Well, here's the new part. Sorry it took so long, it sort of sucked to write it. Hope the next one won't take this long, but I'm not promising anything since school starts again in 10 days. Hope you like.
Part 31
“There you are, Liz,” Kyle said upon coming into the kitchen on late Saturday morning. “How’s my favorite girl today?” he asked before planting a kiss on the top of her head, a cheesy grin on his face.
Liz gave him a strange look over the rim of her mug as he went over to the counter to get some coffee of his own. “What do you want?” she asked suspiciously.
“Nothing!” Kyle sounded almost offended. “Can’t I just be nice to my best friend without automatically wanting something in return?”
Liz raised an eyebrow. “Kyle, it’s not even eleven am yet. You don’t do nice before noon. I’m asking you for the last time now, what do you want?”
Kyle sighed in defeat. Liz knew him a bit too well for his taste. “Fine. Will you come to the beach with Jondy and me today?” he asked.
“You just want me to come to the beach with you and make such a big deal out of it?” she asked, still suspicious.
Kyle sighed. He really hadn’t wanted to go into details here. “I just want to do something with Jondy that doesn’t end up with us ripping each other’s clothes off after five minutes for a change, and if we go to the beach alone it’ll be exactly like that,” he admitted.
“The beach is a public place,” Liz pointed out. “There are, like, people around.”
Kyle snorted. “A detail that might complicate but not necessarily change things,” he replied.
Liz gave him an exasperated look. “Don’t you two ever do anything else?” she asked.
“See, that’s the point,” Kyle said. “We don’t.”
Liz just continued staring at him.
“What? I’m a teenage guy and Jondy…acts like one. Anyway, I just don’t want her to think that I’m oversexed and completely ruled by my hormones,” Kyle went on.
“Kyle, I hate to break it to you, but you are oversexed and completely ruled by your hormones,” Liz said dryly.
“That’s beside the point,” Kyle protested.
Liz couldn’t help but laugh at that one.
“So, you coming with us?” he asked expectantly.
“Will Alec be there?” Liz asked in return.
Kyle sighed. “If that’s what it takes.”
Liz smiled smugly. “What time do we leave?” She loved getting her way.
~*~*~*~
“So, what’s going on with you and Alec?” Kyle asked grinning, obviously hoping to drag some dirty little details out of Liz. They were lying on the beach, already sweating in the baking heat even though they’d only been there five minutes, the sun so bright that it hurt their eyes even when they kept them closed.
“When exactly did you drop the overprotective-brother bullshit to go all Mandy on me?” Liz asked squinting her eyes against the blinding summer sun while trying to find a more comfortable position lying on her stomach.
“When I realized that it’s much more fun this way,” Kyle replied, propping himself up on his elbow and deciding not to comment on Liz’s more colorful way of articulating. Florida seemed to be getting to her, not to mention that she was spending too much time with Mandy. “Not that I won’t kick his ass if he steps out of line,” he added scowling.
“Yeah,” Liz snickered. “I’d like to see you try.”
“Hey,” Kyle protested offended. “You think I can’t take him on? Do I have to remind you that you’re looking at 160 pounds of varsity greco-roman-”
“Yeah, yeah,” Liz said cutting him off. “You’re a regular Hulk Hogan in the ring, I know. But you’re forgetting that he has about twenty years on you when it comes to the Samantha-Jeannie-thing.”
“Hmm, you’re right, I might really have a bit of a disadvantage in that area,” Kyle admitted thinking it over.
Liz snorted. “You are such a guy sometimes,” she muttered under her breath.
Kyle ignored her. “So, coming off topic here,” he said loudly. “You and Alec.” He suddenly frowned, thinking of something. “You haven’t…I mean, you don’t-”
Liz smirked. “You know, if you can’t say it you shouldn’t be doing it.”
Kyle glared at her. “I have absolutely no problem saying it,” he informed Liz. “I just don’t like the idea of you and him going at it like the bunnies.”
“I thought you dropped the big-brother act,” Liz said slightly annoyed.
“I did. The part that was an act. This is real. So please tell me that your wholesomeness is still in tact?” he pleaded.
“My wholesomeness, Kyle?” Liz asked laughing.
“Liz!” Kyle whined.
“Okay, okay!” she said exasperated. “No need to get your panties up in a bunch, Valenti. For your information, no, I have not slept with him, and before you ask, I don’t have the intention to. Happy now?”
“Very. So, what is going on between you?” he asked grinning, obviously going back to digging for details.
“We’re friends,” Liz insisted.
Kyle gave her an oh-please-look.
“…with…privileges,” she added, almost smirking.
“How far exactly have these privileges gone so far?”
“Second base, I guess,” Liz said, pretty unfazed by his question. This was after all harmless compared to Mandy’s usual cross-examination.
“What exactly were you guys up to when you came home so late the other night?” Kyle asked curiously. The smile that spread over Liz’s face told him that he wasn’t wrong assuming that they’d been doing something not quite PG-rated.
“We went for a swim,” Liz said innocently.
“You…wait a minute, you went skinny dipping again?” Kyle wasn’t sure if he should be shocked or impressed.
“How’d you figure that one out so quickly?” Liz teased. “Is there a secret brainiac hidden under the Einstein-who? jock-exterior or is your dirty mind to blame for that?”
“Oh please. Like you didn’t already know that I’m a genius,” Kyle replied arrogantly.
“Kept telling yourself that, Valenti,” Liz said chuckling.
“So,” Kyle said getting back to the subject at hand. “Turned the beach into a lagoon of sin once again?” he asked smirking.
“We weren’t at the beach,” Liz said offhandedly.
“You weren’t…what? Where were you then?” Kyle asked scooting a bit closer to her. This was getting interesting, a lot more than he had expected.
“Public pool,” Liz said as if breaking and entering to go skinny dipping was an everyday occurrence.
“Hmm, committing a felony to spice things up with a bit of danger – kinky,” Kyle commented.
“Pervert,” Liz shot back.
“I’ll say,” they heard a voice right in front of them state.
“Since when do you complain?” Kyle asked before pulling Jondy down to him for a kiss.
Liz rolled her eyes. “You guys really never do anything else, huh?” she muttered before lying back down and closing her eyes.
“Nope,” Jondy muttered, her voice muffled by Kyle’s lips.
Liz drifted off into a semi-conscious state, not feeling the need to witness the show Kyle and Jondy were putting on. She was starting to see what Kyle had meant by saying that being at the beach might complicate but not necessary change things. But he could have maybe added that her presence wouldn’t change things all that much either.
Suddenly a weight settled itself onto her back, a naked, muscular chest pressed against her mostly bare skin. “Hey,” Alec mumbled, then turning his attention to her neck. He sucked on her flesh, gently biting it before soothing the spot with his tongue.
Liz moaned softly before realizing where they were. “Ugh, get off me,” she said, only half meaning it. “I’m sweating like a pig.”
“Liz Parker half-naked and all sweaty? Not something I’ll ever complain about,” Alec replied huskily between soft bites.
“You’re late,” Liz mumbled trying to make conversation, more to keep her semi-grip on reality than anything else.
“Got held up,” Alec said without the slightest intention of elaborating on that. He liked Liz letting go, and he knew that talking wouldn’t get them there.
Liz let Alec continue with his ministrations on her neck, not really seeing any reason to stop him, but when another groan escaped her lips without her being able to stop it she turned around, throwing him off with the quick movement.
“You, water, now,” she practically growled, pointing her finger at him. Alec didn’t have to be told twice.
~*~*~*~
“Oh God,” Liz moaned, gripping at Alec’s back as to not slip under water. He was slowly kissing his way down her neck, stopping at all the places he knew she liked especially. God, he was good at this. Her legs were wrapped around his hips, his hands on the backside of her thighs, caressing her skin, teasing her with the possibility of something yet to come. Ever so often his fingers would stray towards the hem of her bikini, only to drift away again after a few moments that somehow never seemed to last long enough.
In the back of her mind Liz knew that this wasn’t exactly the ideal place to be doing what they were doing. They were at a public beach after all, in the middle of the afternoon, with children around. But for some reason, Liz couldn’t seem to find herself caring for any of that. Were they even close to the shore? Were there even people around? She wasn’t quite sure. For some reason she found it incredibly hard to focus on anything that wasn’t Alec – and that included the possibility of voyeurs and morally outraged mothers.
Alec’s lips found her pulse point and sucked hard, at the same time his hold on her tightened, pressing himself into her heat, making Liz groan from pleasure and surprise. What he was doing to her was…breathtaking, and yet so…horribly, horribly frustrating.
It made her ache for something else, something more. She tried hard to keep her hips still, fighting the urge to seek the relief she was so desperately craving. She knew that this was not the place or time for her to reach new levels of intimacy with Alec, but it was just so damn hard to resist temptation. It seemed so right. So natural.
Liz was so surprised by that thought that she abruptly pulled away from Alec. Never before had she as much as entertained the notion of going any further with Alec than second base. Now all she wanted was to get him somewhere alone where they wouldn’t be disturbed. Or arrested for indecent exposure.
“You okay?” Alec asked studying her. Her face was flushed, her lips swollen and red. He could see the beginning of a hickey forming on her neck, close to her ear. And there was something in her eyes…something wild, untamed, that he had never seen before.
“I’m fine,” Liz replied breathlessly before capturing his mouth with hers again. “Great actually,” she murmured against his lips.
“I’ll say,” Alec replied smirking before deepening the kiss.
~*~*~*~
“Will you stop laughing?” Alec asked trying to sound mad but not quite succeeding.
Liz let herself fall onto her towel, rolling from side to side, laughing so hard that she was shaking. “I’m- I’m sorry,” she managed to say, but immediately dissolved in a fit of giggles again, enough to actually break Kyle and Jondy apart.
Kyle glanced at Liz. “What’s so funny?” he asked, not liking the disturbance she was causing.
“He- he,” Liz said while pointing at Alec, but she was laughing too hard to answer.
“Some kid that was snorkeling bumped into me under water, causing me to make a relatively sudden step back,” Alec clarified.
“And what’s so funny about that?” Kyle asked.
“No idea,” Alec replied.
“Chicks,” they said at the same time, both shaking their heads.
“Now you sound like Michael,” Liz said sitting up, having calmed down enough to speak.
“Hey, that’s a low blow,” Kyle protested pretending to sound offended.
“And for your information, that’s not what I was laughing about,” Liz went on ignoring Kyle. “You should have seen the expression on his face.” Shed started chuckling again. “He looked petrified, like he expected the Monster of Loch Ness to come shooting out of the water any second.” Liz fell back on her towel, laughing so hard that she almost peed herself.
Alec couldn’t quite keep a small smile of his own off his face. “That’s not true,” he protested. “I was just…surprised.”
“Yeah, right,” Liz giggled.
Alec shook his head. “Will you stop laughing?” he asked almost sounding exasperated, but his grin gave him away. “Since when are you such a girl?”
“Since always,” Liz retorted smugly. “Got all the right equipment in case you haven’t noticed,” she added biting her lip.
Alec’s eyes darkened. “I’ve noticed,” he replied.
“Ugh, cut it out you two, will ya?!” Kyle said sounding disgusted. “Geez, listening to you too is more effective than a cold shower could ever be,” he muttered while getting up and off Jondy.
Turning his head he saw a couple of guys getting ready to play football. “Wanna join them?” he asked Alec. Making out with Jondy was not an option at the moment, and he had some pent up energy to work off.
“Sure,” Alec said, recovering rather quickly from his initial surprise. He normally wasn’t into male bonding moments, but he had the feeling that he and Kyle could use one.
They walked over to the other guys while Jondy scooted over to Liz and got comfortable. “This should be interesting,” she said, her eyes never leaving the boys.
“What do you mean?” Liz asked, her gaze also glued to them.
“Well, if Kyle and Alec end up on opposite teams this is going to turn into one gigantic Czechoslovakian pissing contest,” she stated.
“Oh come on,” Liz said. “They’re not that childish. Besides-” She stopped talking. This was Kyle after all. And Alec. “Oh God,” she muttered.
~*~*~*~
“Why were we so opposed to this again?” Liz mumbled while watching Alec catch the ball and take off to the opposite side of the field. She could see his muscles rippling, the sheen of sweat that covered his body, making his skin almost gleam in the hot Florida sun…God did he look gorgeous. So good that she wanted to just rush over to him and drag him off the field into the water and…
“Hmm?” Jondy replied, taking a few moments before realizing what Liz had just said. “Opposed? I wasn’t opposed,” she murmured.
“Yeah,” Liz said, still staring at Alec. He and Kyle had ended up on the same team after all, and they were kicking their opponents’ butts. Liz had the feeling that they weren’t playing all that fair, but them using their powers wasn’t obvious at all. Meaning she really couldn’t care less.
“We should do this more often,” Liz sighed.
“Definitely,” Jondy agreed. “Hey, you call that a pass?!” she suddenly bellowed.
~*~*~*~
After the match was over Kyle went back to Jondy and Liz while Alec hung back talking to one of the guys from his team. Glancing over to the others he suddenly noticed Liz talking to another guy they’d played with. She was laughing at something he said, throwing her head back a little, her smile lightening up her features.
What the hell?!
What did she think she was doing? That guy had spent the entire game bragging about his long line of conquests, making it perfectly clear that he thought of women as things to be used and then thrown away. What was Liz doing with that jerk?
He turned and walked over to her, not caring that it was impolite to just walked away in the middle of a conversation, not caring that he was the one to talk when it came to using women, not caring that the feelings coursing through him felt awfully much like jealousy.
Liz had barely even seen him make his way over to them when his lips suddenly came swooping down on hers, taking her completely by surprise. She let out a little yelp, not having expected the sudden attack. She recovered quickly though, melting into his embrace.
They broke apart and stared intently at each other until a voice beside them suddenly startled them out of their little staring match. “Oh, so you two are…” the guy Liz had been talking to said.
“Well-” Liz began.
“Yeah,” Alec interrupted her. “We are.”
Liz gave him a questioning look, but Alec didn’t see it, still busy staring down the guy who had dared to hit on Liz right in front of him. Getting the message, he left.
Liz was still staring at Alec. What was that?
~*~*~*~
Liz, Alec, Kyle and Jondy spent another hour or so at the beach, Kyle and Alec getting along surprisingly well, before heading back to Mandy’s house to get something to eat. Liz tried hard to keep her mind off what had happened earlier, but found it impossible not to think about it.
What had gotten into Alec? If she didn’t know better she would almost think that he was…no, of course not. That was ridiculous. He wasn’t jealous! Why should he be? It’s not like they were…they were…they weren’t. They were just…two people having fun together. Friends…or...something like that. They weren’t….committed. Or in love. Liz almost laughed out loud at that thought.
