. I mean, we were at a bar. It’s inevitable that people look at you.”
“Yeah, but there’s a difference between people looking at you and watching you. Did you ever have that feeling before that night?”
Liz looked away, refusing to meat his eyes.
“When?” Kyle demanded through clenched teeth. He couldn’t believe it! There was some psycho stalking Liz and she didn’t tell him about it. “Liz, this is serious. What if it’s an alien? You could be in danger. We both could.”
Liz sighed. She knew he was right. It was just so nice to ignore it. Like the old saying sais, ignorance is bliss.
“The day we went job hunting for the first time,” Liz finally admitted. She knew that Kyle wouldn’t stop digging till he got every last detail out of her, so why try getting out of it? “But I’m not sure. Maybe living in Roswell for so long just made me paranoid.”
“You’re not telling me something,” Kyle said still not satisfied.
Liz sighed again. Since when was Kyle so observant? “The first night we spent here I couldn’t sleep and so I went down to the beach and I ended up falling asleep on my blanket. When I woke up a few hours later I was wrapped up in it.
“So? I mean, you could have done that in your sleep. Or maybe you woke up and did it and just couldn’t remember it in the morning.”
”Yeah, maybe,” Liz said, obviously not convinced.
”You don’t believe that, huh? Why not?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right,” Liz replied. She hadn’t wanted to tell him about it at first because she knew that he’d just be even more worried but it was so nice getting it off her chest.
”So you think somebody else did it. Who?”
“I don’t know. It wasn’t you, and it wasn’t Mandy, she would have woken me up.”
“Maybe someone you met last year?” Kyle suggested.
“No. I wasn’t exactly a very social person last summer,” Liz admitted.
“Oh,” Kyle said, once again feeling bad for her and what she’d gone through. If he ever got his hands on Evans…
“But you think that the person that covered you when you were asleep and the person who’s been watching you are one and the same?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know. It’s a possibility. I mean, we don’t even know if either of those things actually happened. So I guess obsessing about them won’t get us anywhere one way or the other.”
“So you just wanna pretend like nothing’s going on? Ignore it?” Kyle asked getting upset again.
“What else can we do, Kyle? You wanna go running back to Roswell because of a feeling I had that I'm not even sure of?” Liz shot back, knowing that that wasn’t a possibility for either of them.
"No, of course not. Just promise me to tell me if it happens again. And be careful. And don't go anywhere alone. And always tell me where you're going. And with whom."
"Yes, mom," Liz said, rolling her eyes. When did Kyle turn into such a mother hen?
"Liz, I'm serious. Promise me," Kyle demanded.
"Okay, I promise. Satisfied now?" Liz asked slightly annoyed.
"Yup,” Kyle said. “Come on, let's get something to eat, I'm starving."
* * * * *
Liz and Kyle were sitting in the kitchen eating sandwiches and reading the newspaper when Mandy came into the room.
"Hey," Liz said.
Kyle only grunted a greeting, his mouth was too full with sandwich number three as that he could have actually said something.
“Got everything packed?” Liz asked, referring to the business trip Mandy was just about to leave for.
“I hope so,” Mandy replied. She felt horrible for leaving Kyle and Liz alone only a few days after they’d arrived in Florida, but something had come up with her travel agency and it was necessary for her to leave town for a few days. But she'd promised herself that she would find more time for them as soon as she got back.
“Don’t feel guilty,” Liz told her aunt. “Kyle and I will be fine. Really, don’t worry about us.”
"I’ll try,” Mandy said smiling. “So, did you two have fun last night?" she asked.
"Yup. We were at a bar," Kyle answered after swallowing.
"A bar? How did you get in there?" Mandy asked.
Busted! Kyle thought suddenly looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Fake IDs," Liz replied, not even bothering to look up from the newspaper article she had turned her attention back to.
"Oh," was all the Mandy said. "Look guys, I wanted to talk to you about something. I know that you're grown up and old enough to make you're own decisions, I just wanted to make sure that you're being responsible."
"Responsible?" Kyle asked confused. Huh?
"Yeah. I mean, you're still so young. I'd hate to see you mess up your lives because of a stupid mistake. And I'd hate to have to explain to my sister why her little baby girl is suddenly forced to grow up much too quickly and has to take on responsibilities way past her years. So just tell me you're being careful."
At this Kyle started choking on his sandwich. She wanted them to be careful? As in careful?
"We're not sleeping with each other," Liz told Mandy, still not looking up from her newspaper. "We're just friends."
"Oh. Well then, have a nice day. I'm off, I don’t want to miss my plane.”
"Bye," Liz said. “Have fun.”
Kyle's choking finally made her abandon her newspaper to slap him on the back. "You okay?"
Kyle just stared at her, and when Liz was sure that he was okay she once again got back to her newspaper.
* * * * *
"So, what do you wanna do today?" Kyle asked Liz. They were sitting in the living room, freshly showered and fully dressed, watching TV. Since their lunch of sandwiches was already a few hours ago Kyle was once again ‘starving’ and therefore munching away on a bag of chips.
"I guess we should work on our powers a little bit. I mean, we know how to use them now, but we don't have any idea what we're capable of. And Michael always had a hell of a time keeping them under control. I don't want anything like that happening to us. We could expose ourselves, and that's just about the last thing we need right now."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Kyle said sighing. His powers were the last thing he wanted to think about right now, not to mention work on, but he knew that it was necessary. "You wanna start?" he asked.
"Okay."
Liz tried to change the color of the couch, mend a torn piece of paper together and heat up a glass of water, succeeding in all three tasks without a problem. "This is so easy," Liz said. "I really don't know why I couldn't do this the other day."
"Yeah well, things are always easy once you can do them," Kyle replied rolling his eyes. “Why do you really think that we couldn’t use them the last time we tried?”
“I’m not sure,” Liz said while changing the color of the cushions on the couch. “Maybe the alcohol triggered that because it somehow brought out the alien side and therefore made it possible for us to access our powers. Or maybe it had something to do with losing all our inhibitions and therefore just following out instincts. Your turn," she said handing him a cushion.
Kyle took it and placed his hand over it, concentrating on a dark shade of blue. He felt a tingling sensation in his hand and a small surge of power leaving it.
"You did it!" Liz exclaimed excitedly, causing Kyle to open his eyes. But when he looked down at the cushion he realized that it hadn't worked out quite the way he had intended it too.
"No I didn't. At least not the way I wanted to. I was aiming for midnight blue, not baby blue. Come on Liz, why should I change it to baby blue? That is such a gay color."
Liz rolled her eyes. "As if that matters. We're gonna change it back anyway."
Kyle muttered something that sounded oddly like "chicks" and "don't understand anything" before handing the pillow to Liz so that she could change it back to its original color.
"Well, try something else," Liz said handing him a glass of water. "Heat this up."
Kyle tried to do it, but once again it didn’t work out exactly the way he had wanted it to. The water was warm, but not anything near hot like he'd been aiming at. He also couldn't quite fix the torn paper.
“I don’t get it,” Kyle said, frustration evident in his voice. “Why are you so much better at all this stuff than me?”
"Because I'm a girl," Liz said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We're better at everything."
Kyle gave her a look.
"Just kidding," Liz said, not entirely meaning that. "I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you were healed a year after I was. Maybe they just need some more time to develop completely.”
“Yeah, maybe…” Kyle said absentmindedly.
“Come on,” Liz said pulling Kyle up from the couch. “I know how we can find out.”
They headed upstairs to Liz’s room. Liz went straight to her closet and started rummaging around for something.
“Here it is,” she said, pulling out something obviously heavy that was wrapped in a plastic cover. She placed it on her desk and removed said cover, revealing a microscope.
“You have a microscope here?” Kyle asked not believing it. Then again, this was Liz. “What exactly are we doing?” he asked, already not liking it.
“Checking our blood. The Czechs look the same as we do on the outside, but their cells are different. And so ours might be different now too,” Liz explained, using their code word for the aliens since she and Kyle had agreed that it would be better to not use the word 'alien' here, even when they were alone.
“Oh. Great. Now I have alien blood. Just what I needed,” Kyle muttered.
Liz ignored his ranting and prepared a slid with her own blood and then one with Kyle’s. Looking at them under the microscope confirmed her suspicion. Her blood looked exactly like Max’s cells had when she’d looked at them in AP Bio the day after the shooting. Kyle’s on the other hand was different. I was like a mixture of normal blood cells and alien ones.
“Well?” Kyle asked impatiently.
“I guess I was right. Here, take a look. See? This is my blood. The cells are all alien. And this…” Liz said changing the slides “…is your blood. It’s a mixture between human and alien cells.”
“Okay, our cells changed? But how does that explain our powers?”
“I’m not quite sure about this since I never really got the chance to talk to any of the aliens about it, but I have a pretty good idea how that works. You might now that humans only actually use a very small part of their brains. The part we don’t use is the part the aliens use for their powers. The alien part in them somehow makes it possible to use the full capacity of the human brain, and since we have that alien part in us now we can gain access to those parts too.”
“Are you saying that their alien powers are actually very much human?” Kyle asked surprised.
“Yup. Just more like the humans in a few thousand years.”
“Wow.” Kyle said.
“Yeah,” Liz said while putting away the microscope. “Wow.”
Don't dream it's over - DA xover, Liz/Alec, Parts 1-20
Part 13
Later that evening Kyle and Liz decided that they’d had enough of hanging around the house doing nothing but obsessing over their most recent discoveries and so they made up their mind to go back to the bar for a round of pool and maybe a few drinks – one’s without alcohol of course.
Upon arriving at Jaded they showed their IDs at the door and went inside, once again sitting down at the bar. At first they had wanted to change the IDs back to the right age but then decided that it would probably be quite practical to keep them the way they were job-wise as well as for going out, even though they would of course (have to) stay away from alcohol.
“Hey guys, what can I get you?” the barkeeper asked them. It was the same girl that had served them the last two times they had been there.
“Um, orange juice,” Liz said, getting ready to nudge Kyle – discreetly this time - in case he zoned out there again.
He didn’t, instead he ordered some orange juice too, no stuttering, no stumbling over his own words, no getting embarrassed.
“I’m impressed,” Liz mocked but with a twinkle in her eyes. “You actually managed to keep your eyes away from her breasts. How did that happen?”
“Funny Liz,” Kyle replied dryly. She was never gonna let him live down the incidence where he’d almost fallen of the bar stool, even though technically it had been her fault.
The girl brought the drinks over and since there weren’t many other people at the bar yet due to the fact that it was still quite early she stayed there with them.
“So, you guys new to town? I’ve never seen you around here before,” she said starting a conversation.
“We’re here on vacation,” Kyle answered. “Gonna stay the whole summer.”
“Well then, I guess I’m gonna see quite a bit of you in the next few months. You seem to be turning into regulars. I’m Jondy by the way,” the barkeeper said.
“Liz. Nice to meet you,” Liz said giving her a warm smile. She didn’t know why but she felt and instant kinship with this girl, like she’d known her for much longer than only a couple of days. Weird.
“Kyle,” he said smiling at Jondy. “Very unique name you’ve got.”
“Yeah well, what can I say, I’m a unique person,” she replied with a sassy grin.
“I’ll bet,” Kyle replied laughing. He knew he was gonna like this girl. She was exactly his type. Outgoing, funny, sassy, always quick with a comeback. And she wasn’t blond, which in his eyes was a big plus at the moment.
“So, what’s up with the music tonight? It was great the last two times we were here but today… It’s horrible,” Kyle said.
Jondy grimaced. “I know. Our singer took off for the summer to go to New York and try to get herself a record deal. That’s the replacement. We haven’t found a better singer yet.”
“What exactly are you looking for?” Kyle asked.
”Well, we have a guy for Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and we’d like a girl for the rest of the days. It doesn’t really matter what she sings as long as she can actually sing.”
“You mean unlike the current singer?” Kyle asked smiling at Jondy.
Jondy laughed. “Yeah. Guess it couldn’t get any worse than this, huh?”
“Nope. So, is experience required?”
“It would of course be an advantage, but if she’s good it doesn’t really matter. Why, do you know anyone?”
“Liz could do it,” Kyle replied.
Hearing that, Liz almost spit out her drink. She started choking and coughing violently so that Kyle had to slap her on the back.
“You alright?” he asked her.
“Are…you…crazy?!” Liz asked him trying to catch her breath.
“You can sing?” Jondy asked her.
“No!” Liz insisted at the same time as Kyle said “Yes.”
“Liz, you can sing,” Kyle told her
“No, I can’t,” Liz repeated. “And if you think I’m gonna stand up on a stage in a front of a million people and sing you’re crazy.”
“Come on Liz. This would be the perfect next step. And you wouldn’t have to sing in front of a million people, only a few hundred at the most,” Kyle told her. “And you have a great voice. It would be a shame not to share it with the world. It’s actually more or less your duty to share it with the world.”
“Oh, so it’s my duty. You know what Kyle, I’m sick of duty. Nice try though.”
Kyle suddenly thought of something, a mischievous glint lighting up his eyes.
Oh no, what’s he gonna do now? Liz wondered.
“I dare you to,” Kyle said in a low voice.
“Forget it,” Liz told him turning away, hoping that he wouldn’t take this any further.
“I double-devil-dare you,” Kyle said with an evil grin on his face.
Liz paled.
Kyle knew he had won.
“You…you can’t do that! You’re not one of us. Only we are allowed to use the double-devil-dare. Not you. It doesn’t work like that!” Liz insisted, trying to get out of it.
“Yes it does. I can. And I just did. I know that you don’t have a choice now.”
“I…I hate you!” Liz told him.
“I can live with that,” Kyle replied smirking. He loved getting his way. Liz had told him about the double-devil-dare back when they’d been dating. It was a thing that Alex had come up shortly after he, Maria and Liz had become friends, and if somebody double-devil-dared them they had to do it, no matter what. There was no way out.
Liz glared at Kyle and without another word got up and headed to the bathroom.
Kyle watched her leave and chuckled to himself. Liz was so cute when she was pissed.
He turned his attention back to Jondy. “So, what does Liz have to do to get the job?”
“You really think she’ll go through with it?” Jondy asked surprised. Liz hadn’t exactly seemed thrilled at the prospect of working here as a singer.
“Trust me, she will,” Kyle replied. He’d make sure of it, and if it was the last thing he did.
“Well, she would have to come by some day in the afternoon when the boss is here so that he can listen to her sing. And then he’d decide if he wanted her or not. But if she’s half as good as you say she is, chances are high that she’ll get the job. People aren’t exactly beating down our doors for to work here as a singer.”
“Sounds good. So, when will the boss be here the next time?” Kyle inquired.
“Tomorrow afternoon. Just give me your phone number and I’ll call you tomorrow to tell you if he has time to listen to her or not,” Jondy told him.
Kyle scribbled his cell phone number on a napkin and handed it to Jondy with his trademark smile. Then he stood up to go and search for Liz to calm her down again. He had a hell of a lot of work ahead of him.
* * * * *
"You know Liz, you'll have to eventually talk to me again," Kyle told Liz as they were walking towards his car. After Liz had come back from the bathroom she had refused to talk to him or even as much as look in his direction. Kyle had suggested that they go home and Liz had simply stood up and walked towards the exit, not even turning around to see if Kyle was actually following her or not.
Liz remained quiet on the way home, staring out the window. When they reached Mandy's house they got out of the car and headed towards the door. Liz unlocked it and was about to go inside when Kyle grabbed her arm.
"Liz, wait. Don't be mad at me," he pleaded.
Liz turned to him with one eyebrow raised, obviously still mad.
Kyle decided to change tactics. "You know, as soon as we left Roswell you seemed a lot better, and the more time passed the better you got, but so far there were only two moments when you seemed truly happy. The first one was when you were singing along to the radio in the car on our way to Florida, the second when we were dancing on our night out. And what do both those moments have in common? Music. It makes you happy Liz, and that's all I want. So what better job could you possible find than a singer in a bar?"
Liz's piercing gaze softened. Kyle really only wanted the best for her. “Fine, I forgive you. This time, and only because you had good intentions. Don’t do it again,” she warned.
"Thank you," Kyle replied, glad that he'd been forgiven. But he'd be careful to stay away from any more double-devil-dares in the future.
* * * * *
The next day Liz was sitting nervously on one of the bar stools next to Kyle, waiting for the boss to come. Liz had never been one who was good at standing up in front of a bunch of people to talk, but sing? It was her worst nightmare. Granted, there were only a handful of people there, but if she got this job she'd have to sing in front of a lot more people. The thought alone made her palms sweaty and her knees tremble. She probably faint before she got the first word out.
"You okay?" Kyle asked concerned. Liz looked awfully pale.
"No," Liz replied.
"You're not nervous, are you?" Kyle asked her.
"Nervous? I'm scared shitless, that's what I am," Liz replied.
Kyle wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her near. "Liz, there's nothing to be nervous about. Just forget the people who are listening, forget where you are. Pretend you're in the shower singing only for yourself. Because this is only for yourself. It doesn't matter that other people are listening, and it doesn't matter what they might think. Just do this because it makes you happy."
"You must be Liz Parker," a voice interrupted them.
Liz and Kyle broke apart to see a man in his early thirties standing in front of them. "I'm Matt," he said while shaking Liz's hand. "So, do you wanna get started?"
"Um, sure," Liz replied, reluctantly pulling away from Kyle, even though all she wanted to do was turn and run. She walked up onto the stage and took her place behind the microphone. Her hands were shaking and she was sure that her voice would fail her.
The piano player started playing and Liz took a deep breath, remembering Kyle's words. Forget the people who are listening, forget where you are. This is only for yourself. She closed her eyes and started singing.
It's the chance of life, get ready, set, fly high.
Above the fear of your mind, go for it.
It's hit or miss, too late for you to quit.
You gotta show 'em how bad you really want this, so...
As soon as Liz started singing her nervousness vanished and she found herself almost enjoying herself.
Live your dreams, it's not as hard as it may seem.
You gotta work to get the cream, on your hopes you must lean,
From your fears, you have to wean yourself.
It's all or nothing, give your everything...
You are what you believe, you got to bring the heat.
Set the pace, competition take the lead.
This is it, all eyes on you.
So stay on point and prove,
That you deserve what's long overdue.
Liz locked eyes with Kyle who was beaming up at her. He winked at her, causing her to return his smile.
Live your dreams, it's not as hard as it may seem.
You gotta work to get the cream, on your hopes you must lean
From your fears, you have to wean yourself.
It's all or nothing, give your everything...
Liz noticed the doors of the bar opening and somebody coming inside. The person walked up to Jondy, stepping into the light. It was a guy.
The hardest to recovery,
From the heartbreak of another kind,
I'm still dryin' my tears.
Getting over my own fears
In my life.
So I wanna make sure this time
That I'm strong enough,
To give it my all...
He had short dark blond hair and as far as Liz could tell he was pretty cute. He glanced up to her and their eyes locked. The feeling of eyes burning into her that she’d been having on and off again the past few days suddenly slammed into her full force. But for the first time she noticed that it actually wasn't a bad or scary feeling. Quite the opposite actually. She’d probably just been too paranoid before. Living in Roswell does that to you.
Live your dreams, it's not as hard as it may seem.
You gotta work to get the cream, on your hopes you must lean
From your fears, you have to wean yourself.
It's all or nothing, give your everything...
Liz forgot everything around her and just got lost in the stranger’s eyes. They were without a doubt the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. She was glad that she knew the words in her sleep because concentrating on the lyrics would have been absolutely impossible at the moment.
So you gotta live your dreams,
So don't you be afraid.
Just set the pace, and take the lead,
It's your time to shine.
When the song was over Liz finally managed to tear her gaze away from the guy and glanced at Kyle who still had a silly grin on his face. Good, so she hadn't messed up the song while staring at mystery-man. A silly grin spread over her own face. Standing up on that stage and singing had been amazing, exhilarating, absolutely breathtaking. It had felt so right. Like home.
"That was amazing," Matt said, interrupting her thoughts, obviously quite impressed. "So, you wanna work here?" he asked.
"Well, yeah," Liz replied surprised. Was he really offering her the job?
"Great. You have the job. You start the day after tomorrow. That's Tuesday, right? Is that okay?"
"Um, sure," Liz said. She couldn't believe it. She really had the job?
"You are twenty-one, right?" Matt asked her.
Liz hesitated for a fraction of a second and then quickly nodded, hopping that Matt hadn't noticed.
"Great. Well, I have to run," Matt said glancing at his watch. "Liz, it was a pleasure," he said once again shaking her hand before turning around and disappearing into the back of the bar.
Liz stood there absolutely stunned. She actually had the job. She rushed down from the stage and launched herself into Kyle's arms.
"I'm so proud of you," he whispered.
Jondy came up to them with the mysterious stranger behind her. "Congratulations Liz, you sure are a great singer," she said.
“Thanks,” Liz replied blushing slightly, the silly grin still on her face.
"Congratulations,” mystery-man said in a low melodious voice while extending his hand towards Liz. “I’m Alec."
“Liz,” she replied, taking his hand. As their fingers brushed against each other and their hands entwined Liz felt a surge of electricity go through her. If she’d had her senses together she would have probably wondered what that was all about, but her brain was nothing but a puddle of mush swimming around in her head, so all she could do was stare.
"I'm Kyle," Kyle said interrupting their moment, not liking what he was seeing.
"Hey," Alec said, shaking his hand, but his gaze never left Liz’s face.
Liz smiled at him, and he returned the smile, causing a swarm of butterflies to suddenly appear in Liz's stomach. The day had just gotten a whole lot better, if that was even possible.
Later that evening Kyle and Liz decided that they’d had enough of hanging around the house doing nothing but obsessing over their most recent discoveries and so they made up their mind to go back to the bar for a round of pool and maybe a few drinks – one’s without alcohol of course.
Upon arriving at Jaded they showed their IDs at the door and went inside, once again sitting down at the bar. At first they had wanted to change the IDs back to the right age but then decided that it would probably be quite practical to keep them the way they were job-wise as well as for going out, even though they would of course (have to) stay away from alcohol.
“Hey guys, what can I get you?” the barkeeper asked them. It was the same girl that had served them the last two times they had been there.
“Um, orange juice,” Liz said, getting ready to nudge Kyle – discreetly this time - in case he zoned out there again.
He didn’t, instead he ordered some orange juice too, no stuttering, no stumbling over his own words, no getting embarrassed.
“I’m impressed,” Liz mocked but with a twinkle in her eyes. “You actually managed to keep your eyes away from her breasts. How did that happen?”
“Funny Liz,” Kyle replied dryly. She was never gonna let him live down the incidence where he’d almost fallen of the bar stool, even though technically it had been her fault.
The girl brought the drinks over and since there weren’t many other people at the bar yet due to the fact that it was still quite early she stayed there with them.
“So, you guys new to town? I’ve never seen you around here before,” she said starting a conversation.
“We’re here on vacation,” Kyle answered. “Gonna stay the whole summer.”
“Well then, I guess I’m gonna see quite a bit of you in the next few months. You seem to be turning into regulars. I’m Jondy by the way,” the barkeeper said.
“Liz. Nice to meet you,” Liz said giving her a warm smile. She didn’t know why but she felt and instant kinship with this girl, like she’d known her for much longer than only a couple of days. Weird.
“Kyle,” he said smiling at Jondy. “Very unique name you’ve got.”
“Yeah well, what can I say, I’m a unique person,” she replied with a sassy grin.
“I’ll bet,” Kyle replied laughing. He knew he was gonna like this girl. She was exactly his type. Outgoing, funny, sassy, always quick with a comeback. And she wasn’t blond, which in his eyes was a big plus at the moment.
“So, what’s up with the music tonight? It was great the last two times we were here but today… It’s horrible,” Kyle said.
Jondy grimaced. “I know. Our singer took off for the summer to go to New York and try to get herself a record deal. That’s the replacement. We haven’t found a better singer yet.”
“What exactly are you looking for?” Kyle asked.
”Well, we have a guy for Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and we’d like a girl for the rest of the days. It doesn’t really matter what she sings as long as she can actually sing.”
“You mean unlike the current singer?” Kyle asked smiling at Jondy.
Jondy laughed. “Yeah. Guess it couldn’t get any worse than this, huh?”
“Nope. So, is experience required?”
“It would of course be an advantage, but if she’s good it doesn’t really matter. Why, do you know anyone?”
“Liz could do it,” Kyle replied.
Hearing that, Liz almost spit out her drink. She started choking and coughing violently so that Kyle had to slap her on the back.
“You alright?” he asked her.
“Are…you…crazy?!” Liz asked him trying to catch her breath.
“You can sing?” Jondy asked her.
“No!” Liz insisted at the same time as Kyle said “Yes.”
“Liz, you can sing,” Kyle told her
“No, I can’t,” Liz repeated. “And if you think I’m gonna stand up on a stage in a front of a million people and sing you’re crazy.”
“Come on Liz. This would be the perfect next step. And you wouldn’t have to sing in front of a million people, only a few hundred at the most,” Kyle told her. “And you have a great voice. It would be a shame not to share it with the world. It’s actually more or less your duty to share it with the world.”
“Oh, so it’s my duty. You know what Kyle, I’m sick of duty. Nice try though.”
Kyle suddenly thought of something, a mischievous glint lighting up his eyes.
Oh no, what’s he gonna do now? Liz wondered.
“I dare you to,” Kyle said in a low voice.
“Forget it,” Liz told him turning away, hoping that he wouldn’t take this any further.
“I double-devil-dare you,” Kyle said with an evil grin on his face.
Liz paled.
Kyle knew he had won.
“You…you can’t do that! You’re not one of us. Only we are allowed to use the double-devil-dare. Not you. It doesn’t work like that!” Liz insisted, trying to get out of it.
“Yes it does. I can. And I just did. I know that you don’t have a choice now.”
“I…I hate you!” Liz told him.
“I can live with that,” Kyle replied smirking. He loved getting his way. Liz had told him about the double-devil-dare back when they’d been dating. It was a thing that Alex had come up shortly after he, Maria and Liz had become friends, and if somebody double-devil-dared them they had to do it, no matter what. There was no way out.
Liz glared at Kyle and without another word got up and headed to the bathroom.
Kyle watched her leave and chuckled to himself. Liz was so cute when she was pissed.
He turned his attention back to Jondy. “So, what does Liz have to do to get the job?”
“You really think she’ll go through with it?” Jondy asked surprised. Liz hadn’t exactly seemed thrilled at the prospect of working here as a singer.
“Trust me, she will,” Kyle replied. He’d make sure of it, and if it was the last thing he did.
“Well, she would have to come by some day in the afternoon when the boss is here so that he can listen to her sing. And then he’d decide if he wanted her or not. But if she’s half as good as you say she is, chances are high that she’ll get the job. People aren’t exactly beating down our doors for to work here as a singer.”
“Sounds good. So, when will the boss be here the next time?” Kyle inquired.
“Tomorrow afternoon. Just give me your phone number and I’ll call you tomorrow to tell you if he has time to listen to her or not,” Jondy told him.
Kyle scribbled his cell phone number on a napkin and handed it to Jondy with his trademark smile. Then he stood up to go and search for Liz to calm her down again. He had a hell of a lot of work ahead of him.
* * * * *
"You know Liz, you'll have to eventually talk to me again," Kyle told Liz as they were walking towards his car. After Liz had come back from the bathroom she had refused to talk to him or even as much as look in his direction. Kyle had suggested that they go home and Liz had simply stood up and walked towards the exit, not even turning around to see if Kyle was actually following her or not.
Liz remained quiet on the way home, staring out the window. When they reached Mandy's house they got out of the car and headed towards the door. Liz unlocked it and was about to go inside when Kyle grabbed her arm.
"Liz, wait. Don't be mad at me," he pleaded.
Liz turned to him with one eyebrow raised, obviously still mad.
Kyle decided to change tactics. "You know, as soon as we left Roswell you seemed a lot better, and the more time passed the better you got, but so far there were only two moments when you seemed truly happy. The first one was when you were singing along to the radio in the car on our way to Florida, the second when we were dancing on our night out. And what do both those moments have in common? Music. It makes you happy Liz, and that's all I want. So what better job could you possible find than a singer in a bar?"
Liz's piercing gaze softened. Kyle really only wanted the best for her. “Fine, I forgive you. This time, and only because you had good intentions. Don’t do it again,” she warned.
"Thank you," Kyle replied, glad that he'd been forgiven. But he'd be careful to stay away from any more double-devil-dares in the future.
* * * * *
The next day Liz was sitting nervously on one of the bar stools next to Kyle, waiting for the boss to come. Liz had never been one who was good at standing up in front of a bunch of people to talk, but sing? It was her worst nightmare. Granted, there were only a handful of people there, but if she got this job she'd have to sing in front of a lot more people. The thought alone made her palms sweaty and her knees tremble. She probably faint before she got the first word out.
"You okay?" Kyle asked concerned. Liz looked awfully pale.
"No," Liz replied.
"You're not nervous, are you?" Kyle asked her.
"Nervous? I'm scared shitless, that's what I am," Liz replied.
Kyle wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her near. "Liz, there's nothing to be nervous about. Just forget the people who are listening, forget where you are. Pretend you're in the shower singing only for yourself. Because this is only for yourself. It doesn't matter that other people are listening, and it doesn't matter what they might think. Just do this because it makes you happy."
"You must be Liz Parker," a voice interrupted them.
Liz and Kyle broke apart to see a man in his early thirties standing in front of them. "I'm Matt," he said while shaking Liz's hand. "So, do you wanna get started?"
"Um, sure," Liz replied, reluctantly pulling away from Kyle, even though all she wanted to do was turn and run. She walked up onto the stage and took her place behind the microphone. Her hands were shaking and she was sure that her voice would fail her.
The piano player started playing and Liz took a deep breath, remembering Kyle's words. Forget the people who are listening, forget where you are. This is only for yourself. She closed her eyes and started singing.
It's the chance of life, get ready, set, fly high.
Above the fear of your mind, go for it.
It's hit or miss, too late for you to quit.
You gotta show 'em how bad you really want this, so...
As soon as Liz started singing her nervousness vanished and she found herself almost enjoying herself.
Live your dreams, it's not as hard as it may seem.
You gotta work to get the cream, on your hopes you must lean,
From your fears, you have to wean yourself.
It's all or nothing, give your everything...
You are what you believe, you got to bring the heat.
Set the pace, competition take the lead.
This is it, all eyes on you.
So stay on point and prove,
That you deserve what's long overdue.
Liz locked eyes with Kyle who was beaming up at her. He winked at her, causing her to return his smile.
Live your dreams, it's not as hard as it may seem.
You gotta work to get the cream, on your hopes you must lean
From your fears, you have to wean yourself.
It's all or nothing, give your everything...
Liz noticed the doors of the bar opening and somebody coming inside. The person walked up to Jondy, stepping into the light. It was a guy.
The hardest to recovery,
From the heartbreak of another kind,
I'm still dryin' my tears.
Getting over my own fears
In my life.
So I wanna make sure this time
That I'm strong enough,
To give it my all...
He had short dark blond hair and as far as Liz could tell he was pretty cute. He glanced up to her and their eyes locked. The feeling of eyes burning into her that she’d been having on and off again the past few days suddenly slammed into her full force. But for the first time she noticed that it actually wasn't a bad or scary feeling. Quite the opposite actually. She’d probably just been too paranoid before. Living in Roswell does that to you.
Live your dreams, it's not as hard as it may seem.
You gotta work to get the cream, on your hopes you must lean
From your fears, you have to wean yourself.
It's all or nothing, give your everything...
Liz forgot everything around her and just got lost in the stranger’s eyes. They were without a doubt the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. She was glad that she knew the words in her sleep because concentrating on the lyrics would have been absolutely impossible at the moment.
So you gotta live your dreams,
So don't you be afraid.
Just set the pace, and take the lead,
It's your time to shine.
When the song was over Liz finally managed to tear her gaze away from the guy and glanced at Kyle who still had a silly grin on his face. Good, so she hadn't messed up the song while staring at mystery-man. A silly grin spread over her own face. Standing up on that stage and singing had been amazing, exhilarating, absolutely breathtaking. It had felt so right. Like home.
"That was amazing," Matt said, interrupting her thoughts, obviously quite impressed. "So, you wanna work here?" he asked.
"Well, yeah," Liz replied surprised. Was he really offering her the job?
"Great. You have the job. You start the day after tomorrow. That's Tuesday, right? Is that okay?"
"Um, sure," Liz said. She couldn't believe it. She really had the job?
"You are twenty-one, right?" Matt asked her.
Liz hesitated for a fraction of a second and then quickly nodded, hopping that Matt hadn't noticed.
"Great. Well, I have to run," Matt said glancing at his watch. "Liz, it was a pleasure," he said once again shaking her hand before turning around and disappearing into the back of the bar.
Liz stood there absolutely stunned. She actually had the job. She rushed down from the stage and launched herself into Kyle's arms.
"I'm so proud of you," he whispered.
Jondy came up to them with the mysterious stranger behind her. "Congratulations Liz, you sure are a great singer," she said.
“Thanks,” Liz replied blushing slightly, the silly grin still on her face.
"Congratulations,” mystery-man said in a low melodious voice while extending his hand towards Liz. “I’m Alec."
“Liz,” she replied, taking his hand. As their fingers brushed against each other and their hands entwined Liz felt a surge of electricity go through her. If she’d had her senses together she would have probably wondered what that was all about, but her brain was nothing but a puddle of mush swimming around in her head, so all she could do was stare.
"I'm Kyle," Kyle said interrupting their moment, not liking what he was seeing.
"Hey," Alec said, shaking his hand, but his gaze never left Liz’s face.
Liz smiled at him, and he returned the smile, causing a swarm of butterflies to suddenly appear in Liz's stomach. The day had just gotten a whole lot better, if that was even possible.
Don't dream it's over - DA xover, Liz/Alec, Parts 1-20
Part 14
After a few minutes of chatting with Alec and Jondy Liz and Kyle went back home. They spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the pool doing absolutely nothing.
Liz tried desperately to keep Alec off her mind, but her thoughts just kept wandering back to him.
All through their chat his eyes hadn’t left hers once. Okay, so they hadn’t really spoken with each other since Kyle and Jondy had been talking non stop, but that wasn’t necessary anyway. Somehow she’d felt some kind of connection to him. She didn’t know why, couldn’t explain it, but it was there. Like they were kindred spirits or something.
She had gotten so lost in Alec’s eyes that she hadn’t noticed Kyle flirting with Jondy, nor had she heard Jondy asking them if they were coming back that night, or Kyle’s reply that they were since they had to celebrate Liz’s new job.
She hadn’t reacted when Kyle had turned his attention back to her and said her name. It had taken a decent jab in the ribs to knock her out of her daze.
When they had left the bar Liz suddenly felt an unexplainable pang of loss. What was wrong with her?
And now, lying at the pool, she just couldn’t help thinking of Alec. The sun was caressing her skin and Liz was wondering what it would feel like to have Alec’s hands doing that instead.
Wait a minute. Where the hell did that come from? Had she actually been wondering what it would be like to be with somebody other than Max?
Okay, she’d definitely been in the sun too long. The heat was getting to her. She needed to cool off.
Liz stood up and went for a swim, but when she got out of the water again twenty minutes later she wasn’t any better than before. While swimming she’d asked herself what it would be like to kiss somebody under water – okay, not somebody, rather Alec – what Alec looked like in shorts and if he preferred boxers or briefs. She guessed boxers.
Liz shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She had not just been thinking of the underwear of some guy she’d just met. Even if it was a very attractive, cute…
“When do you wanna go?” Kyle asked her, interrupting her traitorous trail of thoughts. Thank God for that.
“Go?” Liz asked confused. What was he talking about?
“Yeah, go. You know, back to the bar to celebrate your new job, like we told Jondy we would?”
“We told Jondy we’d come back today?” Liz asked. When had that happened?
“Yeah, right before we left. Don’t you remember?” Kyle asked getting confused himself. She’d been standing right next to him when Jondy had asked if she’d see them again that night.
Liz didn’t remember. She’d been too busy making goo-goo eyes at Alec, but she’d die before she admitted that. “Oh, yeah, right. I don’t know. How about we stay here for another hour or two and then start to get ready and just leave whenever we’re done?”
“Sure,” Kyle said, trying not to sound too eager. He was dying to see Jondy again, and so he’d hoped that Liz would want to leave early.
* * * * *
Two and a half hours later Liz and Kyle were back at 'Jaded' sitting in their normal place at the end of the bar near the dance floor drinking orange juice. Kyle was talking to Jondy, but Liz wasn’t listening, her thoughts were preoccupied by something else.
Or rather someone else.
“Hey Liz,” a familiar voice said, very effectively startling her out of her thoughts.
Liz looked up. Matt had joined Jondy behind the bar and was now standing in front of her. She hadn’t even noticed him coming into the room.
“Hey,” Liz replied.
“So eager to start working here that you couldn’t stay away?” Matt asked her with a wink.
“Yeah,” Liz replied smiling. “We’re hopelessly addicted to this joint.”
“Glad to hear that,” Matt replied. “I only wish Jack would have felt the same.”
“Why, what’s up with Jack?” Jondy asked frowning.
“He quite. Left the city today.”
“What?! Do you mean I have to work the bar all alone tonight?” Jondy asked, not wanting to believe it.
“I’m afraid so,” Matt replied. “We’re not gonna find a replacement tonight.”
“I could do it,” Kyle said, causing three heads to turn to him, looking at him surprised.
“You have any experience?” Matt asked.
“Not really, but I can mix just about every drink there is. My grandfather taught me.”
“Okay, tell ya what. I’ll give you a shot tonight and if you’re good you can take over Jack’s job completely. What do you say?”
“I say you just found yourself a new barkeeper,” Kyle replied with a cocky grin, causing both Jondy and Liz to roll their eyes. Men!
Kyle stood up and got behind the bar along with Jondy and started working, leaving Liz with nothing else to do than watch him. This should be interesting.
* * * * *
An hour later Liz was still sitting on her bar stool, totally stunned. She’d been watching Kyle for the past hour and still couldn’t believe it. He seemed to have gotten the hang of barkeeping within the first five minutes and was now working like he’d never done anything else in his life.
And the guests loved him. Especially the women. And they showed it by giving him nice big tips, often along with their phone number. She didn’t even want to know where that would lead too…
Suddenly the hair on the back of her neck stood up and Liz once again felt somebody’s eyes burning into the back of her head watching her. Or rather not watching her, more looking at her. Watching was much too negative a word for what she was feeling. Because what she was felling wasn’t bad. Not bad at all actually, more the opposite. It was actually quite nice.
A second later Alec sat down on the barstool next to Liz.
“Hey Liz,” he said, his eyes intense, a slow, oh-so sexy smile playing over his lips.
“Hey Alec,” Liz replied, not being able to stop herself from smiling back at him. Not that she wanted to in the first place.
Alec’s own smile grew a little brighter at that, causing the flock of butterflies that seemed to have permanently settled into Liz’s stomach to start fluttering again.
Kyle happened to glance over at Liz in that moment and saw the look Alec gave her. And he didn’t like it one bit.
Liz had just been through hell and back, the last thing she needed right now was a guy trying to get into her pants. Liz was so vulnerable at the moment, so lost – a guy could easily take advantage of her current state of mind.
And he didn’t doubt that Alec was the kind of guy that would do that.
He quickly walked over to them. “Can I bring you anything?” he asked Alec, trying to break up their staring game, not bothering with being polite.
“Yeah, a scotch please,” Alec said, apparently not noticing Kyle’s insolence. “Do you want anything?” he asked turning to Liz.
“Um, another orange juice would be great,” she replied smiling.
“No alcohol today?” Alec asked, a smirk replacing his smile.
Kyle had a hard time keeping his anger under control, but he tried to calm down, knowing that he had to since he didn’t have perfect control over his powers yet. Who the hell did that guy think he was, hitting on Liz like that? And could he get any blunter?
“We don’t drink,” he told Alec, through clenched teeth.
“Didn’t look like it when you were here the other night,” he replied, once again unfazed by Kyle's rudeness, the smirk still in place.
Liz blushed, embarrassed that he’d actually seen them on their drunken night out. “Yeah well, that night is exactly why we don’t drink anymore,” she told him with flaming cheeks.
Alec couldn’t help but think how cute Liz was when she was embarrassed, which surprised him since he normally preferred his girls outgoing and not shy. But there was something about the way Liz had blushed at him mentioning the first night they had been here that he found absolutely irresistible.
The pink flush was receding from Liz’s cheeks, but for some stupid reason Alec wanted it back.
“Nice game of pool you played that night,” he told Liz. “I’ll have to remember never to play with you for money.”
Liz once again blushed. She wasn’t sure if it was because of her hustling pool the other night and Alec seeing her or at the prospect of actually spending time with Alec by playing pool with him.
“Playing for money is boring anyway,” she told Alec, determined to get over her normally shy persona. “But I’m sure we can find some other kind of stake,” she said in a low voice before getting up to head over to the toilets, leaving a very stunned Alec behind.