Or falling for each other, she thought, suddenly no longer feeling like laughing at all. More the opposite actually.
“You okay?” Alec suddenly asked.
Liz forced a smile on her lips. “I’m fine,” she assured him.
She was just going to have to talk to him. Later on, when they were alone.
They got to Mandy’s house and went in through the kitchen door, laughing and joking like they usually did. Liz had managed to shake of the sudden gloominess that had enfolded her and was back to laughing at Kyle’s corny jokes.
But the sight that met her knocked the smile right off her face.
“Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?”
tbc
Don't dream it's over (DA Xover, Liz/Alec /ADULT)(Complete)
Moderators: Itzstacie, Forum Moderators
Tact is for people not witty enough to be sarcastic.
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
Wow, where did all this feedback come from? Thank you so much guys, you're the best!
Okay, so here's the new part. It took a bit longer than expected, but it's extra long, so I hope that makes up for it. I was talking to my beta about this story a few days ago and realized how close it is to coming to an end - only about ten more parts. I can't believe it. But then there's the sequel of course, which will probably be longer than this fic. Anyway, hope you like the new part.
Part 32
“Nancy, sweetheart, would you please sit down?” Jeff Parker asked his wife for the third time now. They had arrived at Mandy’s house five minutes ago and Nancy had been pacing the kitchen ever since.
“Sorry,” Nancy said before sinking onto one of the bar stools. “I’m just so impatient to see Liz again.”
“I can see that,” Jeff replied looking at her hands that she kept clasping and unclasping, not knowing what else to do with them.
“You know, I can still call her and ask her to come home,” Mandy suggested. Nancy was driving her crazy too.
“No,” Nancy said after hesitating for a moment or two. “I don’t want to intrude on her life here. And we still need to get our suitcases from the car and unpack and-”
But before she could finish the sentence the kitchen door opened and Liz as well as some other people came in. But Nancy didn’t even see them, her sole attention was on her daughter.
The moment the door had opened she’d heard the melodious laughter of her child, and it was like music to her ears. It had been so long since she’d last heard Liz laugh, she had been so depressed before leaving Roswell. But now…it was like she was a different person. It was good to see her like this again, so happy and carefree.
When Liz saw them she stopped dead in her tracks. “Mom, dad, what are you doing here?” she asked sounding shocked. But Nancy didn’t notice the distress in her daughter’s voice. She simply rushed forward and pulled her daughter into a hug, her husband at her heels.
When they finally released their crushing grip on the poor girl and took a step back their eyes fell on the other three people in the room. Kyle was still standing in the doorway, softly chuckling to himself, his arm around the waist of the girl beside him. She was pretty with wavy brown hair and big blue eyes, and for some mysterious reason she seemed to be quite amused too, at least judging by her barely restrained smile.
And beside the girl was…
“Alec?” Nancy asked.
That was all it took for Liz to spit out the water Mandy had just handed her and start coughing.
~*~*~*~
Alec stood there completely stunned, simply starring at the scene playing out in front of him. A shocked Liz was being kissed and hugged by her parents. Mandy was standing a few feet away, a mischievous smile on her lips. Kyle and Jondy were still standing beside him, obviously just as surprised and a bit more amused by the situation than he was.
What really held his attention however were Liz’s parents, to be more specific, her mom. Upon seeing her, his stomach had twisted and his thoughts had rushed back to earlier that day, to the reason why he had been late for the beach. The woman he’d helped fix a flat tire. The woman that was in Florida to visit her daughter. The woman that was standing in front of him this very minute.
Oh shit.
Bits and pieces of their conversation started flashing through his memory…
”Are you sure I’m not keeping you from anything?”
“…just meeting some friends at the beach…”
“…does one of these ‘friends’ happen to be a girl…”
“…we’re just friends…”
“…but you like her…”
“…she’s special…”
Yeah, ‘oh shit’ was right.
Hearing his name shook him out of stupor. “Uh, hello Mrs. Parker,” he said uneasily. “I hope you didn’t have any more trouble with the car.”
“Oh no, not at all. Stupid rental cars, you always have problems with them. Again, thank you so much for your help, I don’t know what we would have done without you.” Nancy smiled warmly at the young man in front of her. He’d been so helpful and polite, she had been able to help taking an instant liking to him.
“No problem,” Alec replied with a small smile, feeling a bit more at ease. Liz’s mom must have figured out by now that it was her daughter that he’d been talking about at their first encounter and yet she didn’t look like she wanted to go at him with a sledge hammer.
“This is my husband Jeff,” Nancy said introducing them, her hand resting on her husband’s back. “Jeff, this is the nice young man that helped me with the flat tire while you were looking for a phone.”
“Nice to meet you Mr. Parker,” Alec said politely while shaking the older man’s hand. Thank God that they’d been taught the proper etiquette at Manticore. Jeff didn’t look like he’d be as easy to win over as his wife had been, no need to make it even harder by being rude.
“Likewise,” Jeff replied, liking the boy’s manners. But that didn’t necessarily mean that he liked him too. After all, Max had been the poster child when it came to being polite and look what he’d done to his little girl.
“Thank you for helping my wife out, mechanics isn’t exactly her strongest suit,” he added.
“Look who’s talking,” Nancy mumbled, jabbing Jeff in the ribs, not liking the way he was staring down Alec. After all, she didn’t want her husband scaring him off.
~*~*~*~
After a few minutes of coughing her lungs out, Liz finally calmed down enough to say something.
“You know each other?” she asked disbelievingly, the shock and surprise written all over her face. This could not be happening! God, someone up there must really hate her.
“Yes, Alec was nice enough to stop and help me with a flat tire while your father was looking for a phone to call the house,” Nancy explained. “How come you never told me about your new friends? I know nothing about your life here,” she complained while watching her daughter carefully. For being just friends with Alec she really seemed awfully shocked.
“Oh, um,” Liz stuttered, not knowing what to say to that.
“How about you two unpack and get settled in,” Mandy interrupted, receiving a thankful and relieved smile from Liz. “And then we can all sit down together and have a nice cup of coffee. How does that sound?”
“Yes, I suppose we should really get our bags out of the car,” Nancy agreed. “After all, we don’t want them to be stolen.” She sighed, not liking the thought of leaving her daughter even for a few minutes. After giving her daughter a last peck on the cheek she left the kitchen. Jeff followed her, but not before sending one last measuring glance in Alec’s direction.
Liz let out an audible sigh of relief.
“I’m gonna run over to the bakery and get us some chocolate cake to eat along with the coffee,” Mandy told them grabbing her purse. “Be back in five.”
As soon as she was gone Liz started pacing the room. “Oh god, oh god, oh god,” she muttered, slightly hyperventilating.
“Um, am I assuming right that you had no idea that they were coming?” Kyle asked, still slightly amused with the situation but trying hard not to openly show it.
“Geez, Kyle, how’d you figure that one out?” Liz bit back stopping with her pacing.
“Oh, calm down Liz, it’s not that bad. So they’re here. What’s the big deal?” Kyle asked leaning back against the counter.
“What’s the big deal?” Liz asked gesticulating uncharacteristically much with her hands. “What’s the big deal? I’ll tell you what the big deal is! I am illegally working at some raunchy bar while my parents believe I’m a waitress at a café! Ever since leaving Roswell I haven’t spent a single night alone in my bed! I’ve spent more nights out partying than my father did in the four years he was at college! Not to mention that-”
Liz parents’ voices suddenly drifted into the kitchen, shutting Liz up quite effectively.
“Hi honey, where did your aunt go?” Nancy asked upon entering the room.
Liz let out the breath she hadn’t noticed she’d been holding when she realized that they hadn’t heard her.
“She went over to the bakery to buy some chocolate cake,” Kyle supplied quickly, seeing that Liz was a bit out there at the moment.
“Oh,” Nancy said before turning her attention to Liz. “Well, I guess that leaves us some time to talk,” she continued, beaming at her daughter while leading her over to the couch. She didn’t notice Liz’s forced smile or the barely suppressed groan.
~*~*~*~
Half an hour later they were all gathered around the couch table drinking coffee and eating the cake Mandy had provided them with. Thankfully she had come shortly after Nancy had started her interrogation and so Liz had been able to put off really answering any questions. Mandy’s appearance saved her, at least for the time being.
Once they’d all sat down Nancy forgot her intention of reacquainting herself with her daughter and instead focused her attention on Alec and Jondy. She asked them every question in the book, from what they did for a living over where they came from to how they’d met Kyle and Liz. Thank God that Jondy was a fast thinker and didn’t mention the bar, only that she, Liz and Kyle all worked together and that she’d introduced Alec to them when he’d come by one day.
Liz was so nervous about what questions Nancy would ask next that she hardly even touched her cake. They were all finished before Nancy could start asking questions about their childhood, something Liz would be eternally grateful for. Upon finishing their coffee and cake Nancy and Jeff both got up and excused themselves, saying that they were tired from the trip and wanted to rest a bit before dinner.
Liz let out a sigh of relief as soon as they were gone. She was a bit suspicious about her parents “wanting to rest”, but she really didn’t want to know what was behind that excuse and so she was just happy that they were off her back for a while, especially her mom. As much as she loved her folks, having them pop up here in Florida without as much as a warning was the last thing she would have wanted to have happen.
She got up and started helping Mandy clear off the coffee table, mechanically staking up the cups and plates while her mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out what to do about the situation and what kind of problems it would cause in the first place. Normally she would have never let Kyle get away with just sitting around and letting them do all the work, but today she didn’t even notice.
“Honey, is this really so bad?” Mandy asked once they were in the kitchen, setting down the dishes she was holding and turning to her niece.
“You knew, didn’t you?” Liz asked already knowing the answer.
Mandy nodded, a sheepish expression on her face. “Yeah, I did. I wanted to tell you, but they were so set on surprising you, I just couldn’t spoil the fun for them,” she explained, feeling bad for putting her niece in that position. She really hadn’t thought that Liz would be so upset.
“Oh, but almost giving me a heart attack is okay?” Liz asked trying to keep the smile off her lips. She just couldn’t be mad at her aunt, even though a part of her wanted to.
Mandy grinned. “You’re young, you can take it.”
They started putting the dishes into the dishwasher. Half way through the task Mandy spoke up again. “So, why aren’t you happy to see your parents?” she asked her niece.
Liz exhaled audibly. “It’s not that I’m not happy to see them,” she began suddenly very interested in the plate she was holding. “It’s just that…”
I’ve developed alien powers. I’m sprouting a tattoo they know nothing about. My newest hobby is playing tonsil hockey with a fellow alien.
“They’re gonna freak out if they find out that I work at a bar,” she said instead, coming to the conclusion that the other things were better kept to herself.
Mandy stayed quiet for a minute. “You know, I’m not too sure about that,” she said thoughtfully, the cup in her hand forgotten as she leaned against the counter.
“What?” Liz asked surprised, almost dropping the plate.
“Tell them the truth,” Mandy suggested as if it were the most obvious solution in the world.
“Are you nuts?” Liz asked not really needing an answer to that question, but her aunt interrupted her before she could continue.
“Hear me out. It’s gonna be hard to hide what you’re doing from them, especially since I’m sure that they’ll want to see the place you work at, and it’s not like you can just take a week or two off on such short notice. But if you’re upfront about this you’d prove a lot of maturity to them. Show them that it’s your life and that you’re old enough to make these kinds of decisions yourself. Plus, you’re earning quite a lot of money and the way I know you I’m sure that at least half of it will be going towards your college funds, right?”
Liz nodded, letting her aunt’s words sink in.
“And it’s not like you’re working as a stripper or something,” Jondy went on. “You’re a singer. That’s something to be proud of. So you had to tell a little white lie concerning your age to get the job, big deal. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity. It’s an amazing job and a great experience, you’d have been stupid not to go for it. As for working at night, Jaded is a decent place, Matt is a really nice guy and Jondy or Kyle is always there to look out for you.”
Liz gave her a pointed look, not having missed the obvious sexism in her aunt’s last sentence.
“I know that you don’t need that,” Mandy said. “But you’re parents will want to hear it.”
“Hmm,” Liz said while chewing on her bottom lip. Had Mandy finally lost it for good or could she actually be right? Should she take the risk? If not, what other possibilities did she have? As scary as it was, what her aunt said actually made sense to Liz…in a way.
“You know Liz, maybe you should give your parents a bit more credit,” Mandy went on. “They know that you’re a smart young woman and they trust you to make smart decisions. And you know, your parents were young once too, and they weren’t exactly all that innocent either.”
“Cryptic much?” Liz muttered.
Mandy laughed. “Remind me one day that I have a few stories to tell you,” she said before leaving the kitchen to get Kyle to clean up the rest of the dishes. No reason why the girls had to do all the work, right?
~*~*~*~
“I really need to get back inside,” Liz mumbled between kisses. She and Alec were standing on Mandy’s porch, saying goodbye. Or at least that’s what they were supposed to be doing, but for some reason they hadn’t quite gotten to the goodbye part yet.
“I know,” Alec replied absentmindedly, not having the least intention of letting this end anytime soon.
Liz half-sighed, half-moaned. Why did he have to be so good at this? She was never going to be able to tear herself away from him, especially knowing that it might be a while before they got to do this again.
“My parents could catch us,” Liz murmured.
“Okay, that did it,” Alec said pulling away quickly and taking a step back.
Liz gave him a look. “You’re scared of my parents?” she asked almost laughing.
“Liz, did you notice the way your father stared at me the whole afternoon? He looked like he was ready to get his shotgun if I as much as glanced at you in a way he doesn’t deem appropriate.”
Liz smirked. “My father doesn’t have a shotgun,” she pointed out advancing towards him.
“That doesn’t make a big difference,” Alec replied backing away from Liz. “I’m sure there are some other handy objects lying around that he could use to inflict pain on me.”
Liz continued moving forward. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” she promised still smirking.
Alec’s back suddenly hit the wall and Liz closed the last distance between them, nestling her body against Alec’s rigid one. Her hands slowly roamed over his body starting at his stomach and moving upwards, gliding over soft cotton and hard muscles. From his shoulders they went to his cheeks, cupping his face with her hands and pulling him down for a long, unhurried kiss.
Alec wanted to resist, but Liz’s eyes were mesmerizing him and so he gave up a battle that had been lost from the beginning on. Her soft lips brushed over his making the last of his control disappear. His arms wrapped around her pulling her body flush against his while one of his hands tangled in her hair. He returned her kiss in the same fashion, teasing her with more but never really going there.
Liz stood up on the tips of her toes and was about to deepen the kiss when the door suddenly opened. She sprang back as quickly as she could, whirling around to see who it was. Kyle was standing in the doorway laughing.