He hadn’t expected that. He watched her cross the room, wondering who the real Liz was – the shy, sweet girl who blushed in the most adorable way possible whenever she was embarrassed, which was quite often actually, or the self-confident, sassy young woman who was anything but shy.
Turning back to the bar he saw Kyle glaring at him while mixing a cocktail. That guy was starting to annoy him. He flirted with everything that wore a skirt, collected one phone number after the other, and Liz couldn’t even talk to a guy without him getting all possessive and jealous? What kind of double standard was that?
Alec averted his gaze again shaking his head. Not that it was any of his business. If Liz thought that that kind of behavior was acceptable in a boyfriend, then that was her problem. Then why is it bothering you so much? the nagging little voice in the back of his mind asked. Alec chose to ignore it.
A few minutes later Liz returned to her seat beside Alec, taking a sip from the orange juice Kyle had brought her.
“So, where did you learn to dance like that?” Alec asked her, once again referring to their first time at the bar, hoping that her blush would return to her cheeks. He wasn’t disappointed.
Liz couldn’t believe it. What was it with Alec that even the simplest question from him never failed to turn her cheeks flaming red? “Well, I took ballet classes when I was younger, so I have a good sense of rhythm from that. As for the rest…I don’t know. I guess I just love to dance. It’s so freeing.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Alec said. That was exactly how he felt when riding his bike. “It’s like nothing else in the world maters, like all your problems are suddenly lifted off your shoulders.”
“Exactly,” Liz said, surprised that Alec actually understood what she meant. "You can let yourself get completely lost in the music. The world around you disappears, along with all your problems…"
"…and it's only you and the music left," Alec finished for her.
"Yeah..." Liz replied, forgetting what she wanted to say when she met Alec's steady gaze, getting lost in his eyes. It was so easy to get lost in them.
It was one of those perfect moments where words weren’t necessary anymore, where you suddenly realize that a person so completely understands you that you feel connected to them in a way words could never explain. Like you've known that person your whole life, or even longer, instead of merely a few hours.
The ringing of Liz’s cell phone broke up their moment, and Liz wasn't sure if she should be happy or sad about it. She rummaged through her purse looking for it, and when she found it she was about to pick up when she saw who it was. Maria. Leave it to her to interrupt them even though she was on the other side of the country.
Kyle must have seen the look on her face because he was suddenly standing in front of her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Oh…uh…nothing. I just…have to go to the bathroom. Answer this for me, will ya?” Liz said taking off in the direction of the toilets after forcing her cell into Kyle’s hands.
“But you just…” Kyle called after her. “…went to the bathroom five minutes ago,” he finished quietly, confusion lacing his voice. What the hell?
Glancing at the display he found his answer. He sighed. How long was Liz gonna continue to ignoring Maria’s calls?
Kyle went into the backroom to answer the phone so that he could talk in private, not wanting anybody to hear his conversation in case it had anything to do with aliens. Had he known that the two transgenics out there could here every word he would have gone outside.
“Hello?”
“Hey Kyle, can I talk to Liz?” Maria said, obviously confused and slightly irritated about him answering the phone again.
“Um, she actually just went to the bathroom. Should I tell her you called?” Kyle asked, hoping to make this a short conversation.
It didn’t work.
“She’s avoiding me, right?” Maria said, more stating a fact than asking a question.
“No she’s not,” Kyle replied, wondering who he thought he was fooling. It was more than obvious that Liz was avoiding Maria. She would have called her back otherwise.
“Yeah, right Kyle,” Maria replied sarcastically. “Look, this is important, it’s about Alex, so will you please get her to the phone?”
“Alex?" Kyle asked, suddenly glad that he was talking to Maria and not Liz. "Look Maria, she's really in the bathroom, and I can’t go into there since I’m only graced with one X-chromosome. Can’t you tell me?” Kyle asked her, knowing that Liz would be grateful for not having to talk to Maria, and not wanting to open wounds that were just beginning to heal by letting Liz talk to Maria about Alex. That subject was just too sensitive.
“Alex’s death is now officially an accident,” Maria said.
“What? The police don’t think that it was suicide anymore? How did that happen?” Kyle asked surprised. He knew that his dad didn’t have the influence anymore to make Hanson change the file, so they must have actually done something to make that happen.
“Isabel, Max and Michael faked a report from a psychiatrist in Sweden who supposedly talked to Alex shortly before he came back saying that Alec was absolutely not suicidal, and that convinced Hanson. The police now think he fell asleep while driving.”
“Liz will be glad to hear that,” Kyle replied, not knowing what else he could say.
“Is that all you have to say? Isabel, Max and Michael risked a lot to make sure that Alex’s name was cleared of all suspicions that he committed suicide.”
“They risked a lot?! Yeah, right. Especially compared to what Liz risked when she was trying to find Alex’s killer. That was the time they should have risked something instead of letting Liz do the dirty work for them. They didn’t even believe that Alex didn’t commit suicide until Liz presented them some proof. Hell, they wouldn't even consider Alex being killed as a possibility. Come to think of it, it’s their fault that Alex’s dead in the first place. They let a traitor into the group. She was Max’s girlfriend in case I have to remind you. And now we’re supposed to be thankful that they for once actually fixed a small part of the havoc they inflicted on our lives? I don’t think so. I’ll tell Liz you called,” Kyle said, and then hung up.
He went back outside again and started working, the anger and frustration coming off him in waves.
“Everything okay?” Jondy asked him. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but with her enhanced hearing it had been hard not to listen. From the expression on Alec’s face she could see that he’d been listening too.
“Yeah, just great,” Kyle replied, not bothering to look up, causing Jondy to walk away again after a few seconds without further probing.
What was he going to tell Liz? He had to tell her that Alex's death was no longer officially suicide, since that had been one of her main reasons for trying to find out the truth. He didn't however want to tell her the details of how that had come along, since they had this silent agreement going on to not mention the aliens anymore. He didn't want to rip open wounds that had barely begun healing, but she wouldn't let it go till he told her what had convinced the police to come off from their suicide-theory after all.
"Penny for your thoughts."
Liz's voice broke Kyle out of his daze. He hadn't even realized that she’d come back from the bathroom and over to him.
"Oh...um...well..." Kyle stuttered.
"Is everything okay?" Liz asked, immediately alarmed. “Did something happen?”
"No, everything’s fine, don't worry," Kyle said quickly, kicking himself for worrying her. He looked around, making sure that nobody was within hearing range. Alec was still sitting at the other side of the bar talking to Jondy. He hesitated another second before continuing. "Maria just called to tell us that Alex's death is now officially an accident. The police think he fell asleep behind the wheel."
"What? How did that happen? Why did they change their mind?" Liz asked, not being able to believe it. Was Alex's name really cleared from all those horrible suspicion? It had killed her to know that his parents and the rest of Roswell even considered the possibility that Alex had actually committed suicide. As if he’d ever do that.
"Oh, um, a psychiatrist apparently talked to Alex while he was in Sweden and now sent the police a report saying he wasn’t suicidal, and that was enough for Hanson,” Kyle said, praying that Liz couldn’t tell that he was lying.
Liz of course could tell that that wasn’t the complete truth. “What aren’t you telling me?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Kyle replied quickly.
Liz looked at him for a long moment, trying to decide whether she should point out that he was obviously holding something back and demand to know what it was or let it rest and trust Kyle to tell her if it was something important. Whatever it was, it probably had something to do with the aliens, and that was the last thing she wanted to talk about at the moment, and so she decided on the latter. If it was important Kyle would tell her, and if not she really didn’t want to know anyway.
“So, did Maria say anything else?” Liz casually asked, averting her gaze from him.
“She asked if you were avoiding her, and I told her no. Look Liz, I know it’s none of my business, but you’ll have to eventually talk to her,” Kyle said.
“I know. I just…need time to think about everything. I mean, Maria and I have been best friends as long as I can remember, but she didn’t believe me either. I would have needed her Kyle, and when it came hard on hard she wasn’t there for me. That hurt. I can’t just forget that. And I just don’t know what to say to her.”
“I understand,” Kyle told Liz, giving her hand a light squeeze.
“I know you do,” Liz replied, returning the squeeze, before going back to her seat at the other end of the bar.
After a few minutes of chatting with Alec and Jondy Liz and Kyle went back home. They spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the pool doing absolutely nothing.
Liz tried desperately to keep Alec off her mind, but her thoughts just kept wandering back to him.
All through their chat his eyes hadn’t left hers once. Okay, so they hadn’t really spoken with each other since Kyle and Jondy had been talking non stop, but that wasn’t necessary anyway. Somehow she’d felt some kind of connection to him. She didn’t know why, couldn’t explain it, but it was there. Like they were kindred spirits or something.
She had gotten so lost in Alec’s eyes that she hadn’t noticed Kyle flirting with Jondy, nor had she heard Jondy asking them if they were coming back that night, or Kyle’s reply that they were since they had to celebrate Liz’s new job.
She hadn’t reacted when Kyle had turned his attention back to her and said her name. It had taken a decent jab in the ribs to knock her out of her daze.
When they had left the bar Liz suddenly felt an unexplainable pang of loss. What was wrong with her?
And now, lying at the pool, she just couldn’t help thinking of Alec. The sun was caressing her skin and Liz was wondering what it would feel like to have Alec’s hands doing that instead.
Wait a minute. Where the hell did that come from? Had she actually been wondering what it would be like to be with somebody other than Max?
Okay, she’d definitely been in the sun too long. The heat was getting to her. She needed to cool off.
Liz stood up and went for a swim, but when she got out of the water again twenty minutes later she wasn’t any better than before. While swimming she’d asked herself what it would be like to kiss somebody under water – okay, not somebody, rather Alec – what Alec looked like in shorts and if he preferred boxers or briefs. She guessed boxers.
Liz shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She had not just been thinking of the underwear of some guy she’d just met. Even if it was a very attractive, cute…
“When do you wanna go?” Kyle asked her, interrupting her traitorous trail of thoughts. Thank God for that.
“Go?” Liz asked confused. What was he talking about?
“Yeah, go. You know, back to the bar to celebrate your new job, like we told Jondy we would?”
“We told Jondy we’d come back today?” Liz asked. When had that happened?
“Yeah, right before we left. Don’t you remember?” Kyle asked getting confused himself. She’d been standing right next to him when Jondy had asked if she’d see them again that night.
Liz didn’t remember. She’d been too busy making goo-goo eyes at Alec, but she’d die before she admitted that. “Oh, yeah, right. I don’t know. How about we stay here for another hour or two and then start to get ready and just leave whenever we’re done?”
“Sure,” Kyle said, trying not to sound too eager. He was dying to see Jondy again, and so he’d hoped that Liz would want to leave early.
* * * * *
Two and a half hours later Liz and Kyle were back at 'Jaded' sitting in their normal place at the end of the bar near the dance floor drinking orange juice. Kyle was talking to Jondy, but Liz wasn’t listening, her thoughts were preoccupied by something else.
Or rather someone else.
“Hey Liz,” a familiar voice said, very effectively startling her out of her thoughts.
Liz looked up. Matt had joined Jondy behind the bar and was now standing in front of her. She hadn’t even noticed him coming into the room.
“Hey,” Liz replied.
“So eager to start working here that you couldn’t stay away?” Matt asked her with a wink.
“Yeah,” Liz replied smiling. “We’re hopelessly addicted to this joint.”
“Glad to hear that,” Matt replied. “I only wish Jack would have felt the same.”
“Why, what’s up with Jack?” Jondy asked frowning.
“He quite. Left the city today.”
“What?! Do you mean I have to work the bar all alone tonight?” Jondy asked, not wanting to believe it.
“I’m afraid so,” Matt replied. “We’re not gonna find a replacement tonight.”
“I could do it,” Kyle said, causing three heads to turn to him, looking at him surprised.
“You have any experience?” Matt asked.
“Not really, but I can mix just about every drink there is. My grandfather taught me.”
“Okay, tell ya what. I’ll give you a shot tonight and if you’re good you can take over Jack’s job completely. What do you say?”
“I say you just found yourself a new barkeeper,” Kyle replied with a cocky grin, causing both Jondy and Liz to roll their eyes. Men!
Kyle stood up and got behind the bar along with Jondy and started working, leaving Liz with nothing else to do than watch him. This should be interesting.
* * * * *
An hour later Liz was still sitting on her bar stool, totally stunned. She’d been watching Kyle for the past hour and still couldn’t believe it. He seemed to have gotten the hang of barkeeping within the first five minutes and was now working like he’d never done anything else in his life.
And the guests loved him. Especially the women. And they showed it by giving him nice big tips, often along with their phone number. She didn’t even want to know where that would lead too…
Suddenly the hair on the back of her neck stood up and Liz once again felt somebody’s eyes burning into the back of her head watching her. Or rather not watching her, more looking at her. Watching was much too negative a word for what she was feeling. Because what she was felling wasn’t bad. Not bad at all actually, more the opposite. It was actually quite nice.
A second later Alec sat down on the barstool next to Liz.
“Hey Liz,” he said, his eyes intense, a slow, oh-so sexy smile playing over his lips.
“Hey Alec,” Liz replied, not being able to stop herself from smiling back at him. Not that she wanted to in the first place.
Alec’s own smile grew a little brighter at that, causing the flock of butterflies that seemed to have permanently settled into Liz’s stomach to start fluttering again.
Kyle happened to glance over at Liz in that moment and saw the look Alec gave her. And he didn’t like it one bit.
Liz had just been through hell and back, the last thing she needed right now was a guy trying to get into her pants. Liz was so vulnerable at the moment, so lost – a guy could easily take advantage of her current state of mind.
And he didn’t doubt that Alec was the kind of guy that would do that.
He quickly walked over to them. “Can I bring you anything?” he asked Alec, trying to break up their staring game, not bothering with being polite.
“Yeah, a scotch please,” Alec said, apparently not noticing Kyle’s insolence. “Do you want anything?” he asked turning to Liz.
“Um, another orange juice would be great,” she replied smiling.
“No alcohol today?” Alec asked, a smirk replacing his smile.
Kyle had a hard time keeping his anger under control, but he tried to calm down, knowing that he had to since he didn’t have perfect control over his powers yet. Who the hell did that guy think he was, hitting on Liz like that? And could he get any blunter?
“We don’t drink,” he told Alec, through clenched teeth.
“Didn’t look like it when you were here the other night,” he replied, once again unfazed by Kyle's rudeness, the smirk still in place.
Liz blushed, embarrassed that he’d actually seen them on their drunken night out. “Yeah well, that night is exactly why we don’t drink anymore,” she told him with flaming cheeks.
Alec couldn’t help but think how cute Liz was when she was embarrassed, which surprised him since he normally preferred his girls outgoing and not shy. But there was something about the way Liz had blushed at him mentioning the first night they had been here that he found absolutely irresistible.
The pink flush was receding from Liz’s cheeks, but for some stupid reason Alec wanted it back.
“Nice game of pool you played that night,” he told Liz. “I’ll have to remember never to play with you for money.”
Liz once again blushed. She wasn’t sure if it was because of her hustling pool the other night and Alec seeing her or at the prospect of actually spending time with Alec by playing pool with him.
“Playing for money is boring anyway,” she told Alec, determined to get over her normally shy persona. “But I’m sure we can find some other kind of stake,” she said in a low voice before getting up to head over to the toilets, leaving a very stunned Alec behind.
He hadn’t expected that. He watched her cross the room, wondering who the real Liz was – the shy, sweet girl who blushed in the most adorable way possible whenever she was embarrassed, which was quite often actually, or the self-confident, sassy young woman who was anything but shy.
Turning back to the bar he saw Kyle glaring at him while mixing a cocktail. That guy was starting to annoy him. He flirted with everything that wore a skirt, collected one phone number after the other, and Liz couldn’t even talk to a guy without him getting all possessive and jealous? What kind of double standard was that?
Alec averted his gaze again shaking his head. Not that it was any of his business. If Liz thought that that kind of behavior was acceptable in a boyfriend, then that was her problem. Then why is it bothering you so much? the nagging little voice in the back of his mind asked. Alec chose to ignore it.
A few minutes later Liz returned to her seat beside Alec, taking a sip from the orange juice Kyle had brought her.
“So, where did you learn to dance like that?” Alec asked her, once again referring to their first time at the bar, hoping that her blush would return to her cheeks. He wasn’t disappointed.
Liz couldn’t believe it. What was it with Alec that even the simplest question from him never failed to turn her cheeks flaming red? “Well, I took ballet classes when I was younger, so I have a good sense of rhythm from that. As for the rest…I don’t know. I guess I just love to dance. It’s so freeing.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Alec said. That was exactly how he felt when riding his bike. “It’s like nothing else in the world maters, like all your problems are suddenly lifted off your shoulders.”
“Exactly,” Liz said, surprised that Alec actually understood what she meant. "You can let yourself get completely lost in the music. The world around you disappears, along with all your problems…"
"…and it's only you and the music left," Alec finished for her.
"Yeah..." Liz replied, forgetting what she wanted to say when she met Alec's steady gaze, getting lost in his eyes. It was so easy to get lost in them.
It was one of those perfect moments where words weren’t necessary anymore, where you suddenly realize that a person so completely understands you that you feel connected to them in a way words could never explain. Like you've known that person your whole life, or even longer, instead of merely a few hours.
The ringing of Liz’s cell phone broke up their moment, and Liz wasn't sure if she should be happy or sad about it. She rummaged through her purse looking for it, and when she found it she was about to pick up when she saw who it was. Maria. Leave it to her to interrupt them even though she was on the other side of the country.
Kyle must have seen the look on her face because he was suddenly standing in front of her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Oh…uh…nothing. I just…have to go to the bathroom. Answer this for me, will ya?” Liz said taking off in the direction of the toilets after forcing her cell into Kyle’s hands.
“But you just…” Kyle called after her. “…went to the bathroom five minutes ago,” he finished quietly, confusion lacing his voice. What the hell?
Glancing at the display he found his answer. He sighed. How long was Liz gonna continue to ignoring Maria’s calls?
Kyle went into the backroom to answer the phone so that he could talk in private, not wanting anybody to hear his conversation in case it had anything to do with aliens. Had he known that the two transgenics out there could here every word he would have gone outside.
“Hello?”
“Hey Kyle, can I talk to Liz?” Maria said, obviously confused and slightly irritated about him answering the phone again.
“Um, she actually just went to the bathroom. Should I tell her you called?” Kyle asked, hoping to make this a short conversation.
It didn’t work.
“She’s avoiding me, right?” Maria said, more stating a fact than asking a question.
“No she’s not,” Kyle replied, wondering who he thought he was fooling. It was more than obvious that Liz was avoiding Maria. She would have called her back otherwise.
“Yeah, right Kyle,” Maria replied sarcastically. “Look, this is important, it’s about Alex, so will you please get her to the phone?”
“Alex?" Kyle asked, suddenly glad that he was talking to Maria and not Liz. "Look Maria, she's really in the bathroom, and I can’t go into there since I’m only graced with one X-chromosome. Can’t you tell me?” Kyle asked her, knowing that Liz would be grateful for not having to talk to Maria, and not wanting to open wounds that were just beginning to heal by letting Liz talk to Maria about Alex. That subject was just too sensitive.
“Alex’s death is now officially an accident,” Maria said.
“What? The police don’t think that it was suicide anymore? How did that happen?” Kyle asked surprised. He knew that his dad didn’t have the influence anymore to make Hanson change the file, so they must have actually done something to make that happen.
“Isabel, Max and Michael faked a report from a psychiatrist in Sweden who supposedly talked to Alex shortly before he came back saying that Alec was absolutely not suicidal, and that convinced Hanson. The police now think he fell asleep while driving.”
“Liz will be glad to hear that,” Kyle replied, not knowing what else he could say.
“Is that all you have to say? Isabel, Max and Michael risked a lot to make sure that Alex’s name was cleared of all suspicions that he committed suicide.”
“They risked a lot?! Yeah, right. Especially compared to what Liz risked when she was trying to find Alex’s killer. That was the time they should have risked something instead of letting Liz do the dirty work for them. They didn’t even believe that Alex didn’t commit suicide until Liz presented them some proof. Hell, they wouldn't even consider Alex being killed as a possibility. Come to think of it, it’s their fault that Alex’s dead in the first place. They let a traitor into the group. She was Max’s girlfriend in case I have to remind you. And now we’re supposed to be thankful that they for once actually fixed a small part of the havoc they inflicted on our lives? I don’t think so. I’ll tell Liz you called,” Kyle said, and then hung up.
He went back outside again and started working, the anger and frustration coming off him in waves.
“Everything okay?” Jondy asked him. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but with her enhanced hearing it had been hard not to listen. From the expression on Alec’s face she could see that he’d been listening too.
“Yeah, just great,” Kyle replied, not bothering to look up, causing Jondy to walk away again after a few seconds without further probing.
What was he going to tell Liz? He had to tell her that Alex's death was no longer officially suicide, since that had been one of her main reasons for trying to find out the truth. He didn't however want to tell her the details of how that had come along, since they had this silent agreement going on to not mention the aliens anymore. He didn't want to rip open wounds that had barely begun healing, but she wouldn't let it go till he told her what had convinced the police to come off from their suicide-theory after all.
"Penny for your thoughts."
Liz's voice broke Kyle out of his daze. He hadn't even realized that she’d come back from the bathroom and over to him.
"Oh...um...well..." Kyle stuttered.
"Is everything okay?" Liz asked, immediately alarmed. “Did something happen?”
"No, everything’s fine, don't worry," Kyle said quickly, kicking himself for worrying her. He looked around, making sure that nobody was within hearing range. Alec was still sitting at the other side of the bar talking to Jondy. He hesitated another second before continuing. "Maria just called to tell us that Alex's death is now officially an accident. The police think he fell asleep behind the wheel."
"What? How did that happen? Why did they change their mind?" Liz asked, not being able to believe it. Was Alex's name really cleared from all those horrible suspicion? It had killed her to know that his parents and the rest of Roswell even considered the possibility that Alex had actually committed suicide. As if he’d ever do that.
"Oh, um, a psychiatrist apparently talked to Alex while he was in Sweden and now sent the police a report saying he wasn’t suicidal, and that was enough for Hanson,” Kyle said, praying that Liz couldn’t tell that he was lying.
Liz of course could tell that that wasn’t the complete truth. “What aren’t you telling me?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Kyle replied quickly.
Liz looked at him for a long moment, trying to decide whether she should point out that he was obviously holding something back and demand to know what it was or let it rest and trust Kyle to tell her if it was something important. Whatever it was, it probably had something to do with the aliens, and that was the last thing she wanted to talk about at the moment, and so she decided on the latter. If it was important Kyle would tell her, and if not she really didn’t want to know anyway.
“So, did Maria say anything else?” Liz casually asked, averting her gaze from him.
“She asked if you were avoiding her, and I told her no. Look Liz, I know it’s none of my business, but you’ll have to eventually talk to her,” Kyle said.
“I know. I just…need time to think about everything. I mean, Maria and I have been best friends as long as I can remember, but she didn’t believe me either. I would have needed her Kyle, and when it came hard on hard she wasn’t there for me. That hurt. I can’t just forget that. And I just don’t know what to say to her.”
“I understand,” Kyle told Liz, giving her hand a light squeeze.
“I know you do,” Liz replied, returning the squeeze, before going back to her seat at the other end of the bar.
Don't dream it's over - DA xover, Liz/Alec, Parts 1-20
Part 15
A few hours later the bar began to empty out, and soon only Liz, Alec, Kyle and Jondy were left. Jondy went to lock the door, turning off most of the lights on her way back behind the bar. She exchanged a look with Alec that didn’t go unnoticed to both Kyle and Liz, and when Alec slightly nodded she turned to them and started talking.
“Guys, we have to talk about something,” she said seriously.
Liz immediately tensed up. What did they want to talk about? Did they know about them? She exchanged a look with Kyle and could tell that he was thinking the same thing. She could also tell from his body language that he was ready to attack if it became necessary, not that she thought it would. Who was stupid enough to warn somebody before launching an attack on them?
Jondy’s next words confirmed their worst fears. “We know the truth about you, that you're different."
Liz jumped up from her seat and took a step back, raising her hand in defense. Kyle followed her lead while asking himself who he thought he was fooling. He’s powers weren’t developed enough that he could actually defend himself. He’d have to rely on Liz, which he hated more than anything else about this situation. It should be his job to protect her, not the other way around.
“Woah there, calm down,” Alec said, holding up his hands in surrender. They hadn’t meant to scare them, but from the look in Liz’s eyes she was terrified. “We’re not out to hurt you. We’re the same as you two. We just thought it would be best if you knew about us and about us knowing about you in case something happens.”
At this Liz’s jaw practically hit the ground. They were the same? They were aliens too? “You’re…you’re…” she stuttered trying to regain her composure.
“…Czechoslovakians too?” Kyle finished incredulously.
Both Alec and Jondy turned to Kyle, looking at him like he’d gone stark-mad.
“Yes Kyle, because they’re gonna understand that,” Liz said rolling her eyes. “It’s a code word,” she explained.
“A code word?” Jondy asked.
“Yeah, so that we can talk about it in public without having to worry about someone overhearing our conversation. It stands for-“
“I think we all know what it stands for,” Kyle said interrupting her. He still wasn’t completely comfortable with the word ‘alien’ and preferred to not hear it out loud. Thinking it was bad enough.
“So, how did you find out about us,” Liz asked, still not completely sure if she could trust them. Her instincts told her she could, and so far they had never lead her astray, but she was so messed up at the moment that she wasn’t sure if she could rely on them one-hundred percent. And taking the chance was something she was not willing to do.
“We saw…” Alec trailed off and pointed at the back of his neck where their bar codes were located.
“Oh,” was Liz’s only reply. She had been so sure that nobody had seen them when she had healed their tattoos, but obviously she had been wrong. They would have to be more careful in the future.
“So how do we know that you’re on the same side as us and that we can trust you?” Liz asked, wanting some tangible proof to confirm the feeling that they could trust them.
“We wouldn’t have told you that we know about you if we weren’t on the same side,” Alec simply said.
That made sense. But how did they know that they were on the same side in the first place? “How did you know that we’re not your enemies?” Liz asked confused.
“I listened to a few of your conversations,” Jondy admitted guiltily. “I’m really sorry, I know that it’s not exactly very polite to eavesdrop, but we had to know if we could trust you. And when I heard you talking about being afraid of the government finding you we knew that we were all on the same side.”
“You listened to us talking? But how is that pos- Oh, I guess you used your abilities, right?” Liz asked, understanding dawning in.
“Yeah,” Jondy replied still somewhat sheepishly.
“I guess it was too much to ask to have one summer off from all that crap,” Liz sighed as she sat back down.
“What do you mean?” Alec asked, hating to see that defeated look in her eyes. He'd give anything to replace it with the sparkle that was there a few minutes ago. Wait a minute, where did that suddenly come from?
“Things were pretty bad throughout the last year,” Liz explained looking down. “When we came here we were hoping to have a break from all that stuff, you know, just have a normal summer like normal teenagers do.”
“Tell me about it,” Jondy muttered. She was sick of running and hiding herself. “But you know what? You're right. We've been running and hiding for years and we deserve a break. So I'm in for a fun, carefree summer. What about you guys?”
“I’m totally for denial as a way of life,” Kyle said grinning. Finally a woman after his fancy.
“Same here,” Alec said, surprised and not exactly pleased to find out that he and Kyle actually had something in common. Pretending that the last years – hell, the last decades – hadn’t happened was the best suggestion he’d heard in a long time.
Liz thought about it. Could that actually work? Could she just pretend to be normal when she knew that she was anything but? It sounded nice, and it would make everything so easy. Maybe too easy. Liz had never been one to run away from her problems, and she didn’t want to start now. But on the other hand, what harm could it do? It was only for a few months. The harsh reality of life would come crashing down on her soon enough. And she deserved some time off. Hell, she needed some time off. Badly. So why not?
“I’m game,” she said smiling.
* * * * *
Twenty minutes later Liz was in Kyle’s car and on the way home. After talking to Alec and Jondy about their alien-status she’d gotten tired and started yawning, which Kyle had of course noticed, and so he’d sent Liz home saying he’d walk. Liz had insisted that she stay since it was too dangerous for Kyle to walk home in the middle of the night all alone, but Jondy had said that she could drop Kyle off when they were finished, and so Liz had relented.
Alec and Liz had left the bar together, leaving Jondy and Kyle behind to clean up. Alec had walked her to Kyle’s car, and after staring at each other for a few seconds, or maybe even minutes, they had said good-bye Liz had gotten in the car and driven off, trying her hardest to ignore the pang of loss she once again felt.
When Liz arrived at Mandy’s house she parked the car and went inside. While still at “Jaded” she had been beyond tired, but now the prospect of going to sleep suddenly seemed a lot less appealing. She was so used to having Kyle by her side when going to bed and not having to worry about nightmares, she didn’t think she could do it anymore.
When she was finished getting ready for bed half an hour had passed and Kyle still wasn’t home. Liz decided to give going to sleep a shot, but after tossing and turning for almost an hour she realized that it was useless and got up again.
Glancing at the clock she noticed how much time had passed since she had left the bar. Where was Kyle? Why wasn’t he home yet? Had something happened to him?
Liz was starting to get worried. She knew exactly how long it took to close up a restaurant, and so closing up a bar couldn’t take much longer. Kyle should have been home by now.
Liz went over to his room to check if he’d come home after all and gone to his room without her hearing him, but it was empty. She then checked downstairs, but he wasn’t there either.
She decided to try and call him on his cell, but she only got his voice mail.
Liz was getting seriously worried. She ran upstairs and quickly got dressed, grabbed her cell phone and the keys to Kyle’s car and rushed back downstairs again.
She ripped open the door and made a few quick steps outside before she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight in front of her.
Kyle was walking up the path towards her. His clothes looked slightly rumpled and his hair was tousled, but otherwise he looked fine.
Liz ran towards him and launched herself into his arms, taking Kyle by surprise and almost knocking him over. “You’re okay, you’re okay,” she kept mumbling over and over again.
After a few minutes she pulled back and hit him on the chest. Hard. “Where the hell were you?!” she asked. “I was worried sick, thinking God knows what happened to you!”
“Uh…” was Kyle’s only reply.
Liz looked him over, and for the first time really noticed his rumpled appearance. What had he been up to? “What happened to you?” she asked. “You look…” She trailed off as understanding dawned in.
No. It couldn’t be true, could it? Kyle was over the phase where he screwed everything that was willing and female, right? He wasn’t one of those guys anymore. He wasn’t. But looking at him, she knew there was no denying it. He had all the tell-tale signs. His rumpled appearance, his flushed face, the guilty look in his eyes, like a kid caught with it’s hand in the cookie jar.
“You slept with her?” she asked incredulously. “How could you?”
“Liz…” Kyle began, but she interrupted him.
“God Kyle, I thought you were over that,” she told him, not able to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She knew that it was ridiculous in a way that she was making such a big deal out of this - and none of her business - but casual, over-hasted sex struck a sensitive nerve in her.
“Liz…” Kyle tried once more, only to be interrupted by Liz again.
“Not now Kyle. I really don’t wanna discuss this now,” she told him turning away from him and staring at the ground.
For a second it looked like Kyle wanted to disagree, but then he nodded his head. “Okay,” he said before going inside, never noticing the man standing only a few yards away, hidden by the shadows.
A few hours later the bar began to empty out, and soon only Liz, Alec, Kyle and Jondy were left. Jondy went to lock the door, turning off most of the lights on her way back behind the bar. She exchanged a look with Alec that didn’t go unnoticed to both Kyle and Liz, and when Alec slightly nodded she turned to them and started talking.
“Guys, we have to talk about something,” she said seriously.
Liz immediately tensed up. What did they want to talk about? Did they know about them? She exchanged a look with Kyle and could tell that he was thinking the same thing. She could also tell from his body language that he was ready to attack if it became necessary, not that she thought it would. Who was stupid enough to warn somebody before launching an attack on them?
Jondy’s next words confirmed their worst fears. “We know the truth about you, that you're different."
Liz jumped up from her seat and took a step back, raising her hand in defense. Kyle followed her lead while asking himself who he thought he was fooling. He’s powers weren’t developed enough that he could actually defend himself. He’d have to rely on Liz, which he hated more than anything else about this situation. It should be his job to protect her, not the other way around.
“Woah there, calm down,” Alec said, holding up his hands in surrender. They hadn’t meant to scare them, but from the look in Liz’s eyes she was terrified. “We’re not out to hurt you. We’re the same as you two. We just thought it would be best if you knew about us and about us knowing about you in case something happens.”
At this Liz’s jaw practically hit the ground. They were the same? They were aliens too? “You’re…you’re…” she stuttered trying to regain her composure.
“…Czechoslovakians too?” Kyle finished incredulously.
Both Alec and Jondy turned to Kyle, looking at him like he’d gone stark-mad.
“Yes Kyle, because they’re gonna understand that,” Liz said rolling her eyes. “It’s a code word,” she explained.
“A code word?” Jondy asked.
“Yeah, so that we can talk about it in public without having to worry about someone overhearing our conversation. It stands for-“
“I think we all know what it stands for,” Kyle said interrupting her. He still wasn’t completely comfortable with the word ‘alien’ and preferred to not hear it out loud. Thinking it was bad enough.
“So, how did you find out about us,” Liz asked, still not completely sure if she could trust them. Her instincts told her she could, and so far they had never lead her astray, but she was so messed up at the moment that she wasn’t sure if she could rely on them one-hundred percent. And taking the chance was something she was not willing to do.
“We saw…” Alec trailed off and pointed at the back of his neck where their bar codes were located.
“Oh,” was Liz’s only reply. She had been so sure that nobody had seen them when she had healed their tattoos, but obviously she had been wrong. They would have to be more careful in the future.
“So how do we know that you’re on the same side as us and that we can trust you?” Liz asked, wanting some tangible proof to confirm the feeling that they could trust them.
“We wouldn’t have told you that we know about you if we weren’t on the same side,” Alec simply said.
That made sense. But how did they know that they were on the same side in the first place? “How did you know that we’re not your enemies?” Liz asked confused.
“I listened to a few of your conversations,” Jondy admitted guiltily. “I’m really sorry, I know that it’s not exactly very polite to eavesdrop, but we had to know if we could trust you. And when I heard you talking about being afraid of the government finding you we knew that we were all on the same side.”
“You listened to us talking? But how is that pos- Oh, I guess you used your abilities, right?” Liz asked, understanding dawning in.
“Yeah,” Jondy replied still somewhat sheepishly.
“I guess it was too much to ask to have one summer off from all that crap,” Liz sighed as she sat back down.
“What do you mean?” Alec asked, hating to see that defeated look in her eyes. He'd give anything to replace it with the sparkle that was there a few minutes ago. Wait a minute, where did that suddenly come from?
“Things were pretty bad throughout the last year,” Liz explained looking down. “When we came here we were hoping to have a break from all that stuff, you know, just have a normal summer like normal teenagers do.”
“Tell me about it,” Jondy muttered. She was sick of running and hiding herself. “But you know what? You're right. We've been running and hiding for years and we deserve a break. So I'm in for a fun, carefree summer. What about you guys?”
“I’m totally for denial as a way of life,” Kyle said grinning. Finally a woman after his fancy.
“Same here,” Alec said, surprised and not exactly pleased to find out that he and Kyle actually had something in common. Pretending that the last years – hell, the last decades – hadn’t happened was the best suggestion he’d heard in a long time.
Liz thought about it. Could that actually work? Could she just pretend to be normal when she knew that she was anything but? It sounded nice, and it would make everything so easy. Maybe too easy. Liz had never been one to run away from her problems, and she didn’t want to start now. But on the other hand, what harm could it do? It was only for a few months. The harsh reality of life would come crashing down on her soon enough. And she deserved some time off. Hell, she needed some time off. Badly. So why not?
“I’m game,” she said smiling.
* * * * *
Twenty minutes later Liz was in Kyle’s car and on the way home. After talking to Alec and Jondy about their alien-status she’d gotten tired and started yawning, which Kyle had of course noticed, and so he’d sent Liz home saying he’d walk. Liz had insisted that she stay since it was too dangerous for Kyle to walk home in the middle of the night all alone, but Jondy had said that she could drop Kyle off when they were finished, and so Liz had relented.
Alec and Liz had left the bar together, leaving Jondy and Kyle behind to clean up. Alec had walked her to Kyle’s car, and after staring at each other for a few seconds, or maybe even minutes, they had said good-bye Liz had gotten in the car and driven off, trying her hardest to ignore the pang of loss she once again felt.
When Liz arrived at Mandy’s house she parked the car and went inside. While still at “Jaded” she had been beyond tired, but now the prospect of going to sleep suddenly seemed a lot less appealing. She was so used to having Kyle by her side when going to bed and not having to worry about nightmares, she didn’t think she could do it anymore.
When she was finished getting ready for bed half an hour had passed and Kyle still wasn’t home. Liz decided to give going to sleep a shot, but after tossing and turning for almost an hour she realized that it was useless and got up again.
Glancing at the clock she noticed how much time had passed since she had left the bar. Where was Kyle? Why wasn’t he home yet? Had something happened to him?
Liz was starting to get worried. She knew exactly how long it took to close up a restaurant, and so closing up a bar couldn’t take much longer. Kyle should have been home by now.
Liz went over to his room to check if he’d come home after all and gone to his room without her hearing him, but it was empty. She then checked downstairs, but he wasn’t there either.
She decided to try and call him on his cell, but she only got his voice mail.
Liz was getting seriously worried. She ran upstairs and quickly got dressed, grabbed her cell phone and the keys to Kyle’s car and rushed back downstairs again.
She ripped open the door and made a few quick steps outside before she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight in front of her.
Kyle was walking up the path towards her. His clothes looked slightly rumpled and his hair was tousled, but otherwise he looked fine.
Liz ran towards him and launched herself into his arms, taking Kyle by surprise and almost knocking him over. “You’re okay, you’re okay,” she kept mumbling over and over again.
After a few minutes she pulled back and hit him on the chest. Hard. “Where the hell were you?!” she asked. “I was worried sick, thinking God knows what happened to you!”
“Uh…” was Kyle’s only reply.
Liz looked him over, and for the first time really noticed his rumpled appearance. What had he been up to? “What happened to you?” she asked. “You look…” She trailed off as understanding dawned in.
No. It couldn’t be true, could it? Kyle was over the phase where he screwed everything that was willing and female, right? He wasn’t one of those guys anymore. He wasn’t. But looking at him, she knew there was no denying it. He had all the tell-tale signs. His rumpled appearance, his flushed face, the guilty look in his eyes, like a kid caught with it’s hand in the cookie jar.
“You slept with her?” she asked incredulously. “How could you?”
“Liz…” Kyle began, but she interrupted him.
“God Kyle, I thought you were over that,” she told him, not able to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She knew that it was ridiculous in a way that she was making such a big deal out of this - and none of her business - but casual, over-hasted sex struck a sensitive nerve in her.
“Liz…” Kyle tried once more, only to be interrupted by Liz again.
“Not now Kyle. I really don’t wanna discuss this now,” she told him turning away from him and staring at the ground.
For a second it looked like Kyle wanted to disagree, but then he nodded his head. “Okay,” he said before going inside, never noticing the man standing only a few yards away, hidden by the shadows.
Don't dream it's over - DA xover, Liz/Alec, Parts 1-20
Part 16 – Alec’s POV
After Liz drove off in Kyle’s car, Alec headed over to his motorcycle, only to realize that he’d forgotten his helmet in the bar. Sighing he turned around again and went back. He opened the door and upon stepping inside he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight that met him.
Jondy and Kyle were behind the bar, actually half on it, kissing, groping and tearing at each other’s clothes.
It took Alec a few seconds before he fully comprehended what was going on. Then he decided that his helmet wasn’t that important after all and that he’d just get it the next day. Staying there a second longer was definitely not an option.
After leaving the bar again he headed back to his bike and got on. He needed to get the hell away from there, and regain control over his anger. And his bike always helped when it came to that.
Driving around aimlessly, Alec had time to think. He didn’t even know why he was upset in the first place. So Kyle was cheating on Liz – big surprise there.
Why did that bother him so much? And why did he want to go running to Liz to make sure that she was okay? Why did he feel so protective of her? Was it because of the first time he saw her?
When she was down at the beach, crying her eyes out, and all he’d wanted to do was take her in his arms and make all her pain go away. She’d looked so small, so vulnerable, like she’d break any minute. She’d been crying like it was the end of the world.
Eventually she’d fallen asleep, and he – not able to resist - had walked up to her to get a closer look. He’d only seen her face from the side, and it had been red from all the crying and covered with tear tracks, but nevertheless he’d thought that she was beautiful. He’d covered her with the part of the blanket she hadn’t been laying on, not wanting her to get cold, since that was the only thing he could do for her.
And after a few minutes of watching her sleep he’d turned around and left. But the image of her had stayed firmly imprinted on his mind, thanks to his photographic memory. Or maybe that had nothing to do with it.
The next day he’d seen her in town, eating ice cream with her boyfriend, and then he’d caught a glimpse of him giving her a piggy back ride. She’d been even more beautiful than the day before, laughter lighting up her features – she’d looked like an angel. And he hadn’t been able to stop the brief stab of envy from passing through him. Not that he’d ever call it that out loud, but a spade was a spade.