Liz glared at him. “Damn it Kyle, was that necessary?” she asked heatedly.
“’Fraid so,” Kyle replied still chuckling. “Your dad was wondering what was taking you so long. He wanted to come and see for himself, but as the wonderful, amazing friend that I am I convinced him to let me go instead. You can thank me later,” he said arrogantly.
“Guess I better go,” Alec said.
“Yeah,” Liz sighed. The prospect of her dad catching her and Alec making out definitely killed to mood.
Alec gave her one last peck on the lips before he turned around and walked away, wondering why leaving was so hard this time.
~*~*~*~
“Alec seems to be a really nice young man,” Nancy began, trying to sound like she was just making conversation. It was already pretty late, she and Liz were in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner since Kyle and Jeff had done the cooking. Well, if you could call throwing pieces of meat on the grill and letting them burn into black little things that reminded you of charcoal cooking.
Liz had a hard time from keeping herself from rolling her eyes. Her mom wasn’t even in Florida for five hours and she was already trying to play matchmaker. What had happened to the good old days when Liz dating had pretty much been her parents’ worst nightmare? What came next, whining about wanting grandchildren and showing her the marriage announcements of all the people in her age?
“Yes he is,” Liz said evenly, even though it took a lot to keep her voice like that.
“Is he seeing anyone?” Nancy asked not even trying to sound innocent anymore.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Liz replied calmly.
“And he’s never asked you out on a date?” Nancy asked incredulously. She couldn’t believe it! Alec was obviously smitten with her daughter, how come he never asked her out?
Well, if you call going skinny dipping a date, Liz thought, but she was wise enough to keep that to herself. “Mom, we’re just friends,” she insisted.
“But you like him,” Nancy said knowingly.
“No mom, I’m only friends with people I despise!” Liz said exasperatedly.
“Okay, okay, I get the message,” Nancy said finally giving up. “So, what’s going on between Kyle and Jondy?” she asked instead. “Those two seemed awfully comfortable with each other.”
That’s because the spent every waking hour of the day fucking each other blind. Hmm, another thought better kept to herself.
“Yes, they are,” Liz said instead.
“Are they dating?” Nancy asked, her curiosity spiked.
“No, just hanging out a lot,” Liz replied in that even voice that was driving her mother nuts.
“Hanging out or making out?” Nancy asked.
“Mom!”
“What? I was young once too.”
“Ugh, too much information,” Liz muttered shuddering while drying her hands on a dish cloth. When exactly had this transformation from mother/daughter to best buddies happened anyway?
“Mom, why are you so eager for me to start dating Alec anyway?” Liz asked not getting it. “You weren’t exactly thrilled when Max and I were together.”
Nancy sat down contemplating how to best answer that. She waited for Liz to take a seat across from her before she began.
“Well…it was just different with you and Max. Everything about your relationship was so intense, so serious. You seemed to be missing out on all the fun. I know that you cared a great deal for him, but he still didn’t seem to make you happy. Except for those few weeks last spring you always seemed so sad, so troubled. I hated seeing you like that, I just wanted to see you laughing and smiling again. Like when you were dating Kyle.”
Liz let out a small laugh. Leaning forward a bit she said, “Mom, Kyle and I…that wasn’t a relationship. We just liked each other and happened to be dating and…that was it.”
“But that’s exactly the point!” Nancy said.
“What, so you think I should date Alec because it wouldn’t be anything serious anyway?” Liz asked getting upset. Why exactly, she had no clue, but she was upset. That last comment bothered her.
Nancy smiled knowingly. “Of course not sweetie. I just think that you two would take it slower and let it develop naturally, not rush into it so much. Besides, Alec seems to be much more easy-going than Max. Max was always so tense, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and so were you when you were with him. I know that you don’t want to talk about Max or whatever happened between you two, but I also know that he’s part of the reason why you left for the summer and that he hurt you, a lot. I just don’t want to see that happening again. Max left you pretty vulnerable, I’d hate to see someone taking advantage of that.”
“And you’re suggesting Alec?” Liz asked a bit shocked. Alec was the last guy she would have ever suspected her mother to want to see her with. Besides, she hardly even knew him.
Nancy thought about it for a moment. “Well, I don’t really know him, but I think he’s a good guy. He was awfully nice when he stopped to give me a hand with the flat tire, not to mention helpful.”
“So you’ve said,” Liz replied. Her mother had mentioned that at least ten times ever since Alec and Jondy had left.
“Look, I’m not saying that you should rush into another relationship right this instant,” Nancy explained. “Absolutely not. But if you do want to date again you could do a lot worse than Alec.”
“Hmm,” was all Liz said, beginning to think about it. Did she want to date again? If so, did she want to date Alec? Did she want whatever it was that was going on between them to go past the realm of friendship, or a fling, or whatever it was they were having? She didn’t know. She’d never really thought about that before. And if she did want that, what about Alec? Would he want that too? If so he sure as hell never gave any indication. He never said anything to her, or hinted at it. Not at all. But then, if he had would she even have noticed it and taken it as what it was or would she have just brushed it off as a stray comment that didn’t mean anything?
Nancy watched Liz closely. The way she was biting her lip could only mean one thing – she’d gotten her to think about it. With a satisfied smile on her lips she wished Liz a good night and left the room, leaving her daughter to her thoughts.
tbc
Okay, so here's the new part. It took a bit longer than expected, but it's extra long, so I hope that makes up for it. I was talking to my beta about this story a few days ago and realized how close it is to coming to an end - only about ten more parts. I can't believe it. But then there's the sequel of course, which will probably be longer than this fic. Anyway, hope you like the new part.
Part 32
“Nancy, sweetheart, would you please sit down?” Jeff Parker asked his wife for the third time now. They had arrived at Mandy’s house five minutes ago and Nancy had been pacing the kitchen ever since.
“Sorry,” Nancy said before sinking onto one of the bar stools. “I’m just so impatient to see Liz again.”
“I can see that,” Jeff replied looking at her hands that she kept clasping and unclasping, not knowing what else to do with them.
“You know, I can still call her and ask her to come home,” Mandy suggested. Nancy was driving her crazy too.
“No,” Nancy said after hesitating for a moment or two. “I don’t want to intrude on her life here. And we still need to get our suitcases from the car and unpack and-”
But before she could finish the sentence the kitchen door opened and Liz as well as some other people came in. But Nancy didn’t even see them, her sole attention was on her daughter.
The moment the door had opened she’d heard the melodious laughter of her child, and it was like music to her ears. It had been so long since she’d last heard Liz laugh, she had been so depressed before leaving Roswell. But now…it was like she was a different person. It was good to see her like this again, so happy and carefree.
When Liz saw them she stopped dead in her tracks. “Mom, dad, what are you doing here?” she asked sounding shocked. But Nancy didn’t notice the distress in her daughter’s voice. She simply rushed forward and pulled her daughter into a hug, her husband at her heels.
When they finally released their crushing grip on the poor girl and took a step back their eyes fell on the other three people in the room. Kyle was still standing in the doorway, softly chuckling to himself, his arm around the waist of the girl beside him. She was pretty with wavy brown hair and big blue eyes, and for some mysterious reason she seemed to be quite amused too, at least judging by her barely restrained smile.
And beside the girl was…
“Alec?” Nancy asked.
That was all it took for Liz to spit out the water Mandy had just handed her and start coughing.
~*~*~*~
Alec stood there completely stunned, simply starring at the scene playing out in front of him. A shocked Liz was being kissed and hugged by her parents. Mandy was standing a few feet away, a mischievous smile on her lips. Kyle and Jondy were still standing beside him, obviously just as surprised and a bit more amused by the situation than he was.
What really held his attention however were Liz’s parents, to be more specific, her mom. Upon seeing her, his stomach had twisted and his thoughts had rushed back to earlier that day, to the reason why he had been late for the beach. The woman he’d helped fix a flat tire. The woman that was in Florida to visit her daughter. The woman that was standing in front of him this very minute.
Oh shit.
Bits and pieces of their conversation started flashing through his memory…
”Are you sure I’m not keeping you from anything?”
“…just meeting some friends at the beach…”
“…does one of these ‘friends’ happen to be a girl…”
“…we’re just friends…”
“…but you like her…”
“…she’s special…”
Yeah, ‘oh shit’ was right.
Hearing his name shook him out of stupor. “Uh, hello Mrs. Parker,” he said uneasily. “I hope you didn’t have any more trouble with the car.”
“Oh no, not at all. Stupid rental cars, you always have problems with them. Again, thank you so much for your help, I don’t know what we would have done without you.” Nancy smiled warmly at the young man in front of her. He’d been so helpful and polite, she had been able to help taking an instant liking to him.
“No problem,” Alec replied with a small smile, feeling a bit more at ease. Liz’s mom must have figured out by now that it was her daughter that he’d been talking about at their first encounter and yet she didn’t look like she wanted to go at him with a sledge hammer.
“This is my husband Jeff,” Nancy said introducing them, her hand resting on her husband’s back. “Jeff, this is the nice young man that helped me with the flat tire while you were looking for a phone.”
“Nice to meet you Mr. Parker,” Alec said politely while shaking the older man’s hand. Thank God that they’d been taught the proper etiquette at Manticore. Jeff didn’t look like he’d be as easy to win over as his wife had been, no need to make it even harder by being rude.
“Likewise,” Jeff replied, liking the boy’s manners. But that didn’t necessarily mean that he liked him too. After all, Max had been the poster child when it came to being polite and look what he’d done to his little girl.
“Thank you for helping my wife out, mechanics isn’t exactly her strongest suit,” he added.
“Look who’s talking,” Nancy mumbled, jabbing Jeff in the ribs, not liking the way he was staring down Alec. After all, she didn’t want her husband scaring him off.
~*~*~*~
After a few minutes of coughing her lungs out, Liz finally calmed down enough to say something.
“You know each other?” she asked disbelievingly, the shock and surprise written all over her face. This could not be happening! God, someone up there must really hate her.
“Yes, Alec was nice enough to stop and help me with a flat tire while your father was looking for a phone to call the house,” Nancy explained. “How come you never told me about your new friends? I know nothing about your life here,” she complained while watching her daughter carefully. For being just friends with Alec she really seemed awfully shocked.
“Oh, um,” Liz stuttered, not knowing what to say to that.
“How about you two unpack and get settled in,” Mandy interrupted, receiving a thankful and relieved smile from Liz. “And then we can all sit down together and have a nice cup of coffee. How does that sound?”
“Yes, I suppose we should really get our bags out of the car,” Nancy agreed. “After all, we don’t want them to be stolen.” She sighed, not liking the thought of leaving her daughter even for a few minutes. After giving her daughter a last peck on the cheek she left the kitchen. Jeff followed her, but not before sending one last measuring glance in Alec’s direction.
Liz let out an audible sigh of relief.
“I’m gonna run over to the bakery and get us some chocolate cake to eat along with the coffee,” Mandy told them grabbing her purse. “Be back in five.”
As soon as she was gone Liz started pacing the room. “Oh god, oh god, oh god,” she muttered, slightly hyperventilating.
“Um, am I assuming right that you had no idea that they were coming?” Kyle asked, still slightly amused with the situation but trying hard not to openly show it.
“Geez, Kyle, how’d you figure that one out?” Liz bit back stopping with her pacing.
“Oh, calm down Liz, it’s not that bad. So they’re here. What’s the big deal?” Kyle asked leaning back against the counter.
“What’s the big deal?” Liz asked gesticulating uncharacteristically much with her hands. “What’s the big deal? I’ll tell you what the big deal is! I am illegally working at some raunchy bar while my parents believe I’m a waitress at a café! Ever since leaving Roswell I haven’t spent a single night alone in my bed! I’ve spent more nights out partying than my father did in the four years he was at college! Not to mention that-”
Liz parents’ voices suddenly drifted into the kitchen, shutting Liz up quite effectively.
“Hi honey, where did your aunt go?” Nancy asked upon entering the room.
Liz let out the breath she hadn’t noticed she’d been holding when she realized that they hadn’t heard her.
“She went over to the bakery to buy some chocolate cake,” Kyle supplied quickly, seeing that Liz was a bit out there at the moment.
“Oh,” Nancy said before turning her attention to Liz. “Well, I guess that leaves us some time to talk,” she continued, beaming at her daughter while leading her over to the couch. She didn’t notice Liz’s forced smile or the barely suppressed groan.
~*~*~*~
Half an hour later they were all gathered around the couch table drinking coffee and eating the cake Mandy had provided them with. Thankfully she had come shortly after Nancy had started her interrogation and so Liz had been able to put off really answering any questions. Mandy’s appearance saved her, at least for the time being.
Once they’d all sat down Nancy forgot her intention of reacquainting herself with her daughter and instead focused her attention on Alec and Jondy. She asked them every question in the book, from what they did for a living over where they came from to how they’d met Kyle and Liz. Thank God that Jondy was a fast thinker and didn’t mention the bar, only that she, Liz and Kyle all worked together and that she’d introduced Alec to them when he’d come by one day.
Liz was so nervous about what questions Nancy would ask next that she hardly even touched her cake. They were all finished before Nancy could start asking questions about their childhood, something Liz would be eternally grateful for. Upon finishing their coffee and cake Nancy and Jeff both got up and excused themselves, saying that they were tired from the trip and wanted to rest a bit before dinner.
Liz let out a sigh of relief as soon as they were gone. She was a bit suspicious about her parents “wanting to rest”, but she really didn’t want to know what was behind that excuse and so she was just happy that they were off her back for a while, especially her mom. As much as she loved her folks, having them pop up here in Florida without as much as a warning was the last thing she would have wanted to have happen.
She got up and started helping Mandy clear off the coffee table, mechanically staking up the cups and plates while her mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out what to do about the situation and what kind of problems it would cause in the first place. Normally she would have never let Kyle get away with just sitting around and letting them do all the work, but today she didn’t even notice.
“Honey, is this really so bad?” Mandy asked once they were in the kitchen, setting down the dishes she was holding and turning to her niece.
“You knew, didn’t you?” Liz asked already knowing the answer.
Mandy nodded, a sheepish expression on her face. “Yeah, I did. I wanted to tell you, but they were so set on surprising you, I just couldn’t spoil the fun for them,” she explained, feeling bad for putting her niece in that position. She really hadn’t thought that Liz would be so upset.
“Oh, but almost giving me a heart attack is okay?” Liz asked trying to keep the smile off her lips. She just couldn’t be mad at her aunt, even though a part of her wanted to.
Mandy grinned. “You’re young, you can take it.”
They started putting the dishes into the dishwasher. Half way through the task Mandy spoke up again. “So, why aren’t you happy to see your parents?” she asked her niece.
Liz exhaled audibly. “It’s not that I’m not happy to see them,” she began suddenly very interested in the plate she was holding. “It’s just that…”
I’ve developed alien powers. I’m sprouting a tattoo they know nothing about. My newest hobby is playing tonsil hockey with a fellow alien.
“They’re gonna freak out if they find out that I work at a bar,” she said instead, coming to the conclusion that the other things were better kept to herself.
Mandy stayed quiet for a minute. “You know, I’m not too sure about that,” she said thoughtfully, the cup in her hand forgotten as she leaned against the counter.
“What?” Liz asked surprised, almost dropping the plate.
“Tell them the truth,” Mandy suggested as if it were the most obvious solution in the world.
“Are you nuts?” Liz asked not really needing an answer to that question, but her aunt interrupted her before she could continue.
“Hear me out. It’s gonna be hard to hide what you’re doing from them, especially since I’m sure that they’ll want to see the place you work at, and it’s not like you can just take a week or two off on such short notice. But if you’re upfront about this you’d prove a lot of maturity to them. Show them that it’s your life and that you’re old enough to make these kinds of decisions yourself. Plus, you’re earning quite a lot of money and the way I know you I’m sure that at least half of it will be going towards your college funds, right?”
Liz nodded, letting her aunt’s words sink in.
“And it’s not like you’re working as a stripper or something,” Jondy went on. “You’re a singer. That’s something to be proud of. So you had to tell a little white lie concerning your age to get the job, big deal. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity. It’s an amazing job and a great experience, you’d have been stupid not to go for it. As for working at night, Jaded is a decent place, Matt is a really nice guy and Jondy or Kyle is always there to look out for you.”
Liz gave her a pointed look, not having missed the obvious sexism in her aunt’s last sentence.
“I know that you don’t need that,” Mandy said. “But you’re parents will want to hear it.”
“Hmm,” Liz said while chewing on her bottom lip. Had Mandy finally lost it for good or could she actually be right? Should she take the risk? If not, what other possibilities did she have? As scary as it was, what her aunt said actually made sense to Liz…in a way.
“You know Liz, maybe you should give your parents a bit more credit,” Mandy went on. “They know that you’re a smart young woman and they trust you to make smart decisions. And you know, your parents were young once too, and they weren’t exactly all that innocent either.”
“Cryptic much?” Liz muttered.
Mandy laughed. “Remind me one day that I have a few stories to tell you,” she said before leaving the kitchen to get Kyle to clean up the rest of the dishes. No reason why the girls had to do all the work, right?
~*~*~*~
“I really need to get back inside,” Liz mumbled between kisses. She and Alec were standing on Mandy’s porch, saying goodbye. Or at least that’s what they were supposed to be doing, but for some reason they hadn’t quite gotten to the goodbye part yet.
“I know,” Alec replied absentmindedly, not having the least intention of letting this end anytime soon.
Liz half-sighed, half-moaned. Why did he have to be so good at this? She was never going to be able to tear herself away from him, especially knowing that it might be a while before they got to do this again.
“My parents could catch us,” Liz murmured.
“Okay, that did it,” Alec said pulling away quickly and taking a step back.
Liz gave him a look. “You’re scared of my parents?” she asked almost laughing.
“Liz, did you notice the way your father stared at me the whole afternoon? He looked like he was ready to get his shotgun if I as much as glanced at you in a way he doesn’t deem appropriate.”
Liz smirked. “My father doesn’t have a shotgun,” she pointed out advancing towards him.
“That doesn’t make a big difference,” Alec replied backing away from Liz. “I’m sure there are some other handy objects lying around that he could use to inflict pain on me.”
Liz continued moving forward. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” she promised still smirking.
Alec’s back suddenly hit the wall and Liz closed the last distance between them, nestling her body against Alec’s rigid one. Her hands slowly roamed over his body starting at his stomach and moving upwards, gliding over soft cotton and hard muscles. From his shoulders they went to his cheeks, cupping his face with her hands and pulling him down for a long, unhurried kiss.
Alec wanted to resist, but Liz’s eyes were mesmerizing him and so he gave up a battle that had been lost from the beginning on. Her soft lips brushed over his making the last of his control disappear. His arms wrapped around her pulling her body flush against his while one of his hands tangled in her hair. He returned her kiss in the same fashion, teasing her with more but never really going there.
Liz stood up on the tips of her toes and was about to deepen the kiss when the door suddenly opened. She sprang back as quickly as she could, whirling around to see who it was. Kyle was standing in the doorway laughing.
Liz glared at him. “Damn it Kyle, was that necessary?” she asked heatedly.
“’Fraid so,” Kyle replied still chuckling. “Your dad was wondering what was taking you so long. He wanted to come and see for himself, but as the wonderful, amazing friend that I am I convinced him to let me go instead. You can thank me later,” he said arrogantly.
“Guess I better go,” Alec said.
“Yeah,” Liz sighed. The prospect of her dad catching her and Alec making out definitely killed to mood.
Alec gave her one last peck on the lips before he turned around and walked away, wondering why leaving was so hard this time.
~*~*~*~
“Alec seems to be a really nice young man,” Nancy began, trying to sound like she was just making conversation. It was already pretty late, she and Liz were in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner since Kyle and Jeff had done the cooking. Well, if you could call throwing pieces of meat on the grill and letting them burn into black little things that reminded you of charcoal cooking.
Liz had a hard time from keeping herself from rolling her eyes. Her mom wasn’t even in Florida for five hours and she was already trying to play matchmaker. What had happened to the good old days when Liz dating had pretty much been her parents’ worst nightmare? What came next, whining about wanting grandchildren and showing her the marriage announcements of all the people in her age?
“Yes he is,” Liz said evenly, even though it took a lot to keep her voice like that.
“Is he seeing anyone?” Nancy asked not even trying to sound innocent anymore.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Liz replied calmly.
“And he’s never asked you out on a date?” Nancy asked incredulously. She couldn’t believe it! Alec was obviously smitten with her daughter, how come he never asked her out?
Well, if you call going skinny dipping a date, Liz thought, but she was wise enough to keep that to herself. “Mom, we’re just friends,” she insisted.
“But you like him,” Nancy said knowingly.
“No mom, I’m only friends with people I despise!” Liz said exasperatedly.
“Okay, okay, I get the message,” Nancy said finally giving up. “So, what’s going on between Kyle and Jondy?” she asked instead. “Those two seemed awfully comfortable with each other.”
That’s because the spent every waking hour of the day fucking each other blind. Hmm, another thought better kept to herself.
“Yes, they are,” Liz said instead.
“Are they dating?” Nancy asked, her curiosity spiked.
“No, just hanging out a lot,” Liz replied in that even voice that was driving her mother nuts.
“Hanging out or making out?” Nancy asked.
“Mom!”
“What? I was young once too.”
“Ugh, too much information,” Liz muttered shuddering while drying her hands on a dish cloth. When exactly had this transformation from mother/daughter to best buddies happened anyway?
“Mom, why are you so eager for me to start dating Alec anyway?” Liz asked not getting it. “You weren’t exactly thrilled when Max and I were together.”
Nancy sat down contemplating how to best answer that. She waited for Liz to take a seat across from her before she began.
“Well…it was just different with you and Max. Everything about your relationship was so intense, so serious. You seemed to be missing out on all the fun. I know that you cared a great deal for him, but he still didn’t seem to make you happy. Except for those few weeks last spring you always seemed so sad, so troubled. I hated seeing you like that, I just wanted to see you laughing and smiling again. Like when you were dating Kyle.”
Liz let out a small laugh. Leaning forward a bit she said, “Mom, Kyle and I…that wasn’t a relationship. We just liked each other and happened to be dating and…that was it.”
“But that’s exactly the point!” Nancy said.
“What, so you think I should date Alec because it wouldn’t be anything serious anyway?” Liz asked getting upset. Why exactly, she had no clue, but she was upset. That last comment bothered her.
Nancy smiled knowingly. “Of course not sweetie. I just think that you two would take it slower and let it develop naturally, not rush into it so much. Besides, Alec seems to be much more easy-going than Max. Max was always so tense, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and so were you when you were with him. I know that you don’t want to talk about Max or whatever happened between you two, but I also know that he’s part of the reason why you left for the summer and that he hurt you, a lot. I just don’t want to see that happening again. Max left you pretty vulnerable, I’d hate to see someone taking advantage of that.”
“And you’re suggesting Alec?” Liz asked a bit shocked. Alec was the last guy she would have ever suspected her mother to want to see her with. Besides, she hardly even knew him.
Nancy thought about it for a moment. “Well, I don’t really know him, but I think he’s a good guy. He was awfully nice when he stopped to give me a hand with the flat tire, not to mention helpful.”
“So you’ve said,” Liz replied. Her mother had mentioned that at least ten times ever since Alec and Jondy had left.
“Look, I’m not saying that you should rush into another relationship right this instant,” Nancy explained. “Absolutely not. But if you do want to date again you could do a lot worse than Alec.”
“Hmm,” was all Liz said, beginning to think about it. Did she want to date again? If so, did she want to date Alec? Did she want whatever it was that was going on between them to go past the realm of friendship, or a fling, or whatever it was they were having? She didn’t know. She’d never really thought about that before. And if she did want that, what about Alec? Would he want that too? If so he sure as hell never gave any indication. He never said anything to her, or hinted at it. Not at all. But then, if he had would she even have noticed it and taken it as what it was or would she have just brushed it off as a stray comment that didn’t mean anything?
Nancy watched Liz closely. The way she was biting her lip could only mean one thing – she’d gotten her to think about it. With a satisfied smile on her lips she wished Liz a good night and left the room, leaving her daughter to her thoughts.
tbc
Tact is for people not witty enough to be sarcastic.
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
Here it is, finally. Sorry for the wait, school is hell right now. Enjoy!
Part 33
Liz was sitting at the bar at Jaded, more nervous than she could ever remember being in her entire life. This was worse than her first night working here, worse than that horrible book presentation in fourth grade were she’d forgotten the name of the main character, worse than the moment right before her first kiss. It wasn’t everyday that you’re strongly opposed parents watched you illegally earning your living as a singer in some raunchy bar for the first time.
Okay, so maybe strongly opposed was exaggerated, as was the thing about the bar being raunchy. But still. Her parents hadn’t exactly been thrilled to hear that she was working at a bar and had been lying to them practically the whole summer. But thanks to Mandy’s diplomatic interference they had agreed to at least come and watch her and reserve judgment for later.
Now her parents and Mandy were sitting next to her, chatting and laughing and generally behaving very strange. What had happened to the stern looks of disappointment and disapproval she’d gotten mere hours ago? This was creepy, and seriously freaking Liz out. Couldn’t they just behave like normal parents? Where did this we’re-so-cool-and-laid-back-attitude suddenly come from? And why in God’s name hadn’t it shown up earlier, say, right after her parents had found out hat she’d skipped school to go gambling in Las Vegas? Liz suspected that Mandy had something to do with it, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out how she’d done it.
Liz had spent the last few days agonizing over whether she should tell her parents the truth or not, making lists of pros and cons, weighing the possible advantages and disadvantages of both possibilities against each other, trying to figure out what the logical solution to the problem would be. In the end Kyle had pointed out that this probably wasn’t a logical decision but rather one for her heart to make. Her conversation with Mandy had come back to her and so she’d come to the conclusion that it was worth the risk and that she should tell them the truth.
They hadn’t reacted as well as Mandy had made it sound they would, but also not nearly as bad as Liz had feared. They’d seemed shocked, and upset that she’d lied to them, but the fact that she was illegally working at a bar didn’t seem to bother them even half as much as it probably should. Why, Liz didn’t have a clue, but she wasn’t about to complain. She loved her job, she really didn’t want to have to give it up.
Glancing at the clock she realized that it was only ten minutes before she started working. Hadn’t they just arrived? Where had the past hour gone all of a sudden?
Her heart started racing and her hands began to shake as she stood up. In a more or less even voice she told her parents and Mandy that she had to get started.
Nancy beamed at her daughter while wishing her good luck. She knew that as a parent she shouldn’t support her seventeen-year-old daughter having a fake ID and using it to work at a bar, but a part of her was just so proud that she’d gotten the job. Liz had always been so shy when it came to public speaking, Nancy would have never in a million years thought that she would have the guts to stand up in front of a crowd as big as this and sing for them. It must have taken a lot of courage for Liz to even apply for the job, and that alone was enough to make Nancy’s heart swell with pride.
At first she had been scared that Liz would forget about college and all her plans for the future to purse a career as a singer instead, but Liz had quickly reassured her that this was only a summer job and that it would definitely not interfere with her dreams of going to Harvard. And after she’d seen the bar and met Matt, the owner, she really didn’t see what was wrong with Liz working here. It was a nice, clean place, the people who came here seemed decent, and the owner seemed nice. Especially to Mandy. Nancy would have to have a little chat with her sister later on.
~*~*~*~
Liz got her guitar from the back room and took a few minutes to try and collect herself. It didn’t work though. Just when she was about to go back out the door opened and Alec came into the room.
“Hey,” he said before leaning down for a kiss.
“Hi,” Liz replied, suddenly feeling a bit less nervous. She didn’t know why, but Alec’s presence always put her at ease.
“Nervous?” Alec asked, even though he didn’t have to inquire. The anxiety was coming off Liz in waves.
“Yeah,” Liz admitted tucking her hair behind her ears.
Alec moved behind Liz and gently started to rub her shoulders. “There’s no reason for that,” he told her. “You’re great up on that stage.”
Liz smiled. Alec never failed to make her feel better. He always knew what to say, what to do. She leaned back into him as she began to relax, and Alec’s lips found his way to the side of her neck. Liz sighed contently, feeling herself melt away under his soft caresses. Tilting her head to the side she closed her lips over his in a soft sweet kiss. After a minute she pulled away again. “I should get going,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” Alec agreed, his voice a bit raspy.
She kissed him one last time before heading towards the door. “Wish me luck.”
Alec smiled. “You don’t need it.”
~*~*~*~
Everything after that went by in a blur. Liz’s walk to the stage was a blur. Beginning to sing was a blur. Starting the next song was a blur. Before she knew it she was suddenly half way through with her set and it was time for her break. With knees threatening to buckle she stood up, whispered a quick thank you into the microphone and wobbled off the stage.
“Oh my God sweetheart, you were amazing!” Nancy exclaimed when Liz reached her parents. Her heart overflowing with motherly pride, causing her to crush Liz against her, not realizing that she was cutting off her daughter’s oxygen supply. Had that really been her baby up there on that stage? She had known that Liz had a good singing voice, she’d caught her quietly singing to herself on more than one occasion. But this…she hadn’t expected her to be this spectacular.