But what had surprised him the most was the fact that she had actually seemed to feel his eyes on her. When she was waiting for Kyle to get the ice cream she had looked around, searching for something. Or rather someone. Him. He hadn’t understood it then, but the following night he’d gotten quite a good explanation for it.
They’d come to the bar, drunk beyond reason, laughing and dancing. And showing of their barcode-tattoos. Never had he been so surprised in his entire life. Liz was one of them. As was Kyle. Not that he could have cared any less about that. But Liz? They were the same?
He had instantly known that they were not their enemies, his instincts had told him so. But Jondy had insisted that that was his dick and not his instincts and that they should be careful and make sure that they were all indeed on the same side, and so she had started eavesdropping on them. That night had brought them no new information, but when Jondy had heard them talking about how they were scared of the government finding them the next time they had come to the bar they’d gotten the proof they’d wanted before revealing their identities to them.
Alec had been anxious to do that, he’d been sitting on needles the whole night. Of course talking to Liz had made the waiting easier. A lot easier actually. But he was glad when it was over and they knew. He’d hated having that standing between them all. Okay, maybe he’d only hated having that standing between him and Liz. One way or the other, he was glad that they knew.
But one thing about that night didn’t let him go. Who was Alex? Why had a look of agonizing pain passed over Liz’s features when Kyle had mentioned him? And what the hell had happened to him? He had died under somewhat mysterious circumstances, that much was obvious, but how had it happened?
Alec had recognized the guilt in Liz’s eyes, it was the same look he’d had in his own eyes about a million times. But why was it in there in Liz’s beautiful eyes?
Even though this guy’s death now seemed to officially be an accident instead of suicide, Alec had the unmistakable feeling that that wasn’t the whole truth. Did Manticore have something to do with his death? Had they killed him because of his connection to Liz? Or had he gotten caught in the crossfire like- don’t go there, he told himself. Was that what Liz felt guilty about? And who had Alex been to her? Brother? Friend? Boyfriend?
Alec stopped the bike, hoping to stop the trail of thoughts that was getting him nowhere at the same time, and realized that he was at the beach. To be more exact at the spot where he had first seen Liz. This had always been his favorite spot by the ocean, even before seeing Liz here, but now he liked it even more.
He got off his bike and walked down the beach to the ocean and sat down. Being here always calmed him down. He’d come to the beach countless times ever since he’d left Seattle, especially at night when nightmares of the past haunted him and made it impossible to sleep. The sound of the ocean somehow made it better, it lessened his guilt and took the edge of the pain and anger that things had come that way.
It was ironic how unimportant the hell Manticore had put him through had suddenly become upon remembering his last big mission. He tried not to think about it too much, not being able to handle the pain, but at night that was just impossible sometimes.
He had failed her. All he’d wanted was to keep her safe, and instead he had killed her.
Alec squeezed his eyes shut, trying to escape these thoughts. Thinking about it didn’t help anyway. It couldn’t change what happened. It couldn’t bring her back to him. Nothing could. And nothing would ever make him feel any less guilty over what had happened to Rachel.
He sighed, asking himself if life would ever become any more bearable again. So far it didn’t look like it.
After leaving Seattle and heading to Florida – the farthest away he could possibly get from that town without leaving the country - he had tried drowning his pain in women and alcohol, but that had only intensified his guilt. Now he was trying to stay away from both, being more successful when it came to women than alcohol. Alcohol just made it all easier to bear, it freed him form his pain and guilt, if only for a little while.
The sound of a car coming in his direction ripped him out of his thoughts. He stood up and turned around to walk up to the street, being careful to stay hidden in the shadows. It was Jondy who was apparently bringing Kyle home. He narrowed his eyes at the scene in front of him as another set of negative emotions took over.
He watched Kyle say good-bye to Jondy – at least he had the decency not to kiss her where Liz could possibly see him – and then take off towards the front door of the house he had been standing in front of. So this was where Liz lived. He had wondered when he’d first seen her on the beach.
Suddenly the front door was ripped open and Liz stormed out, a look of fear on her face. Upon seeing Kyle she stopped dead in her tracks and then launched herself into his arms. After a minute or two she pulled back and slapped him on the chest, demanding to know where the hell he’d been. Kyle didn’t respond, and Alec could tell from the expression on Liz’s face that that wasn’t necessary anyway.
His heart broke at the sight in front of him. Liz looked so lost, so hurt as she asked Kyle why he had slept with Jondy. Judging by her next comment this hadn’t been the first time. God, how stupid was Kyle to cheat on a girl like Liz? And why the hell was Liz still with him if he couldn’t keep it in his pants?
Alec once again sighed. Why the hell did he care anyway? He didn’t even know Liz. Sure, he was attracted to her, but that was it. So why did it bother him so much to see Liz suffering?
He watched Liz turn away from Kyle, telling him that she didn’t want to talk about this right now, and Kyle going into the house. Liz waited a few minutes and then went to the front door herself, but she hesitated to go inside. Instead she turned around and headed down to the beach, grabbing a blanket on her way. She spread out the blanket not far away from where Alec had been sitting only a few minutes ago and sat down.
Alec hesitated a second, but then walked over to her.
“Hey.”
After Liz drove off in Kyle’s car, Alec headed over to his motorcycle, only to realize that he’d forgotten his helmet in the bar. Sighing he turned around again and went back. He opened the door and upon stepping inside he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight that met him.
Jondy and Kyle were behind the bar, actually half on it, kissing, groping and tearing at each other’s clothes.
It took Alec a few seconds before he fully comprehended what was going on. Then he decided that his helmet wasn’t that important after all and that he’d just get it the next day. Staying there a second longer was definitely not an option.
After leaving the bar again he headed back to his bike and got on. He needed to get the hell away from there, and regain control over his anger. And his bike always helped when it came to that.
Driving around aimlessly, Alec had time to think. He didn’t even know why he was upset in the first place. So Kyle was cheating on Liz – big surprise there.
Why did that bother him so much? And why did he want to go running to Liz to make sure that she was okay? Why did he feel so protective of her? Was it because of the first time he saw her?
When she was down at the beach, crying her eyes out, and all he’d wanted to do was take her in his arms and make all her pain go away. She’d looked so small, so vulnerable, like she’d break any minute. She’d been crying like it was the end of the world.
Eventually she’d fallen asleep, and he – not able to resist - had walked up to her to get a closer look. He’d only seen her face from the side, and it had been red from all the crying and covered with tear tracks, but nevertheless he’d thought that she was beautiful. He’d covered her with the part of the blanket she hadn’t been laying on, not wanting her to get cold, since that was the only thing he could do for her.
And after a few minutes of watching her sleep he’d turned around and left. But the image of her had stayed firmly imprinted on his mind, thanks to his photographic memory. Or maybe that had nothing to do with it.
The next day he’d seen her in town, eating ice cream with her boyfriend, and then he’d caught a glimpse of him giving her a piggy back ride. She’d been even more beautiful than the day before, laughter lighting up her features – she’d looked like an angel. And he hadn’t been able to stop the brief stab of envy from passing through him. Not that he’d ever call it that out loud, but a spade was a spade.
But what had surprised him the most was the fact that she had actually seemed to feel his eyes on her. When she was waiting for Kyle to get the ice cream she had looked around, searching for something. Or rather someone. Him. He hadn’t understood it then, but the following night he’d gotten quite a good explanation for it.
They’d come to the bar, drunk beyond reason, laughing and dancing. And showing of their barcode-tattoos. Never had he been so surprised in his entire life. Liz was one of them. As was Kyle. Not that he could have cared any less about that. But Liz? They were the same?
He had instantly known that they were not their enemies, his instincts had told him so. But Jondy had insisted that that was his dick and not his instincts and that they should be careful and make sure that they were all indeed on the same side, and so she had started eavesdropping on them. That night had brought them no new information, but when Jondy had heard them talking about how they were scared of the government finding them the next time they had come to the bar they’d gotten the proof they’d wanted before revealing their identities to them.
Alec had been anxious to do that, he’d been sitting on needles the whole night. Of course talking to Liz had made the waiting easier. A lot easier actually. But he was glad when it was over and they knew. He’d hated having that standing between them all. Okay, maybe he’d only hated having that standing between him and Liz. One way or the other, he was glad that they knew.
But one thing about that night didn’t let him go. Who was Alex? Why had a look of agonizing pain passed over Liz’s features when Kyle had mentioned him? And what the hell had happened to him? He had died under somewhat mysterious circumstances, that much was obvious, but how had it happened?
Alec had recognized the guilt in Liz’s eyes, it was the same look he’d had in his own eyes about a million times. But why was it in there in Liz’s beautiful eyes?
Even though this guy’s death now seemed to officially be an accident instead of suicide, Alec had the unmistakable feeling that that wasn’t the whole truth. Did Manticore have something to do with his death? Had they killed him because of his connection to Liz? Or had he gotten caught in the crossfire like- don’t go there, he told himself. Was that what Liz felt guilty about? And who had Alex been to her? Brother? Friend? Boyfriend?
Alec stopped the bike, hoping to stop the trail of thoughts that was getting him nowhere at the same time, and realized that he was at the beach. To be more exact at the spot where he had first seen Liz. This had always been his favorite spot by the ocean, even before seeing Liz here, but now he liked it even more.
He got off his bike and walked down the beach to the ocean and sat down. Being here always calmed him down. He’d come to the beach countless times ever since he’d left Seattle, especially at night when nightmares of the past haunted him and made it impossible to sleep. The sound of the ocean somehow made it better, it lessened his guilt and took the edge of the pain and anger that things had come that way.
It was ironic how unimportant the hell Manticore had put him through had suddenly become upon remembering his last big mission. He tried not to think about it too much, not being able to handle the pain, but at night that was just impossible sometimes.
He had failed her. All he’d wanted was to keep her safe, and instead he had killed her.
Alec squeezed his eyes shut, trying to escape these thoughts. Thinking about it didn’t help anyway. It couldn’t change what happened. It couldn’t bring her back to him. Nothing could. And nothing would ever make him feel any less guilty over what had happened to Rachel.
He sighed, asking himself if life would ever become any more bearable again. So far it didn’t look like it.
After leaving Seattle and heading to Florida – the farthest away he could possibly get from that town without leaving the country - he had tried drowning his pain in women and alcohol, but that had only intensified his guilt. Now he was trying to stay away from both, being more successful when it came to women than alcohol. Alcohol just made it all easier to bear, it freed him form his pain and guilt, if only for a little while.
The sound of a car coming in his direction ripped him out of his thoughts. He stood up and turned around to walk up to the street, being careful to stay hidden in the shadows. It was Jondy who was apparently bringing Kyle home. He narrowed his eyes at the scene in front of him as another set of negative emotions took over.
He watched Kyle say good-bye to Jondy – at least he had the decency not to kiss her where Liz could possibly see him – and then take off towards the front door of the house he had been standing in front of. So this was where Liz lived. He had wondered when he’d first seen her on the beach.
Suddenly the front door was ripped open and Liz stormed out, a look of fear on her face. Upon seeing Kyle she stopped dead in her tracks and then launched herself into his arms. After a minute or two she pulled back and slapped him on the chest, demanding to know where the hell he’d been. Kyle didn’t respond, and Alec could tell from the expression on Liz’s face that that wasn’t necessary anyway.
His heart broke at the sight in front of him. Liz looked so lost, so hurt as she asked Kyle why he had slept with Jondy. Judging by her next comment this hadn’t been the first time. God, how stupid was Kyle to cheat on a girl like Liz? And why the hell was Liz still with him if he couldn’t keep it in his pants?
Alec once again sighed. Why the hell did he care anyway? He didn’t even know Liz. Sure, he was attracted to her, but that was it. So why did it bother him so much to see Liz suffering?
He watched Liz turn away from Kyle, telling him that she didn’t want to talk about this right now, and Kyle going into the house. Liz waited a few minutes and then went to the front door herself, but she hesitated to go inside. Instead she turned around and headed down to the beach, grabbing a blanket on her way. She spread out the blanket not far away from where Alec had been sitting only a few minutes ago and sat down.
Alec hesitated a second, but then walked over to her.
“Hey.”
Don't dream it's over - DA xover, Liz/Alec, Parts 1-20
Part 17
After Kyle went inside Liz waited a few minutes, trying to calm down again. She began to follow him, but then changed her mind. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, so what was the point in going to bed? Instead she grabbed the blanket that was always lying on the wickerwork chair next to the front door and headed down to her usual spot on the beach.
After spreading out the blanket she sat down on it and starred out onto the ocean. Watching the waves crash into the shore always had a soothing effect on her, as it did tonight.
Why had she been so upset over Jondy and Kyle? It really wasn’t any of her business. Kyle was a free person, he could do whatever he wanted to. Jondy was nice, and pretty, so why wouldn’t Kyle be attracted to her? And why shouldn’t he act on it, given the chance? Okay, sleeping with someone after knowing them only a few days might be a bit sudden and over-hasted, but that was their decision, and if they were both fine with it, then why not?
Liz sighed. Deep down she knew very well why she had been so upset. It reminded her of two other people who had suddenly slept with each other. But that was something she definitely didn’t want to think about. Not now. Not ever, actually.
All the pent up anger she had inside of her because of that had suddenly wanted out. And Kyle was there, so he became her target. She knew that that wasn’t fair, and she hoped that Kyle would forgive her for it. She didn’t want to lose the last real friend she still had.
“Hey.” A voice behind her startled her out of her thoughts. She whirled around and saw Alec standing behind her.
“Alec,” she said surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” he replied. “I come here a lot actually.”
“Me too,” Liz said, still surprised to see him there. “Sit down,” she offered.
Alec did, and for a few moments they both just stared out onto the ocean. Alec was the one to break the silence. “Are you okay?” he asked her looking at her with those intense, green eyes of his.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied. “Why?”
“Well, I overheard your, uh, conversation with Kyle.”
“Oh. That was nothing really, just a small disagreement,” Liz said trying to play it down. She felt stupid for blowing up at Kyle like that for no reason at all.
“A small disagreement?” Alec asked unbelievingly. “Look,” he continued, trying to calm down a bit. “I know it’s none of my business, but you shouldn’t let him treat you like that. I mean, you deserve a guy who’s at least faithful. If he really loved you he wouldn’t be doing this to you.”
Liz looked at him shocked. What he just said – it was exactly how she felt about Max. Why was he telling her this? Did he know about Max? No, that wasn’t possible, he couldn’t know about Max, about what he had done to her. So what was he talking about?
Alec watched the emotions pass over her features, the surprise at his words, the flash of pain in her eyes, and then confusion.
“What do you mean?” she asked puzzled.
“I know what happened between Kyle and Jondy, I accidentally walked in on them when I went back to get my helmet,” he told her, shuddering as the mental image of Jondy and Kyle jumping each other. That was definitely not something he had needed to see.
“Kyle and Jon- wait a minute, you think I was upset because Kyle cheated on me?” Liz asked stunned. “Kyle’s not my boyfriend!”
“He isn’t?” Alec asked, clearly surprised.
“No! Liz said, shocked that he had thought they were together. The notion of her and Kyle as a couple was… almost gross. Sure, they had dated for a few months two years ago, but now he came closer to a brother than a potential love interest. “Why did you think he was?” she asked Alec.
“I don’t know, we just assumed that you’re together. It looked like it. And the way Kyle always glared at me just screamed jealous boyfriend.”
Liz rolled her eyes. “Kyle is just way over-protective. He doesn’t seem capable of understanding or accepting the fact that I can actually take care of myself and don’t need someone who’s constantly looking out for me.”
“I guess it only shows that he cares for you,” Alec said. “And having someone around who’s always there for you when you need them is probably not a bad thing.”
“Yeah,” Liz said, her thoughts wandering back to all the times Kyle had been there for her over the past few months, especially the past few days. “I don’t know what I would have done without him the past year. He really is a great friend, loyal and caring.”
“So there was never something more between you two,” Alec asked, partly because he wanted to change the subject to ward off the sadness he saw creeping up on Liz, partly because he wanted to know.
“We actually dated for a few months two years ago,” Liz said smiling. “But now the mere thought of us as more than just friends is beyond weird. I know Kyle so well, I absolutely can’t imagine there ever being anything else between us than friendship.”
Alec smiled too, glad to hear that Liz wasn’t interested in Kyle in that way. He ignored the fact that this revelation relieved him a bit more than it should have.
“So, why do you come to the beach at night?” Liz asked him, trying to strike up a conversation.
“I don’t know. I guess I just like to watch the ocean,” Alec answered.
“Yeah, me too,” Liz replied.
“So, will you tell me which one the real Liz is?” Alec asked after a short pause, wanting to keep their conversation going.
“What do you mean?” Liz asked confused.
“Well, sometimes you seem like the shy, sweet, girl-next-door type, and other times, shy is the last word I would use to describe you.”
“Really?” Liz asked surprised. “Like when?”
“Well, for example the time you came to the bar the first time.”
“Oh God, don’t remind me of that,” Liz said covering her face with her hands in embarrassment. “I still can’t believe I actually wore that, and acted like that.”
“I liked your outfit,” Alec told her grinning.
“You would,” Liz shot back.
Alec laughed, making Liz feel all mushy inside. He had a cute laugh.
“That night is actually all Kyle’s fault,” Liz told Alec. “He was the one who got us drunk, and he’s the one with the insane plan of this being our summer of freedom with now restrictions of any kind. He thinks it’s time I discovered my wild side,” she explained, rolling her eyes at the notion. Like that would ever happen.
“Your wild side? You haven’t explored it yet?” Alec asked shocked.
“Don’t you start too,” Liz warned.
Alec stood up with smirk on his face. “Take of your clothes,” he told Liz before pulling his own T-shirt over his head.
“Excuse me?!” Liz said, trying very hard to keep her gaze on his face instead of letting it drift down to his very naked, very attractive chest, which wasn't exactly easy. He hadn’t really just told her to undress, had he?
“Take of your clothes,” Alec repeated. “We’re going swimming.”
“What? No! It’s in the middle of the night, we can’t go swimming. And I don’t have a bathing suit,” Liz protested.
“You don’t need one,” Alec told her with a smirk as he started to unbutton his jeans, making Liz blush. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Kyle is right, you should explore your wild side. And trust me when I say, I’m the perfect person to do that with,” he added winking at her.
Liz didn’t move, and so Alec changed his tactic. He stopped taking off his clothes and said “But if you’re uncomfortable with letting a guy see you in your underwear I understand it.”
Liz snorted. Like no guy had ever seen her in her underwear. Kyle had seen her in her bra back when they had been dating, as had Max the one time he was waiting in her room and she’d come out of her bathroom putting on her pullover. And Alex had seen her in her underwear on countless occasions.
“Are you calling me a prude?” Liz asked standing up, ready to face the challenge she had heard in his voice.
“Your words, not mine,” Alec said, trying hard to restrain the smile that was fighting to break free. Looked like his plan was working.
Liz’s eyes narrowed and she started undressing while muttering something wholly unflattering about men. She took her T-shirt off and then the drawstring pants she was wearing and then turned to Alec who was still wearing his jeans. “Well?” she asked.
Alec, who had been staring at Liz’s beautiful body that was now only clad in lacy black underwear, jumped into motion, quickly tearing off the last of his clothes.
Well, almost.
Liz then turned around and headed towards the ocean, with Alec following her. When she reached knee-deep water she dived in and swam out a few yards to where the water was deeper, but not too deep to stand. Alec followed close behind her.
“So, still think I’m a prude?” Liz asked smirking. Alec had looked quite dumbfounded when she had begun to undress, but now his trademark smirk was back in place.
“I don’t know,” Alec said scratching his chin. “But taking off the rest of your clothes would without a doubt convince me otherwise,” he told her with a wink.
Liz rolled her eyes. “You wish.”
“You bet.”
Liz laughed and splashed water at him. Alec splashed back, and then a full fledged water fight broke out. Suddenly Alec changed his tactic and attacked her ribs tickling her. Liz squirmed under his teasing fingers, squealing with laughter. After begging for mercy for a few minutes Alec stopped, and Liz suddenly realized how close they were.
Alec’s hands were still on her waist, and her hands were still on his bare chest. His hard, smooth, hairless chest… And their faces were mere inches apart.
Liz couldn't help but stare at Alex's mouth. His lips were perfect. The looked smooth and soft and warm - the perfect lips to kiss. Her gaze flickered up to meet Alec’s eyes, taken aback by the intense gaze that met her...
After Kyle went inside Liz waited a few minutes, trying to calm down again. She began to follow him, but then changed her mind. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, so what was the point in going to bed? Instead she grabbed the blanket that was always lying on the wickerwork chair next to the front door and headed down to her usual spot on the beach.
After spreading out the blanket she sat down on it and starred out onto the ocean. Watching the waves crash into the shore always had a soothing effect on her, as it did tonight.
Why had she been so upset over Jondy and Kyle? It really wasn’t any of her business. Kyle was a free person, he could do whatever he wanted to. Jondy was nice, and pretty, so why wouldn’t Kyle be attracted to her? And why shouldn’t he act on it, given the chance? Okay, sleeping with someone after knowing them only a few days might be a bit sudden and over-hasted, but that was their decision, and if they were both fine with it, then why not?
Liz sighed. Deep down she knew very well why she had been so upset. It reminded her of two other people who had suddenly slept with each other. But that was something she definitely didn’t want to think about. Not now. Not ever, actually.
All the pent up anger she had inside of her because of that had suddenly wanted out. And Kyle was there, so he became her target. She knew that that wasn’t fair, and she hoped that Kyle would forgive her for it. She didn’t want to lose the last real friend she still had.
“Hey.” A voice behind her startled her out of her thoughts. She whirled around and saw Alec standing behind her.
“Alec,” she said surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” he replied. “I come here a lot actually.”
“Me too,” Liz said, still surprised to see him there. “Sit down,” she offered.
Alec did, and for a few moments they both just stared out onto the ocean. Alec was the one to break the silence. “Are you okay?” he asked her looking at her with those intense, green eyes of his.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied. “Why?”
“Well, I overheard your, uh, conversation with Kyle.”
“Oh. That was nothing really, just a small disagreement,” Liz said trying to play it down. She felt stupid for blowing up at Kyle like that for no reason at all.
“A small disagreement?” Alec asked unbelievingly. “Look,” he continued, trying to calm down a bit. “I know it’s none of my business, but you shouldn’t let him treat you like that. I mean, you deserve a guy who’s at least faithful. If he really loved you he wouldn’t be doing this to you.”
Liz looked at him shocked. What he just said – it was exactly how she felt about Max. Why was he telling her this? Did he know about Max? No, that wasn’t possible, he couldn’t know about Max, about what he had done to her. So what was he talking about?
Alec watched the emotions pass over her features, the surprise at his words, the flash of pain in her eyes, and then confusion.
“What do you mean?” she asked puzzled.
“I know what happened between Kyle and Jondy, I accidentally walked in on them when I went back to get my helmet,” he told her, shuddering as the mental image of Jondy and Kyle jumping each other. That was definitely not something he had needed to see.
“Kyle and Jon- wait a minute, you think I was upset because Kyle cheated on me?” Liz asked stunned. “Kyle’s not my boyfriend!”
“He isn’t?” Alec asked, clearly surprised.
“No! Liz said, shocked that he had thought they were together. The notion of her and Kyle as a couple was… almost gross. Sure, they had dated for a few months two years ago, but now he came closer to a brother than a potential love interest. “Why did you think he was?” she asked Alec.
“I don’t know, we just assumed that you’re together. It looked like it. And the way Kyle always glared at me just screamed jealous boyfriend.”
Liz rolled her eyes. “Kyle is just way over-protective. He doesn’t seem capable of understanding or accepting the fact that I can actually take care of myself and don’t need someone who’s constantly looking out for me.”
“I guess it only shows that he cares for you,” Alec said. “And having someone around who’s always there for you when you need them is probably not a bad thing.”
“Yeah,” Liz said, her thoughts wandering back to all the times Kyle had been there for her over the past few months, especially the past few days. “I don’t know what I would have done without him the past year. He really is a great friend, loyal and caring.”
“So there was never something more between you two,” Alec asked, partly because he wanted to change the subject to ward off the sadness he saw creeping up on Liz, partly because he wanted to know.
“We actually dated for a few months two years ago,” Liz said smiling. “But now the mere thought of us as more than just friends is beyond weird. I know Kyle so well, I absolutely can’t imagine there ever being anything else between us than friendship.”
Alec smiled too, glad to hear that Liz wasn’t interested in Kyle in that way. He ignored the fact that this revelation relieved him a bit more than it should have.
“So, why do you come to the beach at night?” Liz asked him, trying to strike up a conversation.
“I don’t know. I guess I just like to watch the ocean,” Alec answered.
“Yeah, me too,” Liz replied.
“So, will you tell me which one the real Liz is?” Alec asked after a short pause, wanting to keep their conversation going.
“What do you mean?” Liz asked confused.
“Well, sometimes you seem like the shy, sweet, girl-next-door type, and other times, shy is the last word I would use to describe you.”
“Really?” Liz asked surprised. “Like when?”
“Well, for example the time you came to the bar the first time.”
“Oh God, don’t remind me of that,” Liz said covering her face with her hands in embarrassment. “I still can’t believe I actually wore that, and acted like that.”
“I liked your outfit,” Alec told her grinning.
“You would,” Liz shot back.
Alec laughed, making Liz feel all mushy inside. He had a cute laugh.
“That night is actually all Kyle’s fault,” Liz told Alec. “He was the one who got us drunk, and he’s the one with the insane plan of this being our summer of freedom with now restrictions of any kind. He thinks it’s time I discovered my wild side,” she explained, rolling her eyes at the notion. Like that would ever happen.
“Your wild side? You haven’t explored it yet?” Alec asked shocked.
“Don’t you start too,” Liz warned.
Alec stood up with smirk on his face. “Take of your clothes,” he told Liz before pulling his own T-shirt over his head.
“Excuse me?!” Liz said, trying very hard to keep her gaze on his face instead of letting it drift down to his very naked, very attractive chest, which wasn't exactly easy. He hadn’t really just told her to undress, had he?
“Take of your clothes,” Alec repeated. “We’re going swimming.”
“What? No! It’s in the middle of the night, we can’t go swimming. And I don’t have a bathing suit,” Liz protested.
“You don’t need one,” Alec told her with a smirk as he started to unbutton his jeans, making Liz blush. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Kyle is right, you should explore your wild side. And trust me when I say, I’m the perfect person to do that with,” he added winking at her.
Liz didn’t move, and so Alec changed his tactic. He stopped taking off his clothes and said “But if you’re uncomfortable with letting a guy see you in your underwear I understand it.”
Liz snorted. Like no guy had ever seen her in her underwear. Kyle had seen her in her bra back when they had been dating, as had Max the one time he was waiting in her room and she’d come out of her bathroom putting on her pullover. And Alex had seen her in her underwear on countless occasions.
“Are you calling me a prude?” Liz asked standing up, ready to face the challenge she had heard in his voice.
“Your words, not mine,” Alec said, trying hard to restrain the smile that was fighting to break free. Looked like his plan was working.
Liz’s eyes narrowed and she started undressing while muttering something wholly unflattering about men. She took her T-shirt off and then the drawstring pants she was wearing and then turned to Alec who was still wearing his jeans. “Well?” she asked.
Alec, who had been staring at Liz’s beautiful body that was now only clad in lacy black underwear, jumped into motion, quickly tearing off the last of his clothes.
Well, almost.
Liz then turned around and headed towards the ocean, with Alec following her. When she reached knee-deep water she dived in and swam out a few yards to where the water was deeper, but not too deep to stand. Alec followed close behind her.
“So, still think I’m a prude?” Liz asked smirking. Alec had looked quite dumbfounded when she had begun to undress, but now his trademark smirk was back in place.
“I don’t know,” Alec said scratching his chin. “But taking off the rest of your clothes would without a doubt convince me otherwise,” he told her with a wink.
Liz rolled her eyes. “You wish.”
“You bet.”
Liz laughed and splashed water at him. Alec splashed back, and then a full fledged water fight broke out. Suddenly Alec changed his tactic and attacked her ribs tickling her. Liz squirmed under his teasing fingers, squealing with laughter. After begging for mercy for a few minutes Alec stopped, and Liz suddenly realized how close they were.
Alec’s hands were still on her waist, and her hands were still on his bare chest. His hard, smooth, hairless chest… And their faces were mere inches apart.
Liz couldn't help but stare at Alex's mouth. His lips were perfect. The looked smooth and soft and warm - the perfect lips to kiss. Her gaze flickered up to meet Alec’s eyes, taken aback by the intense gaze that met her...
Don't dream it's over - DA xover, Liz/Alec, Parts 1-20
Part 18
Liz eyes returned to Alec’s lips, and the possibility of actually being kissed by him took over her mind, chasing every coherent thought away. She forgot about Max, forgot that it had barely been a week since her heart had been broken beyond repair, forgot that getting in a new relationship with a guy she hardly knew was the last thing she should be doing right now.
All that mattered was that Alec's lips were slowly, almost hesitantly inching their way towards hers, giving her time to pull away if she didn't want this after all.
But she did want this. Needed this. More than she had thought possible to want or need a man other than Max. She was literally aching for his touch.
Alec’s lips were close, so close that she could practically taste them. Her eyes drifted shut, the anticipation of what was about to come causing a small shiver to run down her spine and the butterflies in her stomach to increase.
Alec took that as an invitation to close the last of the distance between them. He brushed his lips over hers ever so lightly, so gently, so fleetingly that Liz wasn't even sure if it had really happened. That barely-there touch did nothing to satisfy her need, it only fueled the passion burning deep inside of her even more.
Alec's mouth returned to hers, a bit firmer this time, eliciting a small moan from her lips. He kissed her softly, sweetly, gently, making Liz long for more. Much more. Sensing her need, Alec’s kisses became harder, more demanding, more passionate. He captured her bottom lip between his and brushed his tongue over it before nibbling on it.
Alec was driving her insane and she could no longer stand the distance between the rest of their bodies. Except for her hands on his chest and his hands on her waist they weren’t touching at all.
She brushed her fingers over his arms, starting at the elbows and moving upwards, enjoying the smoothness of his skin and the hardness of the muscles beneath it. She smiled to herself when she felt goose bumps appear on his skin as a reaction to her touch. When she reached his shoulders she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying one of her hands in the hair at the back of his head, pulling his lips more firmly against hers.
Liz's breasts gently, teasingly brushed against Alec's bare chest. He could very clearly feel her taut nipples through the thin, wet, lacy material of her bra. Desire pooled in his groin, throbbing, driving him crazy with lust.
No longer able to hold himself back he wrapped his right arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him while the other one sneaked up her side to gently cup her face, his thumb brushing over her cheek, coaxing another moan to escape from her sweet lips.
Liz could feel his erection pressing against the lower part of her stomach, sending a hot bolt of desire through her body, making her tremble and her knees go weak.
Their kisses, first still tender and gentle, started to heat up even more, turning more frenetic and passionate by the minute. The devoured each other's lips, nibbling, sucking, licking, not being able to get enough of each other's taste.
Alec nipped at Liz's bottom lip before brushing his tongue over it, silently asking for entrance. She granted it without hesitation, meeting his tongue half way, allowing it to tangling with hers.
He kissed her passionately, possessively, driven by a hunger he hadn't known he possessed. God, he wanted her.
Liz returned the kiss with equal abandonment, driven by a hunger of her own she would have never expected. She clung to him, afraid that her legs were no longer capable of holding her up, trying to press herself even closer to his hard, muscular body, frustrated to find that that just wasn't possible.
Their tongues danced together, making them both burn with desire, need thundering through them. They both tried to ignore the lack of oxygen, not bearing the though of parting again, but nevertheless it forced them apart.
Their breathing was heavy, ragged, and they just stood there a few minutes, staring at each other, trying to catch their breath.
Slowly her senses returned to Liz and her cheeks pinkend at the thought of what they had just been doing. How had that happened? Getting involved with a guy was the last thing she had planned on doing this summer.
She turned away slightly, embarrassed by her lack of control over her body and her reaction to the close proximity of his body. His hot, hard, solid body...
Liz mentally shook her head. She shouldn't be having these thoughts. She shouldn't have let him kiss her in the first place. But you don't regret it, the nagging little voice in her head reminded her. Which was true. She didn't regret it. Not one second of it. Quite the opposite actually. She wanted him to kiss her again, to take her back to the heaven-like place they had been just mere minutes ago.
Slowly she turned back to face him, her gaze meeting his, and what she saw in his eyes made her shudder. They were almost black with desire, starring at her with an intensity that was so intimate that it was as disturbing as unnerving, but at the same time oddly comforting and almost familiar.
She found herself getting lost in his eyes, drowning in the dark, liquid pools.
After what seemed like hours she managed to tear her gaze away from him. She wrapped her arms around herself, hugging herself.
"Cold?" Alec asked her.
Not yet trusting her voice Liz could only nod.
"Come on, let's get out of the water, we've been in her way to long."
He placed his hand at the small of her back, guiding her towards the shore. There wasn't anything intimate about that gesture, but it felt so familiar, so right, so special. Once they reached their stuff lying on the beach Alec picked up the blanket, shook off the sand and wrapped it around Liz, drying her off.
Liz couldn't help but smile at the sweetness of the gesture. She would have never thought that Alec was so considerate.
He picked up his T-shirt and pulled it over his head, not bothering to dry himself off, and then did the same with his pants. When he was fully dressed and Liz had gathered up her own clothes they walked to Mandy's house together in silence.
When they reached the door Liz turned to face him, not daring to meet his eyes. A whirlwind of emotions was coursing through her body, leaving her confused and insecure.
"I guess I'll see you around," Alec said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," Liz answered, finally looking him in the eye. There was something about the way he looked at her that let goose bumps rise on her skin, some emotion in his eyes that she couldn't quite put her finger on. He leaned down to brush a soft, sweet kiss on her lips, pulling away again much too soon.
"Bye," he said in a low, husky voice.
"Bye," she replied, her own voice breathless and raspy.
He slowly baked away and turned around when he reached the steps down to the path leading out of the garden. Liz opened the door and went inside the house. After closing it she leaned against it. What had she gotten herself into?
Liz eyes returned to Alec’s lips, and the possibility of actually being kissed by him took over her mind, chasing every coherent thought away. She forgot about Max, forgot that it had barely been a week since her heart had been broken beyond repair, forgot that getting in a new relationship with a guy she hardly knew was the last thing she should be doing right now.
All that mattered was that Alec's lips were slowly, almost hesitantly inching their way towards hers, giving her time to pull away if she didn't want this after all.
But she did want this. Needed this. More than she had thought possible to want or need a man other than Max. She was literally aching for his touch.
Alec’s lips were close, so close that she could practically taste them. Her eyes drifted shut, the anticipation of what was about to come causing a small shiver to run down her spine and the butterflies in her stomach to increase.
Alec took that as an invitation to close the last of the distance between them. He brushed his lips over hers ever so lightly, so gently, so fleetingly that Liz wasn't even sure if it had really happened. That barely-there touch did nothing to satisfy her need, it only fueled the passion burning deep inside of her even more.
Alec's mouth returned to hers, a bit firmer this time, eliciting a small moan from her lips. He kissed her softly, sweetly, gently, making Liz long for more. Much more. Sensing her need, Alec’s kisses became harder, more demanding, more passionate. He captured her bottom lip between his and brushed his tongue over it before nibbling on it.
Alec was driving her insane and she could no longer stand the distance between the rest of their bodies. Except for her hands on his chest and his hands on her waist they weren’t touching at all.
She brushed her fingers over his arms, starting at the elbows and moving upwards, enjoying the smoothness of his skin and the hardness of the muscles beneath it. She smiled to herself when she felt goose bumps appear on his skin as a reaction to her touch. When she reached his shoulders she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying one of her hands in the hair at the back of his head, pulling his lips more firmly against hers.
Liz's breasts gently, teasingly brushed against Alec's bare chest. He could very clearly feel her taut nipples through the thin, wet, lacy material of her bra. Desire pooled in his groin, throbbing, driving him crazy with lust.
No longer able to hold himself back he wrapped his right arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him while the other one sneaked up her side to gently cup her face, his thumb brushing over her cheek, coaxing another moan to escape from her sweet lips.
Liz could feel his erection pressing against the lower part of her stomach, sending a hot bolt of desire through her body, making her tremble and her knees go weak.
Their kisses, first still tender and gentle, started to heat up even more, turning more frenetic and passionate by the minute. The devoured each other's lips, nibbling, sucking, licking, not being able to get enough of each other's taste.
Alec nipped at Liz's bottom lip before brushing his tongue over it, silently asking for entrance. She granted it without hesitation, meeting his tongue half way, allowing it to tangling with hers.
He kissed her passionately, possessively, driven by a hunger he hadn't known he possessed. God, he wanted her.
Liz returned the kiss with equal abandonment, driven by a hunger of her own she would have never expected. She clung to him, afraid that her legs were no longer capable of holding her up, trying to press herself even closer to his hard, muscular body, frustrated to find that that just wasn't possible.
Their tongues danced together, making them both burn with desire, need thundering through them. They both tried to ignore the lack of oxygen, not bearing the though of parting again, but nevertheless it forced them apart.
Their breathing was heavy, ragged, and they just stood there a few minutes, staring at each other, trying to catch their breath.
Slowly her senses returned to Liz and her cheeks pinkend at the thought of what they had just been doing. How had that happened? Getting involved with a guy was the last thing she had planned on doing this summer.
She turned away slightly, embarrassed by her lack of control over her body and her reaction to the close proximity of his body. His hot, hard, solid body...
Liz mentally shook her head. She shouldn't be having these thoughts. She shouldn't have let him kiss her in the first place. But you don't regret it, the nagging little voice in her head reminded her. Which was true. She didn't regret it. Not one second of it. Quite the opposite actually. She wanted him to kiss her again, to take her back to the heaven-like place they had been just mere minutes ago.
Slowly she turned back to face him, her gaze meeting his, and what she saw in his eyes made her shudder. They were almost black with desire, starring at her with an intensity that was so intimate that it was as disturbing as unnerving, but at the same time oddly comforting and almost familiar.
She found herself getting lost in his eyes, drowning in the dark, liquid pools.
After what seemed like hours she managed to tear her gaze away from him. She wrapped her arms around herself, hugging herself.
"Cold?" Alec asked her.
Not yet trusting her voice Liz could only nod.
"Come on, let's get out of the water, we've been in her way to long."
He placed his hand at the small of her back, guiding her towards the shore. There wasn't anything intimate about that gesture, but it felt so familiar, so right, so special. Once they reached their stuff lying on the beach Alec picked up the blanket, shook off the sand and wrapped it around Liz, drying her off.
Liz couldn't help but smile at the sweetness of the gesture. She would have never thought that Alec was so considerate.
He picked up his T-shirt and pulled it over his head, not bothering to dry himself off, and then did the same with his pants. When he was fully dressed and Liz had gathered up her own clothes they walked to Mandy's house together in silence.
When they reached the door Liz turned to face him, not daring to meet his eyes. A whirlwind of emotions was coursing through her body, leaving her confused and insecure.
"I guess I'll see you around," Alec said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," Liz answered, finally looking him in the eye. There was something about the way he looked at her that let goose bumps rise on her skin, some emotion in his eyes that she couldn't quite put her finger on. He leaned down to brush a soft, sweet kiss on her lips, pulling away again much too soon.
"Bye," he said in a low, husky voice.
"Bye," she replied, her own voice breathless and raspy.
He slowly baked away and turned around when he reached the steps down to the path leading out of the garden. Liz opened the door and went inside the house. After closing it she leaned against it. What had she gotten herself into?
Don't dream it's over - DA xover, Liz/Alec, Parts 1-20
Part 19
Liz stood leaning against the door for a few more minutes trying to sort out the emotions coursing through her before she came to the conclusion that that was useless. She wasn’t getting anywhere that night and so she decided to go to bed.
Arriving at the top of the stairs she saw that the door to Kyle’s room was open and that he was in bed, fast asleep. She knew that the open door was an invitation for her to join him in case she didn’t want to be alone, and even though Liz seriously doubted that she would be having any nightmares that night she decided to take him up on his offer.
Her behavior earlier had been ridiculous, and she wanted to make sure that Kyle would know first thing in the morning that she wasn’t upset with him and that everything between them was fine. And what better way to show him that was there than keeping up their ritual of sleeping together?
Liz went into her bathroom to get ready for bed and then went over to Kyle’s room and crawled into bed beside him. In a matter of seconds she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
* * * * *
The next morning Liz woke up - feeling thoroughly rested for the first time in weeks - to find Kyle already awake and looking at her.
”Morning,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
”Morning,” Kyle replied.
“Have you been up long?” Liz asked stretching.
“Not really. Look Liz, about yesterday-” Kyle began, but Liz cut him off.