Liz felt relief consume her. She had been so worried that her parents wouldn’t like it, that they’d make her quit her job, or even worse force her to go home with them. That was what had freaked Liz out more than anything, the thought of having to go back to Roswell before she was ready to face the people there, the ghosts of the past, everything that had happened before she’d come to Florida.
But her mother had loved it, and she knew that even if her father disagreed and wanted to take any of those actions, her mother would have the final say, so she didn’t have to worry about that. But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t nervous about her father’s reaction. She and her dad had always had a closed relationship, she valued his opinion a lot. She wanted him to be proud of her. The butterflies were suddenly back in her stomach, but not the good kind.
Liz managed to free herself from her mother’s iron grip and turned to her father. Her mom was the easy one to win over, with her dad she wasn’t so sure. With him, it was just so hard to tell sometimes.
“Daddy?” she asked, trepidation coloring her voice. He had an unreadable expression on his face, and it was driving her crazy, multiplying the anxiety she was already feeling.
Then a smile broke over his features, causing Liz to let out a sigh of relief. “You took my breath away,” he told her honestly before pulling her into a hug. “I’m so proud of you.” Liz sighed in relief, a smile etching itself into her features while she hugged her father back. He had liked it.
Jeff had been anything but happy to hear that his daughter was working at a bar of all places, but after seeing her on that stage…she looked like she really belonged there. She looked happy. Who was he to take that away from her? She had said that this wouldn’t change her plans for the future, so where was the harm in earning some nice money and having fun while doing it?
~*~*~*~
“It was a nice evening, wasn’t it?” Nancy asked her husband. They were in the car on their way home, having left shortly after Liz’s shift had been over. They were tired after the long day filled with sightseeing, but Liz, Kyle and Mandy had wanted to stay a while longer and so they’d left without them.
“Yes, it was,” Jeff said agreeing with his wife. He hadn’t thought it would turn out to be so nice, but he had enjoyed himself immensely. Between making fun of the girl’s need for gossip, especially when it came to Mandy’s quite obvious interest in Matt, with Kyle and Alec and getting into a discussion about sports with the two boys as well as Jondy, he’d had a good time.
“I still can’t believe that it was our little baby girl up on that stage tonight,” Nancy went on. Jeff’s relaxed, quite happy state of mind wasn’t lost on her and so she thought that she might as well take advantage of that as long as it lasted. Now she just had to steer the conversation in the right direction. “Where has all the time gone? Wasn’t it just yesterday that she was born?”
“Starting to feel your years?” Jeff teased lightheartedly.
Nancy laughed and gave her husband a playful slap on the arm. “Who was complaining about a bad back just the other week after getting some supplies off the top shelf?” she shot back humorously.
“Ah yes, I’m afraid we’ve finally left our youthful years behind us, haven’t we?” Jeff replied sighing exaggeratedly.
“Speak for yourself,” Nancy said chuckling, even though she’d been aiming for indignant.
Jeff had a quick comeback on his lips, but he decided that since he did like the idea of living to see the following day it was smarter not to say it. Most women were sensitive when it came to their age, and his wife certainly wasn’t an exception.
“It’s nice seeing her like this again, isn’t it?” Jeff said instead after a short moment of silence.
“You mean Liz?” Nancy asked, curious at what he was getting at. She didn’t expect him to come to exactly the same conclusion as she had, but she hoped that he would at least come close.
Jeff nodded. “Yes. I can’t even remember the last time she was so enthusiastic about something.” He’d missed this spark in his daughter’s eyes that appeared whenever she was consumed by some new hobby or interest. This was the first time in almost a year that he’d caught a glimpse of it.
“Or so happy,” Nancy added casually, hoping she wasn’t being too obvious. But then, men usually weren’t ones to take a hint, especially subtle ones. And her husband certainly wasn’t an exception.
“She does seem awfully happy, doesn’t she? I wonder what’s behind that,” Jeff replied thinking it over. Was it just Florida, the summer at the beach? Her job? Her new friends?
“Well, I’d say she’s been having a great time here,” Nancy replied vaguely. “Did you hear her talking about the amusement park she went to with Alec? She hasn’t been to one ever since Claudia died.”
“She hasn’t, has she? I guess that’s because she took her grandmother’s death so hard. It must have held too many painful memories to go to one. Claudia always took her to any Carnival in a fifty mile radius, that was always a special thing between the two of them.”
“I know,” Nancy replied. “I wonder what made her change her mind and give it a try again.” She had a pretty good idea of what, or rather who had made her change her mind, but for Jeff to really believe it, it had to be him who came up with the idea.
“Maybe Alec convince her,” Jeff replied. “He’s a nice enough guy, and the two of them seem to be getting along rather well. It wouldn’t surprise me if he managed to persuade her.”
Nancy had to hold back from squealing and bouncing up and down in her seat. This was exactly the conclusion she had wanted Jeff to come to, preferably all by himself. Well, maybe it hadn’t been all by himself, but close enough. Him liking Alec was the first step. Now all she had to do was warm him up to the idea of Liz and Alec becoming something more than just friends. She knew exactly that that thought hadn’t crossed his mind up to now, he wouldn’t be speaking so nicely of the boy if it had.
“You’re right,” Nancy said agreeing with her husband. “He seems to bring out the best in our daughter.”
“You think?” Jeff asked. It hadn’t occurred to him up to now to see it that way. But if Nancy was right, maybe he was the reason for Liz’s recent transformation, at least partly. Jeff wouldn’t be all that surprised – it must be reassuring for Liz to see that there were actually decent guys out there who really wanted to be her friend, whom she could trust.
He didn’t know what had happened between his daughter and Max Evans before she’d left Roswell, but he knew exactly that that boy had played a part in her leaving town in such a hurry. Liz’s red, puffy eyes the morning after her prom had not gone unnoticed by her father, and neither had Max’s absence in the wake of Alex’s death. Up to that time Jeff had believed that deep down Max was a decent guy, that the pain he had caused his daughter was unintentionally, the kind of heartache that always came along with the first big love. Now he knew that that wasn’t true.
No matter what had happened between them, nothing excused Max not being there for his daughter after she’d lost her best friend. Whatever had transpired between them, whatever the reason for their break-up had been, Max should have been there for Liz, period. Even Sean Deluce, the last person he would have suspected to have a caring side, had been there for Liz and looked after her. Why not Max, the boy who had claimed to love her with all his soul only months earlier?
And what about Alec? Was he the kind of person who backed out of things when they got complicated? Jeff wasn’t sure. He suspected not, but he didn’t really know. He had no facts to base his assumption on. So far nothing had indicated that he might be that kind of person, but that hadn’t been the case with Max either. You never knew until the going got tough, and Jeff wasn’t willing to sit that out again. He wouldn’t let anybody hurt his daughter again the way Max had, not if he could help it. Not Alec, not anyone else.
But how was he going to find out if he could trust Alec with his daughter’s heart? Suddenly it occurred to him. He would need a partner in crime. Ideally someone who knew Liz as well as he did, who cared for her just as much, and who had the skills to snoop around in the most obvious way without the boy noticing. He glanced over at his wife…
~*~*~*~
“Am I boring you?” Alec asked, startling Liz out of her thoughts. She quickly turned her head back to Alec who was now standing right in front of her staring down at her, a mere foot away. How the hell had he gotten there without her noticing?
“What?” she asked confused. Alec boring her? Yeah, right. When hell freezes over.
“You seem a bit…distracted,” Alec said, a smirk teasing the corner of his lips. Normally he didn’t take too kindly to being ignored, but Liz’s intense interest in the cause of said distraction was sort of cute.
“Distracted?” Liz asked, sounding like she didn’t know what he was talking about, even though she was having a hard time keeping herself from peaking past Alec in the direction of the bar.
Nice try, Parker. “Well, it’s been your turn for a full five minutes now and you have yet to even come near the pool table, so yeah, I’d call that distracted.”
“Oh,” Liz said blushing. “Sorry. It’s not you,” she went out while going over to the billiard table to plan her next move. “I’m just curious about what’s going on between them. I mean, they’ve been like that for hours now. What can you talk about for that long?”
She narrowly missed the hole she’d been aiming for. Alec smirked. “Yeah,” he said casually while bending over the pool table to take his shot. Liz couldn’t help but lean back and tilt her head to the side to enjoy the nice view.
“Especially if you just saw each other a few days ago,” Alec went on before sinking one of his balls.
“What?!” Liz asked.
“I saw them at the park eating ice cream a few days before your parents came. If I didn’t know better I’d think it was a date,” Alec said as if it were the most mundane little fact in the world, knowing exactly that Liz didn’t exactly agree with that. What could he say, he enjoyed riling her up. Besides, it was only fair to tease her a bit, she’d been ignoring him.
“My aunt and my boss were on a date?!” Liz asked raising her voice, eyes wide and mouth slightly open in shock.
“Yeah,” Alec mumbled, preparing to sink the next ball. Swiveling slightly to the right in the last moment he missed the shot.
“Your turn,” he said smiling.
Liz just stared at him.
“Damn it Alec, stop egging her on,” Kyle said from the pool table next to them. “I’m the one who has to share a bed with her. And when she goes to bed all grumpy she spends the night kicking around in her sleep, ergo I won’t be getting much of that and end up with my shins all green and blue.”
“I’m sure Liz’s parents are thrilled about you two sharing a bedroom,” Jondy said chuckling.
“Oh please, do you think I’ve lost my mind?” Kyle asked. “Like we’d ever tell them that. I sort of like my face the way it is.”
“Aww, is my Kyle-baby scared of the big bad Mr. Parker?” Jondy cooed while tickling Kyle’s chin like one would a baby’s.
Kyle swatted her hand away. “Hey, you’ve never seen him mad. I have. Trust me, you’d be…cautious too,” he insisted, emphasizing the cautious-part. He didn’t like being made fun of, especially by a girl. Even one he was sleeping with.
“Come on, he wasn’t that bad,” Liz said, knowing exactly what Kyle was referring to – the time he’d brought her home late back when they’d still been dating. “He was just a little worried.”
“Worried?!” Kyle asked. “Liz, he told me flat-out that I was lucky to be the sheriff’s son, or else…”
“He was joking!” Liz insisted.
“Yeah right,” Kyle muttered before going back to his game of pool. Jondy narrowed her eyes as she watched him succeed at a shot that should have actually been impossible. How was he doing it?
“You don’t have to let him sleep in your room,” Alec pointed out coming up behind Liz and wrapping his arms around her waist. “He seems a bit ungrateful, don’t you think? I’m sure some other possible candidates could be found for that.”
Even without seeing his face Liz know he was smirking. She smiled back. “And who were you thinking of?” she asked in a sultry voice while turning around.
“No idea,” Alec replied in a low voice. “But if you don’t find someone I would volunteer.” He sighed exaggeratedly. “It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.”
“That’s awfully gracious of you,” Liz said tilting her head upwards.
“What can I say, I’m a boy scout at heart,” Alec replied leaning down to her.
Liz snorted. “Right.”
“Don’t believe me?” Alec asked, and then the distance between them was suddenly gone as their lips found each other in a slow, tantalizing kiss.
“Who’s turn is it?” Liz mumbled after a minute. Normally she wasn’t the type to make out with someone in front of a family member, especially if the guy wasn’t her boyfriend, but Mandy already knew about her and Alec, so where was the point of holding back? Besides, it’s not like she would notice the way she was hanging on Matt’s lips.
“Yours,” Alec replied, even though he wasn’t all together sure if it was actually her turn. Who cared anyway? It was just a stupid game of pool. This however, this was something that had priority.
Liz apparently disagreed with him since she pulled away. “Guess I should play then, huh?” she asked smirking slightly.
“No,” Alec replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, before pulling her back into his arms and into another kiss.
Liz let herself be consumed by his taste and his touch one more time before gathering her strength and stepping back.
“Oh, but I should. I believe I remember a certain somebody complaining about me being distracted from our game,” she said still smiling.
“But some distractions are good,” Alec insisted.
Liz laughed. “Sorry, I have to beat you first. We can make out some more later.”
“That better be a promise,” Alec muttered.
Liz started wrapping up the game, carefully planning each move, weighing the different options against each other before making a decision, and sinking one ball after the other.
She missed the second to last shot though, and so it was Alec’s turn again. He followed suit, also sinking most of his balls without any problems, even though he seemed to neither plan or care about his tactic. When he missed a rather simple shot it was Liz’s turn again, and she took the opportunity to rid the table of her remaining balls.
“I won,” she said grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“Yeah, you did,” Alec admitted leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss.
Liz pulled back slightly. “I know you let me win,” she told him flat out, taking Alec by surprise. He knew that denying the charges would be useless though and so he remained silent.
“I just hope you know that I would have won either way,” she added smirking.
“You think?” Alec asked also smiling.
“Think?” Liz asked. “I know.”
“You got a pretty big mouth for someone that small,” Alec countered.
“You never complained about my mouth before,” Liz said pouting slightly, the sultry tone back in her voice.
“I would never dare,” Alec insisted. “I love your mouth just the way it is.”
“Oh yeah?” Liz asked grinning. “How about you prove that?”
Alec smiled. Now that was a challenge he was up to.
tbc
Part 33
Liz was sitting at the bar at Jaded, more nervous than she could ever remember being in her entire life. This was worse than her first night working here, worse than that horrible book presentation in fourth grade were she’d forgotten the name of the main character, worse than the moment right before her first kiss. It wasn’t everyday that you’re strongly opposed parents watched you illegally earning your living as a singer in some raunchy bar for the first time.
Okay, so maybe strongly opposed was exaggerated, as was the thing about the bar being raunchy. But still. Her parents hadn’t exactly been thrilled to hear that she was working at a bar and had been lying to them practically the whole summer. But thanks to Mandy’s diplomatic interference they had agreed to at least come and watch her and reserve judgment for later.
Now her parents and Mandy were sitting next to her, chatting and laughing and generally behaving very strange. What had happened to the stern looks of disappointment and disapproval she’d gotten mere hours ago? This was creepy, and seriously freaking Liz out. Couldn’t they just behave like normal parents? Where did this we’re-so-cool-and-laid-back-attitude suddenly come from? And why in God’s name hadn’t it shown up earlier, say, right after her parents had found out hat she’d skipped school to go gambling in Las Vegas? Liz suspected that Mandy had something to do with it, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out how she’d done it.
Liz had spent the last few days agonizing over whether she should tell her parents the truth or not, making lists of pros and cons, weighing the possible advantages and disadvantages of both possibilities against each other, trying to figure out what the logical solution to the problem would be. In the end Kyle had pointed out that this probably wasn’t a logical decision but rather one for her heart to make. Her conversation with Mandy had come back to her and so she’d come to the conclusion that it was worth the risk and that she should tell them the truth.
They hadn’t reacted as well as Mandy had made it sound they would, but also not nearly as bad as Liz had feared. They’d seemed shocked, and upset that she’d lied to them, but the fact that she was illegally working at a bar didn’t seem to bother them even half as much as it probably should. Why, Liz didn’t have a clue, but she wasn’t about to complain. She loved her job, she really didn’t want to have to give it up.
Glancing at the clock she realized that it was only ten minutes before she started working. Hadn’t they just arrived? Where had the past hour gone all of a sudden?
Her heart started racing and her hands began to shake as she stood up. In a more or less even voice she told her parents and Mandy that she had to get started.
Nancy beamed at her daughter while wishing her good luck. She knew that as a parent she shouldn’t support her seventeen-year-old daughter having a fake ID and using it to work at a bar, but a part of her was just so proud that she’d gotten the job. Liz had always been so shy when it came to public speaking, Nancy would have never in a million years thought that she would have the guts to stand up in front of a crowd as big as this and sing for them. It must have taken a lot of courage for Liz to even apply for the job, and that alone was enough to make Nancy’s heart swell with pride.
At first she had been scared that Liz would forget about college and all her plans for the future to purse a career as a singer instead, but Liz had quickly reassured her that this was only a summer job and that it would definitely not interfere with her dreams of going to Harvard. And after she’d seen the bar and met Matt, the owner, she really didn’t see what was wrong with Liz working here. It was a nice, clean place, the people who came here seemed decent, and the owner seemed nice. Especially to Mandy. Nancy would have to have a little chat with her sister later on.
~*~*~*~
Liz got her guitar from the back room and took a few minutes to try and collect herself. It didn’t work though. Just when she was about to go back out the door opened and Alec came into the room.
“Hey,” he said before leaning down for a kiss.
“Hi,” Liz replied, suddenly feeling a bit less nervous. She didn’t know why, but Alec’s presence always put her at ease.
“Nervous?” Alec asked, even though he didn’t have to inquire. The anxiety was coming off Liz in waves.
“Yeah,” Liz admitted tucking her hair behind her ears.
Alec moved behind Liz and gently started to rub her shoulders. “There’s no reason for that,” he told her. “You’re great up on that stage.”
Liz smiled. Alec never failed to make her feel better. He always knew what to say, what to do. She leaned back into him as she began to relax, and Alec’s lips found his way to the side of her neck. Liz sighed contently, feeling herself melt away under his soft caresses. Tilting her head to the side she closed her lips over his in a soft sweet kiss. After a minute she pulled away again. “I should get going,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” Alec agreed, his voice a bit raspy.
She kissed him one last time before heading towards the door. “Wish me luck.”
Alec smiled. “You don’t need it.”
~*~*~*~
Everything after that went by in a blur. Liz’s walk to the stage was a blur. Beginning to sing was a blur. Starting the next song was a blur. Before she knew it she was suddenly half way through with her set and it was time for her break. With knees threatening to buckle she stood up, whispered a quick thank you into the microphone and wobbled off the stage.
“Oh my God sweetheart, you were amazing!” Nancy exclaimed when Liz reached her parents. Her heart overflowing with motherly pride, causing her to crush Liz against her, not realizing that she was cutting off her daughter’s oxygen supply. Had that really been her baby up there on that stage? She had known that Liz had a good singing voice, she’d caught her quietly singing to herself on more than one occasion. But this…she hadn’t expected her to be this spectacular.
Liz felt relief consume her. She had been so worried that her parents wouldn’t like it, that they’d make her quit her job, or even worse force her to go home with them. That was what had freaked Liz out more than anything, the thought of having to go back to Roswell before she was ready to face the people there, the ghosts of the past, everything that had happened before she’d come to Florida.
But her mother had loved it, and she knew that even if her father disagreed and wanted to take any of those actions, her mother would have the final say, so she didn’t have to worry about that. But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t nervous about her father’s reaction. She and her dad had always had a closed relationship, she valued his opinion a lot. She wanted him to be proud of her. The butterflies were suddenly back in her stomach, but not the good kind.
Liz managed to free herself from her mother’s iron grip and turned to her father. Her mom was the easy one to win over, with her dad she wasn’t so sure. With him, it was just so hard to tell sometimes.
“Daddy?” she asked, trepidation coloring her voice. He had an unreadable expression on his face, and it was driving her crazy, multiplying the anxiety she was already feeling.
Then a smile broke over his features, causing Liz to let out a sigh of relief. “You took my breath away,” he told her honestly before pulling her into a hug. “I’m so proud of you.” Liz sighed in relief, a smile etching itself into her features while she hugged her father back. He had liked it.
Jeff had been anything but happy to hear that his daughter was working at a bar of all places, but after seeing her on that stage…she looked like she really belonged there. She looked happy. Who was he to take that away from her? She had said that this wouldn’t change her plans for the future, so where was the harm in earning some nice money and having fun while doing it?
~*~*~*~
“It was a nice evening, wasn’t it?” Nancy asked her husband. They were in the car on their way home, having left shortly after Liz’s shift had been over. They were tired after the long day filled with sightseeing, but Liz, Kyle and Mandy had wanted to stay a while longer and so they’d left without them.
“Yes, it was,” Jeff said agreeing with his wife. He hadn’t thought it would turn out to be so nice, but he had enjoyed himself immensely. Between making fun of the girl’s need for gossip, especially when it came to Mandy’s quite obvious interest in Matt, with Kyle and Alec and getting into a discussion about sports with the two boys as well as Jondy, he’d had a good time.
“I still can’t believe that it was our little baby girl up on that stage tonight,” Nancy went on. Jeff’s relaxed, quite happy state of mind wasn’t lost on her and so she thought that she might as well take advantage of that as long as it lasted. Now she just had to steer the conversation in the right direction. “Where has all the time gone? Wasn’t it just yesterday that she was born?”
“Starting to feel your years?” Jeff teased lightheartedly.
Nancy laughed and gave her husband a playful slap on the arm. “Who was complaining about a bad back just the other week after getting some supplies off the top shelf?” she shot back humorously.
“Ah yes, I’m afraid we’ve finally left our youthful years behind us, haven’t we?” Jeff replied sighing exaggeratedly.
“Speak for yourself,” Nancy said chuckling, even though she’d been aiming for indignant.
Jeff had a quick comeback on his lips, but he decided that since he did like the idea of living to see the following day it was smarter not to say it. Most women were sensitive when it came to their age, and his wife certainly wasn’t an exception.
“It’s nice seeing her like this again, isn’t it?” Jeff said instead after a short moment of silence.
“You mean Liz?” Nancy asked, curious at what he was getting at. She didn’t expect him to come to exactly the same conclusion as she had, but she hoped that he would at least come close.
Jeff nodded. “Yes. I can’t even remember the last time she was so enthusiastic about something.” He’d missed this spark in his daughter’s eyes that appeared whenever she was consumed by some new hobby or interest. This was the first time in almost a year that he’d caught a glimpse of it.
“Or so happy,” Nancy added casually, hoping she wasn’t being too obvious. But then, men usually weren’t ones to take a hint, especially subtle ones. And her husband certainly wasn’t an exception.
“She does seem awfully happy, doesn’t she? I wonder what’s behind that,” Jeff replied thinking it over. Was it just Florida, the summer at the beach? Her job? Her new friends?
“Well, I’d say she’s been having a great time here,” Nancy replied vaguely. “Did you hear her talking about the amusement park she went to with Alec? She hasn’t been to one ever since Claudia died.”
“She hasn’t, has she? I guess that’s because she took her grandmother’s death so hard. It must have held too many painful memories to go to one. Claudia always took her to any Carnival in a fifty mile radius, that was always a special thing between the two of them.”
“I know,” Nancy replied. “I wonder what made her change her mind and give it a try again.” She had a pretty good idea of what, or rather who had made her change her mind, but for Jeff to really believe it, it had to be him who came up with the idea.
“Maybe Alec convince her,” Jeff replied. “He’s a nice enough guy, and the two of them seem to be getting along rather well. It wouldn’t surprise me if he managed to persuade her.”
Nancy had to hold back from squealing and bouncing up and down in her seat. This was exactly the conclusion she had wanted Jeff to come to, preferably all by himself. Well, maybe it hadn’t been all by himself, but close enough. Him liking Alec was the first step. Now all she had to do was warm him up to the idea of Liz and Alec becoming something more than just friends. She knew exactly that that thought hadn’t crossed his mind up to now, he wouldn’t be speaking so nicely of the boy if it had.
“You’re right,” Nancy said agreeing with her husband. “He seems to bring out the best in our daughter.”
“You think?” Jeff asked. It hadn’t occurred to him up to now to see it that way. But if Nancy was right, maybe he was the reason for Liz’s recent transformation, at least partly. Jeff wouldn’t be all that surprised – it must be reassuring for Liz to see that there were actually decent guys out there who really wanted to be her friend, whom she could trust.
He didn’t know what had happened between his daughter and Max Evans before she’d left Roswell, but he knew exactly that that boy had played a part in her leaving town in such a hurry. Liz’s red, puffy eyes the morning after her prom had not gone unnoticed by her father, and neither had Max’s absence in the wake of Alex’s death. Up to that time Jeff had believed that deep down Max was a decent guy, that the pain he had caused his daughter was unintentionally, the kind of heartache that always came along with the first big love. Now he knew that that wasn’t true.
No matter what had happened between them, nothing excused Max not being there for his daughter after she’d lost her best friend. Whatever had transpired between them, whatever the reason for their break-up had been, Max should have been there for Liz, period. Even Sean Deluce, the last person he would have suspected to have a caring side, had been there for Liz and looked after her. Why not Max, the boy who had claimed to love her with all his soul only months earlier?
And what about Alec? Was he the kind of person who backed out of things when they got complicated? Jeff wasn’t sure. He suspected not, but he didn’t really know. He had no facts to base his assumption on. So far nothing had indicated that he might be that kind of person, but that hadn’t been the case with Max either. You never knew until the going got tough, and Jeff wasn’t willing to sit that out again. He wouldn’t let anybody hurt his daughter again the way Max had, not if he could help it. Not Alec, not anyone else.
But how was he going to find out if he could trust Alec with his daughter’s heart? Suddenly it occurred to him. He would need a partner in crime. Ideally someone who knew Liz as well as he did, who cared for her just as much, and who had the skills to snoop around in the most obvious way without the boy noticing. He glanced over at his wife…
~*~*~*~
“Am I boring you?” Alec asked, startling Liz out of her thoughts. She quickly turned her head back to Alec who was now standing right in front of her staring down at her, a mere foot away. How the hell had he gotten there without her noticing?
“What?” she asked confused. Alec boring her? Yeah, right. When hell freezes over.
“You seem a bit…distracted,” Alec said, a smirk teasing the corner of his lips. Normally he didn’t take too kindly to being ignored, but Liz’s intense interest in the cause of said distraction was sort of cute.
“Distracted?” Liz asked, sounding like she didn’t know what he was talking about, even though she was having a hard time keeping herself from peaking past Alec in the direction of the bar.
Nice try, Parker. “Well, it’s been your turn for a full five minutes now and you have yet to even come near the pool table, so yeah, I’d call that distracted.”
“Oh,” Liz said blushing. “Sorry. It’s not you,” she went out while going over to the billiard table to plan her next move. “I’m just curious about what’s going on between them. I mean, they’ve been like that for hours now. What can you talk about for that long?”
She narrowly missed the hole she’d been aiming for. Alec smirked. “Yeah,” he said casually while bending over the pool table to take his shot. Liz couldn’t help but lean back and tilt her head to the side to enjoy the nice view.
“Especially if you just saw each other a few days ago,” Alec went on before sinking one of his balls.
“What?!” Liz asked.
“I saw them at the park eating ice cream a few days before your parents came. If I didn’t know better I’d think it was a date,” Alec said as if it were the most mundane little fact in the world, knowing exactly that Liz didn’t exactly agree with that. What could he say, he enjoyed riling her up. Besides, it was only fair to tease her a bit, she’d been ignoring him.
“My aunt and my boss were on a date?!” Liz asked raising her voice, eyes wide and mouth slightly open in shock.
“Yeah,” Alec mumbled, preparing to sink the next ball. Swiveling slightly to the right in the last moment he missed the shot.
“Your turn,” he said smiling.
Liz just stared at him.
“Damn it Alec, stop egging her on,” Kyle said from the pool table next to them. “I’m the one who has to share a bed with her. And when she goes to bed all grumpy she spends the night kicking around in her sleep, ergo I won’t be getting much of that and end up with my shins all green and blue.”
“I’m sure Liz’s parents are thrilled about you two sharing a bedroom,” Jondy said chuckling.
“Oh please, do you think I’ve lost my mind?” Kyle asked. “Like we’d ever tell them that. I sort of like my face the way it is.”
“Aww, is my Kyle-baby scared of the big bad Mr. Parker?” Jondy cooed while tickling Kyle’s chin like one would a baby’s.
Kyle swatted her hand away. “Hey, you’ve never seen him mad. I have. Trust me, you’d be…cautious too,” he insisted, emphasizing the cautious-part. He didn’t like being made fun of, especially by a girl. Even one he was sleeping with.
“Come on, he wasn’t that bad,” Liz said, knowing exactly what Kyle was referring to – the time he’d brought her home late back when they’d still been dating. “He was just a little worried.”
“Worried?!” Kyle asked. “Liz, he told me flat-out that I was lucky to be the sheriff’s son, or else…”
“He was joking!” Liz insisted.
“Yeah right,” Kyle muttered before going back to his game of pool. Jondy narrowed her eyes as she watched him succeed at a shot that should have actually been impossible. How was he doing it?
“You don’t have to let him sleep in your room,” Alec pointed out coming up behind Liz and wrapping his arms around her waist. “He seems a bit ungrateful, don’t you think? I’m sure some other possible candidates could be found for that.”
Even without seeing his face Liz know he was smirking. She smiled back. “And who were you thinking of?” she asked in a sultry voice while turning around.
“No idea,” Alec replied in a low voice. “But if you don’t find someone I would volunteer.” He sighed exaggeratedly. “It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.”
“That’s awfully gracious of you,” Liz said tilting her head upwards.
“What can I say, I’m a boy scout at heart,” Alec replied leaning down to her.
Liz snorted. “Right.”
“Don’t believe me?” Alec asked, and then the distance between them was suddenly gone as their lips found each other in a slow, tantalizing kiss.
“Who’s turn is it?” Liz mumbled after a minute. Normally she wasn’t the type to make out with someone in front of a family member, especially if the guy wasn’t her boyfriend, but Mandy already knew about her and Alec, so where was the point of holding back? Besides, it’s not like she would notice the way she was hanging on Matt’s lips.