“Kyle, you don’t have to explain anything. My behavior last night was way over the top. I had no right getting mad at you because of something that is absolutely none of my business. I was just worried that something had happened to you when you didn’t come home, and then when you did come home and I realized what had happened between you and Jondy I got upset because, well, that just touched a sensitive nerve, you know? It brought up bad memories. But I’m really sorry, I had no right saying those things to you. You can be with whatever person you want to, and Jondy is really nice, so there really was no reason for me to get upset in the first place. And-”
“Liz, it’s okay,” Kyle told her interrupting her. “I understand. And I’m sorry for worrying you. How ‘bout we just forget it?”
“Okay,” Liz said smiling, glad that she had been forgiven. She hated fighting with people, especially her friends, and she’d definitely done enough of that in the past few weeks.
“So, what did you do last night after I went inside?” Kyle asked her.
“What do you mean?” Liz asked suddenly avoiding his eyes.
“I stayed up waiting for you to come inside, but you didn’t, and so I went downstairs to make sure that you were okay. I saw you down on the beach with Alec.”
“I-I was just…too wound up to sleep, and so I, uh, went down to the beach, and, uh, Alec was there too, and so we, uh, talked,” Liz told him. Yeah right, they talked she thought to herself. She blushed at the memory of what they had really been doing, trying to hide it from Kyle.
But Kyle of course wasn’t fooled. “Okay, and what really happened?”
“What do you mean?” Liz asked innocently.
“Liz, against popular belief, I’m not an idiot. It’s quite obvious that that’s not the whole story,” Kyle told her.
“Oh, um, well… I’m really hungry,” Liz suddenly said getting up. “Let’s go get some breakfast.” And with that she was gone.
Kyle stood up shaking his head and started to follow her. Like he’d let her off the hook that easily.
* * * * *
During breakfast Liz talked non stop as to not give Kyle the chance to repeat his question from earlier, and somehow still managed to eat her bowl of cereal in record time, after which she quickly excused herself to go and take a shower.
Now Kyle knew for sure that something had happened, and he wasn’t gonna let it go till Liz told him the whole story.
After breakfast he went upstairs and took a quick shower of his own and then went over to Liz’s room to wait for her to come out of the bathroom, which she did after a few minutes.
“So, are you ready to tell me the truth?” Kyle asked.
“The truth?” Liz mimicked trying to avoid the question.
“Liz, I’m not gonna give it a rest till you tell me what happened, so face it, you don’t have choice,” Kyle told her.
Liz sighed. Kyle wouldn’t stop bugging her till she gave in and told him, so why put up a fight? It wasn’t even like she’d mind Kyle knowing, it was just strange sharing such an intimate thing with someone else. She liked it the way it was, only between her and Alec, nobody else’s business. That was probably one of the effects destiny had on her, she actually appreciated the freedom of choosing who she wanted to be with without having to justify her feelings and without having to take things like the welfare of a whole planet or two into the equation.
“We went skinny dipping,” Liz confessed.
“What?!” Kyle said, almost shouting. Had Liz Parker, Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes, just admitted that she’d gone skinny dipping with a more or less perfect stranger. “You went skinny dipping?!”
“Well, we kept our underwear on, so I guess it doesn’t really qualify as skinny dipping,” Liz replied thinking about it.
Kyle looked stunned. But after a few minutes a grin formed on his face.
“What?” Liz asked. Why the hell was he looking at her like that?
“See? I told you so,” Kyle said, looking immensely pleased with himself.
“Told me what?” Liz asked.
“That you have a wild side in you that was just waiting to be released. And it’s coming through,” Kyle stated.
Liz rolled her eyes. “Oh please. It was just a spur-of-the-moment-thing. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Oh yes it does,” Kyle insisted. “Roswell-Liz would have never done that. But Florida-Liz is spontaneous and acts on her feelings, not thinking about the consequences. Come to think about it, I’m not sure that is such a good thing after all,” Kyle said, suddenly deep in thought. This could be dangerous. Maybe trying to get Liz to loosen up hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
Liz just rolled her eyes. Couldn’t Kyle just give her a break? She was very much capable of actually taking care of herself, she didn’t need a guy doing that for her. “Kyle, don’t get started on that again,” she warned.
Kyle saw in her eyes that she was serious and so he decided to drop it, at least for now.
But he also saw something else in her eyes. She was still keeping something from him. “Okay, spill.”
“What?” Liz asked surprised.
“Spill. I know there’s something else, so tell me.”
Liz hesitated for a second. Should she tell Kyle? She didn’t want him to get all protective and give Alec a hard time, but she would really like to talk about it. She was so confused. Deciding that the second sentiment was stronger she told him the rest. “He kissed me.”
“What?” Kyle asked. Now it was his turn to be surprised. “And you let him?!”
“Well, yeah. I just thought ‘Why not?’ Okay, so maybe I wasn’t exactly thinking, but it didn’t seem wrong at that time,” Liz replied.
“And now it does?” Kyle asked, holding back the things he really wanted to say, knowing that Liz was confused and needed a friend now and not an over-protective older brother.
“I don’t know. I mean, I’ve barely been away from Roswell and Max for a week, and I’m making out with a guy I hardly know while going skinny dipping with him? It doesn’t seem right.”
“Okay, that’s what your mind is telling you, but what about your heart? Does it feel wrong?”
Liz hesitated a moment. “No,” she admitted. “And that really scares me.”
“You know Liz, there’s nothing wrong with being attracted to someone, and maybe a meaningless summer fling is exactly what you need right now to take your mind off things. But don’t do anything just to get back at Max for what he did, and don’t let anybody push you towards something you’re not ready for or simply don’t want. You’ll only end up regretting that. But you know, Alec seems to be a nice guy, and more or less the exact opposite of Max. I’d say that’s pretty much perfect. So if you like him, why not act on it? Don’t analyze your every step. Sometimes you just have to seize the day, do what you feel like doing without thinking of every little consequence it could have. Just have fun, enjoy yourself. That’s what you’re here for. And the way he’s been looking at you, I doubt that he’d object to that.”
Liz thought about Kyle’s words. He was right in a way, she deserved to finally have some fun without having the feeling that she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. But starting something with Alec – it just didn’t seem right. She wasn’t the type to go for a meaningless summer fling. Being with a guy she didn’t truly love wasn’t something she’d ever been interested in.
“Wait a minute, he’s been looking at me?” Liz asked surprised.
Kyle shook his head. It still amazed him how oblivious Liz was to all the male attention she was getting, had been getting for years. “More like staring at you. Constantly. Trust me Liz, he’s definitely got the hots for you.”
The mere thought of Alec being interested in her sent a bolt of excitement through her, and no amount of denial would make it possible to pretend that it didn't.
“Maybe you’re right after all,” she said after a while.
Kyle sighed. “You know Liz, we’d save a hell of a lot of time if you finally realized that I’m always right.”
Liz only rolled her eyes at that, not even bothering to reply. Kyle was just way too full of himself. But maybe Jondy could change that. She didn't seem to be they type of girl who put up with any shit from a guy.
“He thought we were dating,” she told him.
“Who, Alec?” Kyle said surprised. “He thought we were dating?”
“Yup,” Liz replied.
“Why?!”
“No idea. He said it looked like it.”
“That is so…” Kyle began.
“…gross?” Liz finished.
“Yeah. I mean, no offense, but you’re pretty much the last girl I’d ever want to date,” Kyle said. “That would be like…”
“Incest?”
“Exactly.”
“Glad we agree on that,” Liz said smiling. It was so hard for her to imagine that she’d actually been Kyle’s girlfriend for a few weeks.
“So, what’s up with you and Jondy now?” Liz asked, changing the subject.
“No idea,” Kyle replied. “I guess I’ll just wait and see what happens tonight. Are you nervous?”
“You mean because it’s my first night of singing in front of people?” she asked. “Yeah, I am nervous, but I’m also looking forward to it,” she said.
But singing wasn’t the only reason she was nervous. Alec was. Chances were high that she was going to see him again that night, and she was anxiously awaiting the moment and at the same time dreading it.
How was he going to behave towards her? How should she act around him? Pretend that nothing had happened? Talk to him about last night? Wait and see what he did? She didn’t know. But she’d find out soon enough.
Liz stood leaning against the door for a few more minutes trying to sort out the emotions coursing through her before she came to the conclusion that that was useless. She wasn’t getting anywhere that night and so she decided to go to bed.
Arriving at the top of the stairs she saw that the door to Kyle’s room was open and that he was in bed, fast asleep. She knew that the open door was an invitation for her to join him in case she didn’t want to be alone, and even though Liz seriously doubted that she would be having any nightmares that night she decided to take him up on his offer.
Her behavior earlier had been ridiculous, and she wanted to make sure that Kyle would know first thing in the morning that she wasn’t upset with him and that everything between them was fine. And what better way to show him that was there than keeping up their ritual of sleeping together?
Liz went into her bathroom to get ready for bed and then went over to Kyle’s room and crawled into bed beside him. In a matter of seconds she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
* * * * *
The next morning Liz woke up - feeling thoroughly rested for the first time in weeks - to find Kyle already awake and looking at her.
”Morning,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
”Morning,” Kyle replied.
“Have you been up long?” Liz asked stretching.
“Not really. Look Liz, about yesterday-” Kyle began, but Liz cut him off.
“Kyle, you don’t have to explain anything. My behavior last night was way over the top. I had no right getting mad at you because of something that is absolutely none of my business. I was just worried that something had happened to you when you didn’t come home, and then when you did come home and I realized what had happened between you and Jondy I got upset because, well, that just touched a sensitive nerve, you know? It brought up bad memories. But I’m really sorry, I had no right saying those things to you. You can be with whatever person you want to, and Jondy is really nice, so there really was no reason for me to get upset in the first place. And-”
“Liz, it’s okay,” Kyle told her interrupting her. “I understand. And I’m sorry for worrying you. How ‘bout we just forget it?”
“Okay,” Liz said smiling, glad that she had been forgiven. She hated fighting with people, especially her friends, and she’d definitely done enough of that in the past few weeks.
“So, what did you do last night after I went inside?” Kyle asked her.
“What do you mean?” Liz asked suddenly avoiding his eyes.
“I stayed up waiting for you to come inside, but you didn’t, and so I went downstairs to make sure that you were okay. I saw you down on the beach with Alec.”
“I-I was just…too wound up to sleep, and so I, uh, went down to the beach, and, uh, Alec was there too, and so we, uh, talked,” Liz told him. Yeah right, they talked she thought to herself. She blushed at the memory of what they had really been doing, trying to hide it from Kyle.
But Kyle of course wasn’t fooled. “Okay, and what really happened?”
“What do you mean?” Liz asked innocently.
“Liz, against popular belief, I’m not an idiot. It’s quite obvious that that’s not the whole story,” Kyle told her.
“Oh, um, well… I’m really hungry,” Liz suddenly said getting up. “Let’s go get some breakfast.” And with that she was gone.
Kyle stood up shaking his head and started to follow her. Like he’d let her off the hook that easily.
* * * * *
During breakfast Liz talked non stop as to not give Kyle the chance to repeat his question from earlier, and somehow still managed to eat her bowl of cereal in record time, after which she quickly excused herself to go and take a shower.
Now Kyle knew for sure that something had happened, and he wasn’t gonna let it go till Liz told him the whole story.
After breakfast he went upstairs and took a quick shower of his own and then went over to Liz’s room to wait for her to come out of the bathroom, which she did after a few minutes.
“So, are you ready to tell me the truth?” Kyle asked.
“The truth?” Liz mimicked trying to avoid the question.
“Liz, I’m not gonna give it a rest till you tell me what happened, so face it, you don’t have choice,” Kyle told her.
Liz sighed. Kyle wouldn’t stop bugging her till she gave in and told him, so why put up a fight? It wasn’t even like she’d mind Kyle knowing, it was just strange sharing such an intimate thing with someone else. She liked it the way it was, only between her and Alec, nobody else’s business. That was probably one of the effects destiny had on her, she actually appreciated the freedom of choosing who she wanted to be with without having to justify her feelings and without having to take things like the welfare of a whole planet or two into the equation.
“We went skinny dipping,” Liz confessed.
“What?!” Kyle said, almost shouting. Had Liz Parker, Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes, just admitted that she’d gone skinny dipping with a more or less perfect stranger. “You went skinny dipping?!”
“Well, we kept our underwear on, so I guess it doesn’t really qualify as skinny dipping,” Liz replied thinking about it.
Kyle looked stunned. But after a few minutes a grin formed on his face.
“What?” Liz asked. Why the hell was he looking at her like that?
“See? I told you so,” Kyle said, looking immensely pleased with himself.
“Told me what?” Liz asked.
“That you have a wild side in you that was just waiting to be released. And it’s coming through,” Kyle stated.
Liz rolled her eyes. “Oh please. It was just a spur-of-the-moment-thing. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Oh yes it does,” Kyle insisted. “Roswell-Liz would have never done that. But Florida-Liz is spontaneous and acts on her feelings, not thinking about the consequences. Come to think about it, I’m not sure that is such a good thing after all,” Kyle said, suddenly deep in thought. This could be dangerous. Maybe trying to get Liz to loosen up hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
Liz just rolled her eyes. Couldn’t Kyle just give her a break? She was very much capable of actually taking care of herself, she didn’t need a guy doing that for her. “Kyle, don’t get started on that again,” she warned.
Kyle saw in her eyes that she was serious and so he decided to drop it, at least for now.
But he also saw something else in her eyes. She was still keeping something from him. “Okay, spill.”
“What?” Liz asked surprised.
“Spill. I know there’s something else, so tell me.”
Liz hesitated for a second. Should she tell Kyle? She didn’t want him to get all protective and give Alec a hard time, but she would really like to talk about it. She was so confused. Deciding that the second sentiment was stronger she told him the rest. “He kissed me.”
“What?” Kyle asked. Now it was his turn to be surprised. “And you let him?!”
“Well, yeah. I just thought ‘Why not?’ Okay, so maybe I wasn’t exactly thinking, but it didn’t seem wrong at that time,” Liz replied.
“And now it does?” Kyle asked, holding back the things he really wanted to say, knowing that Liz was confused and needed a friend now and not an over-protective older brother.
“I don’t know. I mean, I’ve barely been away from Roswell and Max for a week, and I’m making out with a guy I hardly know while going skinny dipping with him? It doesn’t seem right.”
“Okay, that’s what your mind is telling you, but what about your heart? Does it feel wrong?”
Liz hesitated a moment. “No,” she admitted. “And that really scares me.”
“You know Liz, there’s nothing wrong with being attracted to someone, and maybe a meaningless summer fling is exactly what you need right now to take your mind off things. But don’t do anything just to get back at Max for what he did, and don’t let anybody push you towards something you’re not ready for or simply don’t want. You’ll only end up regretting that. But you know, Alec seems to be a nice guy, and more or less the exact opposite of Max. I’d say that’s pretty much perfect. So if you like him, why not act on it? Don’t analyze your every step. Sometimes you just have to seize the day, do what you feel like doing without thinking of every little consequence it could have. Just have fun, enjoy yourself. That’s what you’re here for. And the way he’s been looking at you, I doubt that he’d object to that.”
Liz thought about Kyle’s words. He was right in a way, she deserved to finally have some fun without having the feeling that she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. But starting something with Alec – it just didn’t seem right. She wasn’t the type to go for a meaningless summer fling. Being with a guy she didn’t truly love wasn’t something she’d ever been interested in.
“Wait a minute, he’s been looking at me?” Liz asked surprised.
Kyle shook his head. It still amazed him how oblivious Liz was to all the male attention she was getting, had been getting for years. “More like staring at you. Constantly. Trust me Liz, he’s definitely got the hots for you.”
The mere thought of Alec being interested in her sent a bolt of excitement through her, and no amount of denial would make it possible to pretend that it didn't.
“Maybe you’re right after all,” she said after a while.
Kyle sighed. “You know Liz, we’d save a hell of a lot of time if you finally realized that I’m always right.”
Liz only rolled her eyes at that, not even bothering to reply. Kyle was just way too full of himself. But maybe Jondy could change that. She didn't seem to be they type of girl who put up with any shit from a guy.
“He thought we were dating,” she told him.
“Who, Alec?” Kyle said surprised. “He thought we were dating?”
“Yup,” Liz replied.
“Why?!”
“No idea. He said it looked like it.”
“That is so…” Kyle began.
“…gross?” Liz finished.
“Yeah. I mean, no offense, but you’re pretty much the last girl I’d ever want to date,” Kyle said. “That would be like…”
“Incest?”
“Exactly.”
“Glad we agree on that,” Liz said smiling. It was so hard for her to imagine that she’d actually been Kyle’s girlfriend for a few weeks.
“So, what’s up with you and Jondy now?” Liz asked, changing the subject.
“No idea,” Kyle replied. “I guess I’ll just wait and see what happens tonight. Are you nervous?”
“You mean because it’s my first night of singing in front of people?” she asked. “Yeah, I am nervous, but I’m also looking forward to it,” she said.
But singing wasn’t the only reason she was nervous. Alec was. Chances were high that she was going to see him again that night, and she was anxiously awaiting the moment and at the same time dreading it.
How was he going to behave towards her? How should she act around him? Pretend that nothing had happened? Talk to him about last night? Wait and see what he did? She didn’t know. But she’d find out soon enough.
Don't dream it's over - DA xover, Liz/Alec, Parts 1-20
Disclaimer: Song is "Don't speak" by No Doubt
Part 20
Liz and Kyle arrived at the bar around 8:30 since that was when Kyle’s shift started. The bar didn’t open until nine o’clock, but he and Jondy needed time to prepare everything for the night.
It had taken Liz the whole afternoon to decide what to wear on her first day, and in the end she had decided that dark jeans and a black tank top would be a good choice. They were comfy and her style, so she wouldn’t feel weird or uncomfortable wearing them.
The bar was empty except for Jondy who was behind the bar preparing everything for the evening.
Since Liz still had an hour till she started singing she went into the back to go through the program for the night once again. She had spent the afternoon practicing and it had gone surprisingly well.
On Thursdays and maybe Sundays she’d get a piano player to accompany her, but on Tuesdays she’d be alone up on the stage with only her guitar to back up her vocals.
Alex had taught her how to play when they’d been in junior high, but it had been quite some time since she had last done it, she was nervous that she’d mess up, and so she went through some of the more difficult songs once again.
~*~*~*~
In the mean time Kyle had joined Jondy behind the bar.
“Hey,” Jondy greeted him, not quite looking him in the eyes.
“Hey,” Kyle replied as he started to help her with the preparations for the night, not knowing what else he could say, hating how awkward everything suddenly was between them. “Look, about last night-” he began, but Jondy interrupted him. What was it with girls interrupting him when he was trying to apologize? he wondered.
“No Kyle, let me. I should really apologize for what happened yesterday. I have no idea what got into me, jumping you like that,” Jondy said clearly embarrassed. Okay, so maybe she did know what had gotten into her, but why spell it out for him? She was sure he knew exactly what had caused the events of last night to unfold as they had.
“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Kyle said winking at her.
“What a surprise,” Jondy said rolling her eyes. But she was smiling, glad that Kyle had found a way to ease the tension.
“So everything’s okay between us?” Kyle asked.
“Sure, everything’s fine,” Jondy replied, glad that this wasn’t gonna stand between them. “You know, I was really glad to hear that you and Liz aren’t dating. I was starting to feel really guilty,” she told Kyle. “I didn’t want to cause any trouble between you.”
“You didn’t, “Kyle told her. “We really are just friends. I don’t understand why you thought that in the first place.”
“It looked like it,” Jondy simply said, giving him the same explanation Alec had given Liz.
At that moment Liz came out of the back room and went over to Kyle.
“Nervous?” he asked concerned, suddenly feeling bad. Maybe forcing her into this hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
“A little bit,” Liz admitted, even though that was the understatement of the year. “But I’ll be okay once I get started,” she said, trying to convince herself that that was true.
“I’m sure you’ll do great,” Kyle told her. “Good luck,” he said, giving her a kiss on the forehead and a quick hug.
“And he doesn’t understand why we thought they were together,” Jondy muttered.
~*~*~*~
Two hour later Liz was on stage having the time of her life. At first she had been incredibly nervous looking out at all the people staring up at her, but she didn’t really have a choice than to start singing, and so she had done just that. After a few seconds she’d begun to relax, and by the time she had finished the first song almost all her nervousness had vanished.
Liz had decided to play different types of music every night of the week she worked there – folk, alternative rock and other music that went in that direction on Tuesdays, Soul and R’n’B on Thursdays and pop and oldies on Sundays.
Most of her songs that night had been the slow, brooding kind, and she was scared that she was depressing the people, but it just fit her mood, she had so many things to think about. So far not a lot of people had left and so she assumed that they were okay with it.