“Yours,” Alec replied, even though he wasn’t all together sure if it was actually her turn. Who cared anyway? It was just a stupid game of pool. This however, this was something that had priority.
Liz apparently disagreed with him since she pulled away. “Guess I should play then, huh?” she asked smirking slightly.
“No,” Alec replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, before pulling her back into his arms and into another kiss.
Liz let herself be consumed by his taste and his touch one more time before gathering her strength and stepping back.
“Oh, but I should. I believe I remember a certain somebody complaining about me being distracted from our game,” she said still smiling.
“But some distractions are good,” Alec insisted.
Liz laughed. “Sorry, I have to beat you first. We can make out some more later.”
“That better be a promise,” Alec muttered.
Liz started wrapping up the game, carefully planning each move, weighing the different options against each other before making a decision, and sinking one ball after the other.
She missed the second to last shot though, and so it was Alec’s turn again. He followed suit, also sinking most of his balls without any problems, even though he seemed to neither plan or care about his tactic. When he missed a rather simple shot it was Liz’s turn again, and she took the opportunity to rid the table of her remaining balls.
“I won,” she said grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“Yeah, you did,” Alec admitted leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss.
Liz pulled back slightly. “I know you let me win,” she told him flat out, taking Alec by surprise. He knew that denying the charges would be useless though and so he remained silent.
“I just hope you know that I would have won either way,” she added smirking.
“You think?” Alec asked also smiling.
“Think?” Liz asked. “I know.”
“You got a pretty big mouth for someone that small,” Alec countered.
“You never complained about my mouth before,” Liz said pouting slightly, the sultry tone back in her voice.
“I would never dare,” Alec insisted. “I love your mouth just the way it is.”
“Oh yeah?” Liz asked grinning. “How about you prove that?”
Alec smiled. Now that was a challenge he was up to.
tbc
Tact is for people not witty enough to be sarcastic.
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
I know I've said this a million times before, but I am very, very, very sorry for the wait. Christmas vacation turned out being much too short, just like every year, hence I didn't get nearly as much writing done as I wanted. In January I'm always pretty stressed due to finals. I had a lot of important exams, and a lot of studying, but so far I've done pretty well this semester. I have two more finals on Wednesday, but then I'm off for over a month. And I swear I will really work on my stories in that time. I want to get DDIO done before the semester starts in March, which should be doable. Anyway, for now I have a brand new part for you, hope you like it. And once again, sorry for keeping you hanging so long.
Part 34
Liz was wandering around the Museum of Science and Planetarium in Miami, surprisingly disinterested in what there was to see. Normally she would consider a place like this as a slice of heaven, but today her heart just wasn’t in it. It had been a struggle to even get out of bed in the morning. She’d felt more like pulling the covers over her head and spending the day there, not in the mood to do anything at all that required moving. She didn’t know why, but for the last few days she’d been strangely depressed. Nothing had happened to cause it though, and somehow she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to know why she was feeling so down.
Her dad had gone home a few days ago since one of their cooks had broken his arm and could no longer work, but that couldn’t be the reason for her sudden depression. She loved her dad, of course, but she was used to not having him around after being hundreds of miles away the whole summer. His absence couldn’t be why she felt so…dejected.
Liz started feeling slightly irritated with herself. She was in Miami for Christ’s sake, on a day trip with her mom, her aunt and Kyle. The weather was great, the city was beautiful…she had no reason to be unhappy. So why was she?
And on top of all that, she hadn’t seen Alec in almost a week. Okay, so maybe it was only four days and 19 hours, but that was a long time in her eyes. She was used to seeing him practically daily, so not seeing him for so long was…well, weird. She missed him…sort of. He would be able to cheer her up now. But of course he wasn’t here. Her mom had suggested inviting him along, but Liz had told her that he had to work before even asking if he wanted to come with them. She didn’t know why, but it just made her uncomfortable to spend time with both her parents and Alec. Probably because her relationship with him included a lot more than her parents thought it did.
It wasn’t that they didn’t get along though. Not that her parents and Alec had spent a lot of time together. After the night at the bar they had only seen each other once when Nancy had invited Alec to their barbeque on Saturday. Alec had been his usual charming self, wrapping Liz’s parents around his finger without even really trying. He’d managed to project the image of being a trustworthy, ambitious young man who had sensible goals and a very mature stand on life. Jeff had been content and Nancy downright thrilled, leaving Liz slightly amused and somehow pleased that her parents actually liked Alec.
At first Liz had thought that he was pulling off a show to make her parents like him, but after listening to him talking for a while she had realized that he was actually sincere. She’d never seen that side of Alec before, and to be honest, it had warmed her heart for some reason and left her feeling giddy and happy.
Liz sighed. It really had been an awfully long time since she’d last seen Alec. She wondered if he missed her too. Not that she missed him or anything. Of course she didn’t. At least not more than a friend misses another friend that they haven’t seen for a long time…or a few days.
Liz sighed again. Was this normal? Feeling like this? She didn’t miss Maria like she missed Alec. Of course, she didn’t usually make out with Maria a lot. And they hadn’t been on the best of terms when she’d left Roswell. And she missed Alex a lot more than she missed Alec. Of course, Alex was dead, so that changed things. Putting all this together, it probably was normal to feel like this about not seeing Alec. Right?
“Liz, there you are!” she heard Kyle calling behind her. She turned around. “Hey,” she said, forcing a smile on her lips that she hoped looked genuine.
“You done?” Kyle asked. “The rest of us are. We wanted to go and grab a bite, then check out this mall Mandy claims is really nice. That okay with you? If you want more time to look around, no problem, we can wait a bit longer if you want.”
“No, it’s okay, we can leave. I’ve seen everything,” Liz lied. Truth was, she’d hardly seen anything at all, or at least she couldn’t remember much. But she didn’t really care. She just wasn’t in the mood for science today. And she certainly didn’t want to be the one who held the others up.
“Great,” Kyle replied. “Let’s go. Nancy and Mandy are waiting at the exit.”
~*~*~*~
Liz breathed out a sigh of relief when they finally got back home that evening. Kyle showered, changed and went off to work while Liz went up to the room under the excuse of being tired. She just wanted to be alone. She was sick and tired of smiling and pretending to be happy when she actually wasn’t.
After the museum they’d gone to a seafood restaurant, and even though the food had been delicious she’d hardly managed to eat anything at all. Then they’d gone to Bayside Marketplace, an open air mall that had an amazing view of all the cruise ships docked across the bay. It had been beautiful, and there had been some really neat shops, but once again, Liz just hadn’t been in the right mood.
Liz wasn’t sure, but she thought that maybe her mother had noticed something. She had caught her watching her a few times, and once she’d even asked if she and Alec had had a fight. Now, Liz had no idea where her mother had gotten that idea from, or why she would ask such a question. And even if they had fought, that wouldn’t be a reason for her to be in such a bad mood. So why had her mother thought so? They were just friends after all. And why did her mother always know when something was up anyway? Damn maternal instincts.
Liz got up from her bed that she’d been lying on for the past half hour or so and decided that she needed something to take her mind of…everything. She booted Mandy’s laptop, hoping to find a new email from Maria in her inbox, but there was nothing. Damn it. Couldn’t Maria even answer a stupid email? Was that too much to ask of her so-called best friend?
Liz sat back down on her bed in a huff, her arms crossed over her chest, irritated with herself for being angry at Maria. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d only written her a day or two ago. So what if she took a few days to get back to her? She usually didn’t reply right away either. What was wrong with her? She was acting so strange. Liz sighed while flopping back down on the bed. She didn’t know. Maybe this was what PMS was like.
~*~*~*~
Liz must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew it was suddenly dark outside. She sat up, still half asleep, and stumbled into the bathroom. She reached for the light switch and winced at the brightness. How long had she slept? A glance on her watch answered her question. They’d come home more than four hours ago.
After rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she looked into the mirror, surprised to find her cheeks flushed and her eyes unusually bright. Then it came back to her…the dream, Alec and her…doing a lot more than just making out. Heat shot into her cheeks and a few other places and her knees quivered as the intensity of the dream washed over her. She leaned onto the sink, scared that her legs would give out if she didn’t. Jesus Christ. Sure, she’d had erotic dreams before, but nothing like that. Definitely nothing like that.
Slowly she walked back into her room, wide awake now. Since she felt like some fresh air and knew that sleeping was not an option right now, she decided to go out to the beach for a walk or something. She grabbed a sweatshirt, pulled it on and opened her bedroom door. The house was quiet, her mom and Mandy had probably already gone to bed. It was past midnight after all.
Down at the beach Liz enjoyed the cool breeze coming form the ocean and the soft sand under her feet, but neither of those things made the throbbing in her groin go away. Almost before her mind registered her decision, Liz abruptly turned around and headed towards the street. Her pace picked up until she was practically running, not stopping until she reached the apartment building where Alec lived. The door wasn’t quite closed and so she simply went inside and started up the stairs, two steps at a time, not caring that she was already out of breath, that her muscles were screaming in protest or that her lungs were begging for some oxygen.
It took her two seconds after knocking on Alec’s door to realize how stupid it was to just show up here in the middle of the night unannounced. What if he was already asleep? What if he wasn’t home? Or what if he wasn’t alone?
That thought was like a punch to the gut and enough to make Liz want to just get the hell out of there. But before she could move, the door suddenly opened and Alec stood there in all his glory. That was at least the expression Liz would have used. He was wearing nothing but jeans, his hair wet and brushed casually out of his face. Water drops covered his skin, sliding down his arms, his chest. He must have just gotten out of the shower and quickly pulled on some pants to go answer the door. Liz just stared.
Alec was more than just surprised to have Liz suddenly standing at his door in the middle of the night, but his delight at seeing her again after almost a week easily won out and a smile spread over his lips. He’d missed her.
He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get even one word out Liz had already closed the distance between them, pulled his head down to hers and kissed him with a sense of wild abandonment Alec had never seen in her before.
Her attack had come as a surprise, but Alec recovered quickly and responded with the same ferocity, his hands tangling in her hair, making sure that she stayed where she was. Not that Liz had even the slightest intention of going anywhere.
She urged Alec farther into the apartment and kicked the door closed behind them, never breaking the kiss. She didn’t stop moving until they reached the couch. Pushing Alec onto it she pulled off her sweatshirt, leaving her wearing nothing but a tank top, before straddling his lap and closing her lips over his again, picking up where they had left off five seconds ago.
Liz had been more than just relieved when an easy smile had spread over Alec’s features upon seeing her on his doorstep. Not just because he obviously didn’t mind her just coming over like that in the middle of the night but also because that meant that he was alone. He would have never reacted like that if there was someone else there. With the realization that this hadn’t been such a stupid idea after all the desire had come back full force and Liz wouldn’t have been able to keep her hands off Alec even if she’d wanted to.
Alec wasn’t sure where Liz’s urgency suddenly came from, but he wasn’t about to complain. He enjoyed Liz’s onslaught, liked the way she took control to get what she obviously craved. His hands slipped down to her hips, skimming over the bare inch of flesh between her jeans and her tank top. Feeling Liz shiver, he took it as an encouragement and let his hands slip under the back of her shirt.
A breathless moan escaped Liz’s lips upon feeling Alec’s warm hands on her back. It was such a simple touch, but it still sent goose bumps up and down her spine. Liz pressed even harder into Alec, gasping when she felt his erection against her core. It still surprised, almost humbled her how easily she could turn Alec on.
As much as he was enjoying letting Liz have her way with him, Alec decided that it was time to switch roles. He stood up and in one smooth movement wrapped Liz’s legs around his waist before heading towards his bedroom. His hands slipped under her shirt once again, tugging it up and over her head. As soon as the offensive garment was gone, Liz’ lips crashed back onto his. Her bare chest pressed against his, perked nipples scrapping over damp skin, almost making him lose it.
Alec let himself fall onto his bed, Liz still in his arms, and then rolled them over so that she was beneath him. Normally he would be careful to keep most of his weight off a girl, especially one as small and delicate as Liz, but he knew that she could take it and therefore didn’t bother. It was too nice feeling her pressed against him so tightly.
He pulled his mouth away from hers and started trailing a path of kisses down her neck. He nipped at her skin, teeth scraping over hot flesh, not able to get enough of her taste. He lingered at her pulse point, knowing that she enjoyed the additional attention to that particularly sensitive spot. The soft, breathy sounds escaping her lips confirmed it.
While his mouth was working on her neck, his hand snuck up to cup her breast, his thumb brushing over her already taut nipple. His lips slipped down lower and headed towards her other breast. He caught her nipple between his teeth and flicked his tongue over it before sucking gently. Liz moaned and buried her hands in his hair, not wanting him to stop, ever. After some time Alec switched breasts, careful to give the other one the same treatment.
Liz felt like she was on the brink of exploding, or imploding. She didn’t know how much more she’d be able to take. Pulling Alec’s mouth back up to hers she wrapped her legs around his hips, the need of feeling him close to her too strong to fight. Teeth clashed and tongues dueled as Liz started rotating her hips, instinctively rubbing her center against Alec’s very obvious arousal. She didn’t know what had gotten into her, but this just felt so right, so natural. And she just needed…she wasn’t sure what. Relief probably.
Whatever it was, Alec obviously agreed with her since his hips weren’t exactly motionless either. Heat started gathering in her core, edged on by Alec’s mouth nibbling on her lips before dipping his tongue into her mouth to tangle with hers and his clever hands on her breasts, back, stomach, everywhere. How the hell could they be at all those places at the same time?
Alec’s lips returned to her neck before starting to nibble on her earlobe when Liz suddenly felt her heartbeat picking up. There was a tingling sensation in her groin and a second later something inside her exploded. Her nails dug into Alec’s back while her legs tightened around his waist, her head falling forward onto his shoulder as a sob escaped her lips.
She was trembling, she realized after a few minutes, while Alec was pressing soft, open-mouth kisses on her neck. Jesus Christ, what had just happened? Well, she knew of course what had happened. She’d just never thought that her body could have such a strong reaction to something as simple as making out. Okay, so making out was maybe a bit of an understatement. But they hadn’t even touched each other. Not like that anyway.
Alec pressed a quick kiss on her lips and murmured that he would be right back before getting up. It wasn’t until he had left the room that Liz realized he’d probably gone to get cleaned up. Heat and a certain sense of smug satisfaction spread through her body upon realizing that she could affect him as much as he could her.
She yawned, suddenly tired, and when Alec came back a few minutes later he found her on the brink of falling asleep. He grabbed her tank top up from the floor and helped her into it before pulling off her jeans so that she would be comfortable while sleeping. Alec settled down beside Liz, rolling her over so that she was snuggled up beside him, her head resting on his chest right where his heart was. Within seconds she was sound asleep.