She then announced a ten minute break and was surprised that the people actually started clapping. After mumbling a quick “Thank you”, her cheeks flaming, she made her way down from the stage over to the bar to Kyle who was beaming with pride.
“You were great so far,” he told her.
“I agree,” Jondy said placing a glass of orange juice in front of her. “The people love you. They all want to know who you are and where we found you. And all they guys here wanted to know if you had a boyfriend.”
“Really?” Liz asked stunned. She couldn’t believe it. “What did you tell them?”
“The guys?” Jondy asked. “That I didn’t know. Why, what do you want me to tell them?”
“Tell them that I’m seeing someone,” Liz said, surprising both Kyle and Jondy.
“You’re seeing someone?” Jondy asked, wondering who she was referring to. She hoped that she didn’t mean Alec cause she knew that he wasn’t serious about whatever was going on between them, but she also hoped that she wasn’t seeing someone else because she knew that Alec did like her.
“No, but I don’t want to at the moment,” Liz replied, putting Jondy’s worries at ease.
Liz suddenly felt eyes burn into the back of her head and knew that Alec had arrived. Turning around confirmed her suspicion, he was here and making his way through the crowed towards them. They’re eyes met for a second before Liz turned back to Jondy and Kyle, saying that she had to get back onto the stage.
When Alec reached them she was already back up on her barstool with her guitar in her lap, beginning with the next song.
Alec’s arrival had once again made her nervous, not only because that meant that they’d probably end up talking but also because having him in the audience somehow made a difference.
What was she supposed to do about him? It had been little more than a week since Max’s confession about having slept with Tess and the baby and their planned return to Antar had shattered her heart in a million pieces.
Max… Almost on her own accord her fingers began strumming the next song…
You and me, we used to be together
Every day together, always
I really feel that I'm losing my best friend
I can't believe this could be the end
It looks as though you're letting go
And if it's real, well I don't want to know
Alec was staring up to her with an emotion in his eyes that she couldn’t quite place. She averted her eyes from his, suddenly feeling vulnerable and naked and concentrated on the lyrics.
Don't speak
I know just what you're saying
So please stop explaining
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Don't speak
I know what you're thinking
I don't need your reasons
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Those few lines expressed what she had been feeling the night Max had told her about Tess so perfectly it was almost scary, and without a doubt quite unsettling. Why in the world had she chosen to sing this song? She hadn’t even prepared it, but somehow it had just seemed right when she had returned on to the stage.
Our memories they can be inviting
But some are altogether mighty frightening
As we die, both you and I
With my head in my hands I sit and cry
Another verse that reflected her feelings a bit too well. Some memories of her and Max were so beautiful, so perfect. Like their first kiss, like their night out in the dessert, like the time they had spent together on her blind date.
And others were so horrible that she wanted nothing more than to forget them, ban them from her memory forever. Like seeing him kissing Tess at the prom, like their fight at Alex’s funeral. And when Max had told her about Tess, she’d felt something inside her die. She wasn’t sure what it was, only knew that it was irrevocably gone. And she didn’t even want to think about all the times she had cried over him.
Don't speak
I know just what you're saying
So please stop explaining
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
No no no, don't speak
I know what you're thinking
And I don't need your reasons
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Liz dared to glance over at Alec again. He was still staring at her with the same intense look, the same indistinguishable emotion in his eyes, only stronger this time. Averting her gaze once again she started the next verse.
It's all ending
I gotta stop pretending who we are
You and me
I can see us dying, are we?
Was it like that for her and Max too? Was it the end? Where they over forever? Would she ever be able to forgive him? Would she ever even want to? Would she ever be able to be with him knowing that one day he would probably find his son? Did she even want to be with him? Or was she just clinging to something that was already long gone?
Don't speak
I know just what you're saying
So please stop explaining
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
No no, don't speak
I know what you're thinking
And I don't need your reasons
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
She didn’t know, and she didn’t want to think about it any longer. What a time to start dissecting her relationship with Max, on stage, in front of a crowd of strangers. But somehow it was freeing. Sharing her emotions with people, connecting with them through the universal language of music was… liberating. For some reason it made her feel better, less alone.
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
I know what you're saying
So please stop explaining
Don't speak, don't speak, don't speak, oh
I know what you're thinking
And I don't need your reasons
I know you good, I know you good
I know you real good
Liz started looking at the people in the crowd. Not just at the crowd as a whole, but really at the people. And the emotions she saw on the faces of some of them made her realize something – this song wasn’t only expressing everything she was feeling, it also expressed the emotions of people in the audience. She wasn’t the only one here who had gone through something like that, and knowing that made it all so much easier to bear. Glancing over at Alec she suddenly realized what she had seen in his eyes all along. He too was somehow touched by the song.
Hush, hush, darling - hush, hush, darling
Hush, hush - don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Hush, hush, darling - hush, hush, darling
Hush, hush - don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Hush, hush, darling - hush, hush, darling
~*~*~*~
Liz decided to stick with the songs she had planned for the evening from then on since they were safe songs. Songs about finding your way in life, about finding out who you really are and who you want to be. Nothing that touched her too deeply in too sensitive spots. She’d do those kinds of songs another night, a night where she was actually prepared to bare a small piece of her soul to the world.
Two hours later her shift was over, and she was glad about that. Singing for a few hours was really exhausting, and her voice was getting scratchy. She was glad that she had at least every other day off, two days in a row of singing would be too much for her voice, it wasn’t used to this kind of exertion.
From the stage she went directly into the back to put her guitar away. She hesitated to go back out again. She knew Alec was still there, and she didn’t know what to say to him, or how to act around him.
And she was scared that he would act differently around her because they had kissed. She didn’t want anything between them to change, she liked him, and they got along great. He made her laugh, took her mind off things, which was exactly what she needed right now.
It was a nice change being around someone who was so carefree, so relaxed. Neither Max nor Michael had ever been like that as long as she could remember. They were always brooding and acting like they had the world on their shoulders. Okay, so maybe they did in a way have the weight of a world on their shoulders, just not this one. But that still wasn’t a reason to never relax and just have some fun. Especially Max had never been capable of that.
After a few more minutes of pondering over these things Liz decided that hiding in the back room was ridiculous and so she left it and went over to the bar. Alec was sitting at their usual spot, and there was a free stool beside him.
Liz took a deep breath and then made her way over to him. “Hey,” she said sitting down beside him.
“Hey,” Alec replied smiling at her. “You did a great job up there.”
“Thanks,” Liz said blushing. Damn it, would she ever get that under control?
Alec’s smile only increased as Liz’s cheeks turned pink. He loved seeing her blush.
Kyle came over to them, bringing Liz another glass of orange juice and telling her that she'd been great and how proud he was of her.
"So, I guess you and Kyle made up again," Alec said after Kyle left to serve other guests.
"Yeah, we did. I mean, we weren't really fighting in the first place because there wasn't anything to fight over. But we worked it out now."
"So there was never really a fight?" Alec asked.
"Not really. I was just worried because he didn't come home, and when he did finally show up that turned into anger. Why are you asking?"
"Well, Kyle has been giving me the evil eye ever since I arrived. Just wanted to make sure that I wasn't the reason why you've gotten into a fight."
Liz rolled her eyes and mumbled something about pig-headed men before answering. "No, we didn't fight. Kyle is just way too over-protective. He'd like me to live like a nun and thinks it's his mission in life to keep guys away from me."
"I guess that means he wouldn't approve of us going skinny dipping," Alec commented smirking.
"No, he didn't," Liz replied, a small smirk of her own gracing her lips.
"You told him?" Alec asked surprised.
"Yup," Liz said. "And that wasn't the only thing he didn't approve of."
"You told him that too?" Alec asked, even more surprised.
"Yeah, I did. I don't know, I guess I've just gotten used to telling Kyle everything. And he knew something was up, so I would have had to tell him about it sooner or later anyway."
"Liz, about what happened last night... I just wanted to make sure that, you know, everything's okay between us, that you don't have the feeling that I was pushing you into something."
"No, I don't," Liz said quickly, not wanting him to even for a second consider that she regretted the kiss. But it was sweet to say the least that he was concerned about that, and the flock of butterflies became active again. Why did he have to be so damn cute?
"I guess Kyle's seize-the-day-speeches were finally getting to me," she added, a soft smile still playing over her lips.
"His what?" Alec asked.
"Kyle's a Buddhist, and so he's full of all these stupid make-the-most-out-of-your-life-phrases he keeps throwing at me 24/7. I'm really getting sick of it."
"I'd say," Alec said laughing. "But he does have a point, you know?" ha added after a moment
"Yeah, he does," Liz agreed, avoiding his eyes. She wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with the direction this conversation was taking.
Noticing her uneasiness, Alec changed the topic. “Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?” he asked.
tbc
Part 20
Liz and Kyle arrived at the bar around 8:30 since that was when Kyle’s shift started. The bar didn’t open until nine o’clock, but he and Jondy needed time to prepare everything for the night.
It had taken Liz the whole afternoon to decide what to wear on her first day, and in the end she had decided that dark jeans and a black tank top would be a good choice. They were comfy and her style, so she wouldn’t feel weird or uncomfortable wearing them.
The bar was empty except for Jondy who was behind the bar preparing everything for the evening.
Since Liz still had an hour till she started singing she went into the back to go through the program for the night once again. She had spent the afternoon practicing and it had gone surprisingly well.
On Thursdays and maybe Sundays she’d get a piano player to accompany her, but on Tuesdays she’d be alone up on the stage with only her guitar to back up her vocals.
Alex had taught her how to play when they’d been in junior high, but it had been quite some time since she had last done it, she was nervous that she’d mess up, and so she went through some of the more difficult songs once again.
~*~*~*~
In the mean time Kyle had joined Jondy behind the bar.
“Hey,” Jondy greeted him, not quite looking him in the eyes.
“Hey,” Kyle replied as he started to help her with the preparations for the night, not knowing what else he could say, hating how awkward everything suddenly was between them. “Look, about last night-” he began, but Jondy interrupted him. What was it with girls interrupting him when he was trying to apologize? he wondered.
“No Kyle, let me. I should really apologize for what happened yesterday. I have no idea what got into me, jumping you like that,” Jondy said clearly embarrassed. Okay, so maybe she did know what had gotten into her, but why spell it out for him? She was sure he knew exactly what had caused the events of last night to unfold as they had.
“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Kyle said winking at her.
“What a surprise,” Jondy said rolling her eyes. But she was smiling, glad that Kyle had found a way to ease the tension.
“So everything’s okay between us?” Kyle asked.
“Sure, everything’s fine,” Jondy replied, glad that this wasn’t gonna stand between them. “You know, I was really glad to hear that you and Liz aren’t dating. I was starting to feel really guilty,” she told Kyle. “I didn’t want to cause any trouble between you.”
“You didn’t, “Kyle told her. “We really are just friends. I don’t understand why you thought that in the first place.”
“It looked like it,” Jondy simply said, giving him the same explanation Alec had given Liz.
At that moment Liz came out of the back room and went over to Kyle.
“Nervous?” he asked concerned, suddenly feeling bad. Maybe forcing her into this hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
“A little bit,” Liz admitted, even though that was the understatement of the year. “But I’ll be okay once I get started,” she said, trying to convince herself that that was true.
“I’m sure you’ll do great,” Kyle told her. “Good luck,” he said, giving her a kiss on the forehead and a quick hug.
“And he doesn’t understand why we thought they were together,” Jondy muttered.
~*~*~*~
Two hour later Liz was on stage having the time of her life. At first she had been incredibly nervous looking out at all the people staring up at her, but she didn’t really have a choice than to start singing, and so she had done just that. After a few seconds she’d begun to relax, and by the time she had finished the first song almost all her nervousness had vanished.
Liz had decided to play different types of music every night of the week she worked there – folk, alternative rock and other music that went in that direction on Tuesdays, Soul and R’n’B on Thursdays and pop and oldies on Sundays.
Most of her songs that night had been the slow, brooding kind, and she was scared that she was depressing the people, but it just fit her mood, she had so many things to think about. So far not a lot of people had left and so she assumed that they were okay with it.
She then announced a ten minute break and was surprised that the people actually started clapping. After mumbling a quick “Thank you”, her cheeks flaming, she made her way down from the stage over to the bar to Kyle who was beaming with pride.
“You were great so far,” he told her.
“I agree,” Jondy said placing a glass of orange juice in front of her. “The people love you. They all want to know who you are and where we found you. And all they guys here wanted to know if you had a boyfriend.”
“Really?” Liz asked stunned. She couldn’t believe it. “What did you tell them?”
“The guys?” Jondy asked. “That I didn’t know. Why, what do you want me to tell them?”
“Tell them that I’m seeing someone,” Liz said, surprising both Kyle and Jondy.
“You’re seeing someone?” Jondy asked, wondering who she was referring to. She hoped that she didn’t mean Alec cause she knew that he wasn’t serious about whatever was going on between them, but she also hoped that she wasn’t seeing someone else because she knew that Alec did like her.
“No, but I don’t want to at the moment,” Liz replied, putting Jondy’s worries at ease.
Liz suddenly felt eyes burn into the back of her head and knew that Alec had arrived. Turning around confirmed her suspicion, he was here and making his way through the crowed towards them. They’re eyes met for a second before Liz turned back to Jondy and Kyle, saying that she had to get back onto the stage.
When Alec reached them she was already back up on her barstool with her guitar in her lap, beginning with the next song.
Alec’s arrival had once again made her nervous, not only because that meant that they’d probably end up talking but also because having him in the audience somehow made a difference.
What was she supposed to do about him? It had been little more than a week since Max’s confession about having slept with Tess and the baby and their planned return to Antar had shattered her heart in a million pieces.
Max… Almost on her own accord her fingers began strumming the next song…
You and me, we used to be together
Every day together, always
I really feel that I'm losing my best friend
I can't believe this could be the end
It looks as though you're letting go
And if it's real, well I don't want to know
Alec was staring up to her with an emotion in his eyes that she couldn’t quite place. She averted her eyes from his, suddenly feeling vulnerable and naked and concentrated on the lyrics.
Don't speak
I know just what you're saying
So please stop explaining
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Don't speak
I know what you're thinking
I don't need your reasons
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Those few lines expressed what she had been feeling the night Max had told her about Tess so perfectly it was almost scary, and without a doubt quite unsettling. Why in the world had she chosen to sing this song? She hadn’t even prepared it, but somehow it had just seemed right when she had returned on to the stage.
Our memories they can be inviting
But some are altogether mighty frightening
As we die, both you and I
With my head in my hands I sit and cry
Another verse that reflected her feelings a bit too well. Some memories of her and Max were so beautiful, so perfect. Like their first kiss, like their night out in the dessert, like the time they had spent together on her blind date.
And others were so horrible that she wanted nothing more than to forget them, ban them from her memory forever. Like seeing him kissing Tess at the prom, like their fight at Alex’s funeral. And when Max had told her about Tess, she’d felt something inside her die. She wasn’t sure what it was, only knew that it was irrevocably gone. And she didn’t even want to think about all the times she had cried over him.
Don't speak
I know just what you're saying
So please stop explaining
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
No no no, don't speak
I know what you're thinking
And I don't need your reasons
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Liz dared to glance over at Alec again. He was still staring at her with the same intense look, the same indistinguishable emotion in his eyes, only stronger this time. Averting her gaze once again she started the next verse.
It's all ending
I gotta stop pretending who we are
You and me
I can see us dying, are we?
Was it like that for her and Max too? Was it the end? Where they over forever? Would she ever be able to forgive him? Would she ever even want to? Would she ever be able to be with him knowing that one day he would probably find his son? Did she even want to be with him? Or was she just clinging to something that was already long gone?
Don't speak
I know just what you're saying
So please stop explaining
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
No no, don't speak
I know what you're thinking
And I don't need your reasons
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
She didn’t know, and she didn’t want to think about it any longer. What a time to start dissecting her relationship with Max, on stage, in front of a crowd of strangers. But somehow it was freeing. Sharing her emotions with people, connecting with them through the universal language of music was… liberating. For some reason it made her feel better, less alone.
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts
I know what you're saying
So please stop explaining
Don't speak, don't speak, don't speak, oh
I know what you're thinking
And I don't need your reasons
I know you good, I know you good
I know you real good
Liz started looking at the people in the crowd. Not just at the crowd as a whole, but really at the people. And the emotions she saw on the faces of some of them made her realize something – this song wasn’t only expressing everything she was feeling, it also expressed the emotions of people in the audience. She wasn’t the only one here who had gone through something like that, and knowing that made it all so much easier to bear. Glancing over at Alec she suddenly realized what she had seen in his eyes all along. He too was somehow touched by the song.
Hush, hush, darling - hush, hush, darling
Hush, hush - don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Hush, hush, darling - hush, hush, darling
Hush, hush - don't tell me 'cause it hurts
Hush, hush, darling - hush, hush, darling
~*~*~*~
Liz decided to stick with the songs she had planned for the evening from then on since they were safe songs. Songs about finding your way in life, about finding out who you really are and who you want to be. Nothing that touched her too deeply in too sensitive spots. She’d do those kinds of songs another night, a night where she was actually prepared to bare a small piece of her soul to the world.
Two hours later her shift was over, and she was glad about that. Singing for a few hours was really exhausting, and her voice was getting scratchy. She was glad that she had at least every other day off, two days in a row of singing would be too much for her voice, it wasn’t used to this kind of exertion.
From the stage she went directly into the back to put her guitar away. She hesitated to go back out again. She knew Alec was still there, and she didn’t know what to say to him, or how to act around him.
And she was scared that he would act differently around her because they had kissed. She didn’t want anything between them to change, she liked him, and they got along great. He made her laugh, took her mind off things, which was exactly what she needed right now.
It was a nice change being around someone who was so carefree, so relaxed. Neither Max nor Michael had ever been like that as long as she could remember. They were always brooding and acting like they had the world on their shoulders. Okay, so maybe they did in a way have the weight of a world on their shoulders, just not this one. But that still wasn’t a reason to never relax and just have some fun. Especially Max had never been capable of that.
After a few more minutes of pondering over these things Liz decided that hiding in the back room was ridiculous and so she left it and went over to the bar. Alec was sitting at their usual spot, and there was a free stool beside him.
Liz took a deep breath and then made her way over to him. “Hey,” she said sitting down beside him.
“Hey,” Alec replied smiling at her. “You did a great job up there.”
“Thanks,” Liz said blushing. Damn it, would she ever get that under control?
Alec’s smile only increased as Liz’s cheeks turned pink. He loved seeing her blush.
Kyle came over to them, bringing Liz another glass of orange juice and telling her that she'd been great and how proud he was of her.
"So, I guess you and Kyle made up again," Alec said after Kyle left to serve other guests.
"Yeah, we did. I mean, we weren't really fighting in the first place because there wasn't anything to fight over. But we worked it out now."
"So there was never really a fight?" Alec asked.
"Not really. I was just worried because he didn't come home, and when he did finally show up that turned into anger. Why are you asking?"
"Well, Kyle has been giving me the evil eye ever since I arrived. Just wanted to make sure that I wasn't the reason why you've gotten into a fight."
Liz rolled her eyes and mumbled something about pig-headed men before answering. "No, we didn't fight. Kyle is just way too over-protective. He'd like me to live like a nun and thinks it's his mission in life to keep guys away from me."
"I guess that means he wouldn't approve of us going skinny dipping," Alec commented smirking.
"No, he didn't," Liz replied, a small smirk of her own gracing her lips.
"You told him?" Alec asked surprised.
"Yup," Liz said. "And that wasn't the only thing he didn't approve of."
"You told him that too?" Alec asked, even more surprised.
"Yeah, I did. I don't know, I guess I've just gotten used to telling Kyle everything. And he knew something was up, so I would have had to tell him about it sooner or later anyway."
"Liz, about what happened last night... I just wanted to make sure that, you know, everything's okay between us, that you don't have the feeling that I was pushing you into something."
"No, I don't," Liz said quickly, not wanting him to even for a second consider that she regretted the kiss. But it was sweet to say the least that he was concerned about that, and the flock of butterflies became active again. Why did he have to be so damn cute?
"I guess Kyle's seize-the-day-speeches were finally getting to me," she added, a soft smile still playing over her lips.
"His what?" Alec asked.
"Kyle's a Buddhist, and so he's full of all these stupid make-the-most-out-of-your-life-phrases he keeps throwing at me 24/7. I'm really getting sick of it."
"I'd say," Alec said laughing. "But he does have a point, you know?" ha added after a moment
"Yeah, he does," Liz agreed, avoiding his eyes. She wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with the direction this conversation was taking.
Noticing her uneasiness, Alec changed the topic. “Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?” he asked.
tbc