~*~*~*~
When Liz woke up dawn was just starting to break. She shifted and Alec pressed a soft kiss on the crown of her head. “Hey sleepyhead,” he murmured.
Liz turned so that she could look at him. Her eyes met his and a smile spread over her lips. “Hey yourself. Have you been up long?”
“A little while,” Alec replied. That wasn’t quite true. He hadn’t slept at all, preferring to watch Liz while she slept. She’d looked so peaceful, so calm. He could have spent eternity just watching her sleeping beside him like that.
“What time is it?” Liz asked, trying to stifle a yawn.
“Just past seven,” Alec replied without even glancing at his watch. Liz didn’t notice.
“I should probably get going,” Liz sighed, already regretting having to leave him. “I don’t want my mom to discover that I’m gone. I don’t think she’d take too kindly to me sneaking out in the middle of the night and spending the night at your place.”
“No, probably not,” Alec replied chuckling. When Liz made no move to get up he wrapped his arm around her, letting his fingers skim over her soft skin. “How long is she staying?”
“Her plane leaves early Sunday morning,” Liz replied while starting to draw circles over Alec’s naked chest. She loved the feeling of his body, the soft skin covering hard, well developed muscles. She didn’t think she’d ever get enough of just touching him.
“That’s only two more days.”
“Yeah. I’m sort of sad that she’s going, but on the other hand I’m glad that I’ll be getting my old life back, so to say.”
“Me too,” Alec replied grinning, earning himself a smack from Liz.
“Ever been down to the keys?” Alec asked changing the subject.
“Not recently,” Liz replied. “I remember going there with my parents as a kid, but that’s a long time ago. Why?”
“Well, I thought now that your mom was leaving we could take a few days off and head down. I’ve heard that it’s beautiful there around this time of year.”
“Just the two of us?” Liz asked, a bit surprised by his suggestion.
“Well, we could of course take Kyle and Jondy with us, but those two would just spend the whole time boinking anyway, and they can do that here just as well.”
Liz laughed. “True enough.”
“So, what do you say?” Alec asked, not liking the nervous way his stomach suddenly knotted up.
“I’d love to,” Liz replied.
tbc
Part 34
Liz was wandering around the Museum of Science and Planetarium in Miami, surprisingly disinterested in what there was to see. Normally she would consider a place like this as a slice of heaven, but today her heart just wasn’t in it. It had been a struggle to even get out of bed in the morning. She’d felt more like pulling the covers over her head and spending the day there, not in the mood to do anything at all that required moving. She didn’t know why, but for the last few days she’d been strangely depressed. Nothing had happened to cause it though, and somehow she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to know why she was feeling so down.
Her dad had gone home a few days ago since one of their cooks had broken his arm and could no longer work, but that couldn’t be the reason for her sudden depression. She loved her dad, of course, but she was used to not having him around after being hundreds of miles away the whole summer. His absence couldn’t be why she felt so…dejected.
Liz started feeling slightly irritated with herself. She was in Miami for Christ’s sake, on a day trip with her mom, her aunt and Kyle. The weather was great, the city was beautiful…she had no reason to be unhappy. So why was she?
And on top of all that, she hadn’t seen Alec in almost a week. Okay, so maybe it was only four days and 19 hours, but that was a long time in her eyes. She was used to seeing him practically daily, so not seeing him for so long was…well, weird. She missed him…sort of. He would be able to cheer her up now. But of course he wasn’t here. Her mom had suggested inviting him along, but Liz had told her that he had to work before even asking if he wanted to come with them. She didn’t know why, but it just made her uncomfortable to spend time with both her parents and Alec. Probably because her relationship with him included a lot more than her parents thought it did.
It wasn’t that they didn’t get along though. Not that her parents and Alec had spent a lot of time together. After the night at the bar they had only seen each other once when Nancy had invited Alec to their barbeque on Saturday. Alec had been his usual charming self, wrapping Liz’s parents around his finger without even really trying. He’d managed to project the image of being a trustworthy, ambitious young man who had sensible goals and a very mature stand on life. Jeff had been content and Nancy downright thrilled, leaving Liz slightly amused and somehow pleased that her parents actually liked Alec.
At first Liz had thought that he was pulling off a show to make her parents like him, but after listening to him talking for a while she had realized that he was actually sincere. She’d never seen that side of Alec before, and to be honest, it had warmed her heart for some reason and left her feeling giddy and happy.
Liz sighed. It really had been an awfully long time since she’d last seen Alec. She wondered if he missed her too. Not that she missed him or anything. Of course she didn’t. At least not more than a friend misses another friend that they haven’t seen for a long time…or a few days.
Liz sighed again. Was this normal? Feeling like this? She didn’t miss Maria like she missed Alec. Of course, she didn’t usually make out with Maria a lot. And they hadn’t been on the best of terms when she’d left Roswell. And she missed Alex a lot more than she missed Alec. Of course, Alex was dead, so that changed things. Putting all this together, it probably was normal to feel like this about not seeing Alec. Right?
“Liz, there you are!” she heard Kyle calling behind her. She turned around. “Hey,” she said, forcing a smile on her lips that she hoped looked genuine.
“You done?” Kyle asked. “The rest of us are. We wanted to go and grab a bite, then check out this mall Mandy claims is really nice. That okay with you? If you want more time to look around, no problem, we can wait a bit longer if you want.”
“No, it’s okay, we can leave. I’ve seen everything,” Liz lied. Truth was, she’d hardly seen anything at all, or at least she couldn’t remember much. But she didn’t really care. She just wasn’t in the mood for science today. And she certainly didn’t want to be the one who held the others up.
“Great,” Kyle replied. “Let’s go. Nancy and Mandy are waiting at the exit.”
~*~*~*~
Liz breathed out a sigh of relief when they finally got back home that evening. Kyle showered, changed and went off to work while Liz went up to the room under the excuse of being tired. She just wanted to be alone. She was sick and tired of smiling and pretending to be happy when she actually wasn’t.
After the museum they’d gone to a seafood restaurant, and even though the food had been delicious she’d hardly managed to eat anything at all. Then they’d gone to Bayside Marketplace, an open air mall that had an amazing view of all the cruise ships docked across the bay. It had been beautiful, and there had been some really neat shops, but once again, Liz just hadn’t been in the right mood.
Liz wasn’t sure, but she thought that maybe her mother had noticed something. She had caught her watching her a few times, and once she’d even asked if she and Alec had had a fight. Now, Liz had no idea where her mother had gotten that idea from, or why she would ask such a question. And even if they had fought, that wouldn’t be a reason for her to be in such a bad mood. So why had her mother thought so? They were just friends after all. And why did her mother always know when something was up anyway? Damn maternal instincts.
Liz got up from her bed that she’d been lying on for the past half hour or so and decided that she needed something to take her mind of…everything. She booted Mandy’s laptop, hoping to find a new email from Maria in her inbox, but there was nothing. Damn it. Couldn’t Maria even answer a stupid email? Was that too much to ask of her so-called best friend?
Liz sat back down on her bed in a huff, her arms crossed over her chest, irritated with herself for being angry at Maria. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d only written her a day or two ago. So what if she took a few days to get back to her? She usually didn’t reply right away either. What was wrong with her? She was acting so strange. Liz sighed while flopping back down on the bed. She didn’t know. Maybe this was what PMS was like.
~*~*~*~
Liz must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew it was suddenly dark outside. She sat up, still half asleep, and stumbled into the bathroom. She reached for the light switch and winced at the brightness. How long had she slept? A glance on her watch answered her question. They’d come home more than four hours ago.
After rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she looked into the mirror, surprised to find her cheeks flushed and her eyes unusually bright. Then it came back to her…the dream, Alec and her…doing a lot more than just making out. Heat shot into her cheeks and a few other places and her knees quivered as the intensity of the dream washed over her. She leaned onto the sink, scared that her legs would give out if she didn’t. Jesus Christ. Sure, she’d had erotic dreams before, but nothing like that. Definitely nothing like that.
Slowly she walked back into her room, wide awake now. Since she felt like some fresh air and knew that sleeping was not an option right now, she decided to go out to the beach for a walk or something. She grabbed a sweatshirt, pulled it on and opened her bedroom door. The house was quiet, her mom and Mandy had probably already gone to bed. It was past midnight after all.
Down at the beach Liz enjoyed the cool breeze coming form the ocean and the soft sand under her feet, but neither of those things made the throbbing in her groin go away. Almost before her mind registered her decision, Liz abruptly turned around and headed towards the street. Her pace picked up until she was practically running, not stopping until she reached the apartment building where Alec lived. The door wasn’t quite closed and so she simply went inside and started up the stairs, two steps at a time, not caring that she was already out of breath, that her muscles were screaming in protest or that her lungs were begging for some oxygen.
It took her two seconds after knocking on Alec’s door to realize how stupid it was to just show up here in the middle of the night unannounced. What if he was already asleep? What if he wasn’t home? Or what if he wasn’t alone?
That thought was like a punch to the gut and enough to make Liz want to just get the hell out of there. But before she could move, the door suddenly opened and Alec stood there in all his glory. That was at least the expression Liz would have used. He was wearing nothing but jeans, his hair wet and brushed casually out of his face. Water drops covered his skin, sliding down his arms, his chest. He must have just gotten out of the shower and quickly pulled on some pants to go answer the door. Liz just stared.
Alec was more than just surprised to have Liz suddenly standing at his door in the middle of the night, but his delight at seeing her again after almost a week easily won out and a smile spread over his lips. He’d missed her.
He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get even one word out Liz had already closed the distance between them, pulled his head down to hers and kissed him with a sense of wild abandonment Alec had never seen in her before.
Her attack had come as a surprise, but Alec recovered quickly and responded with the same ferocity, his hands tangling in her hair, making sure that she stayed where she was. Not that Liz had even the slightest intention of going anywhere.
She urged Alec farther into the apartment and kicked the door closed behind them, never breaking the kiss. She didn’t stop moving until they reached the couch. Pushing Alec onto it she pulled off her sweatshirt, leaving her wearing nothing but a tank top, before straddling his lap and closing her lips over his again, picking up where they had left off five seconds ago.
Liz had been more than just relieved when an easy smile had spread over Alec’s features upon seeing her on his doorstep. Not just because he obviously didn’t mind her just coming over like that in the middle of the night but also because that meant that he was alone. He would have never reacted like that if there was someone else there. With the realization that this hadn’t been such a stupid idea after all the desire had come back full force and Liz wouldn’t have been able to keep her hands off Alec even if she’d wanted to.
Alec wasn’t sure where Liz’s urgency suddenly came from, but he wasn’t about to complain. He enjoyed Liz’s onslaught, liked the way she took control to get what she obviously craved. His hands slipped down to her hips, skimming over the bare inch of flesh between her jeans and her tank top. Feeling Liz shiver, he took it as an encouragement and let his hands slip under the back of her shirt.
A breathless moan escaped Liz’s lips upon feeling Alec’s warm hands on her back. It was such a simple touch, but it still sent goose bumps up and down her spine. Liz pressed even harder into Alec, gasping when she felt his erection against her core. It still surprised, almost humbled her how easily she could turn Alec on.
As much as he was enjoying letting Liz have her way with him, Alec decided that it was time to switch roles. He stood up and in one smooth movement wrapped Liz’s legs around his waist before heading towards his bedroom. His hands slipped under her shirt once again, tugging it up and over her head. As soon as the offensive garment was gone, Liz’ lips crashed back onto his. Her bare chest pressed against his, perked nipples scrapping over damp skin, almost making him lose it.
Alec let himself fall onto his bed, Liz still in his arms, and then rolled them over so that she was beneath him. Normally he would be careful to keep most of his weight off a girl, especially one as small and delicate as Liz, but he knew that she could take it and therefore didn’t bother. It was too nice feeling her pressed against him so tightly.
He pulled his mouth away from hers and started trailing a path of kisses down her neck. He nipped at her skin, teeth scraping over hot flesh, not able to get enough of her taste. He lingered at her pulse point, knowing that she enjoyed the additional attention to that particularly sensitive spot. The soft, breathy sounds escaping her lips confirmed it.
While his mouth was working on her neck, his hand snuck up to cup her breast, his thumb brushing over her already taut nipple. His lips slipped down lower and headed towards her other breast. He caught her nipple between his teeth and flicked his tongue over it before sucking gently. Liz moaned and buried her hands in his hair, not wanting him to stop, ever. After some time Alec switched breasts, careful to give the other one the same treatment.
Liz felt like she was on the brink of exploding, or imploding. She didn’t know how much more she’d be able to take. Pulling Alec’s mouth back up to hers she wrapped her legs around his hips, the need of feeling him close to her too strong to fight. Teeth clashed and tongues dueled as Liz started rotating her hips, instinctively rubbing her center against Alec’s very obvious arousal. She didn’t know what had gotten into her, but this just felt so right, so natural. And she just needed…she wasn’t sure what. Relief probably.
Whatever it was, Alec obviously agreed with her since his hips weren’t exactly motionless either. Heat started gathering in her core, edged on by Alec’s mouth nibbling on her lips before dipping his tongue into her mouth to tangle with hers and his clever hands on her breasts, back, stomach, everywhere. How the hell could they be at all those places at the same time?
Alec’s lips returned to her neck before starting to nibble on her earlobe when Liz suddenly felt her heartbeat picking up. There was a tingling sensation in her groin and a second later something inside her exploded. Her nails dug into Alec’s back while her legs tightened around his waist, her head falling forward onto his shoulder as a sob escaped her lips.
She was trembling, she realized after a few minutes, while Alec was pressing soft, open-mouth kisses on her neck. Jesus Christ, what had just happened? Well, she knew of course what had happened. She’d just never thought that her body could have such a strong reaction to something as simple as making out. Okay, so making out was maybe a bit of an understatement. But they hadn’t even touched each other. Not like that anyway.
Alec pressed a quick kiss on her lips and murmured that he would be right back before getting up. It wasn’t until he had left the room that Liz realized he’d probably gone to get cleaned up. Heat and a certain sense of smug satisfaction spread through her body upon realizing that she could affect him as much as he could her.
She yawned, suddenly tired, and when Alec came back a few minutes later he found her on the brink of falling asleep. He grabbed her tank top up from the floor and helped her into it before pulling off her jeans so that she would be comfortable while sleeping. Alec settled down beside Liz, rolling her over so that she was snuggled up beside him, her head resting on his chest right where his heart was. Within seconds she was sound asleep.
~*~*~*~
When Liz woke up dawn was just starting to break. She shifted and Alec pressed a soft kiss on the crown of her head. “Hey sleepyhead,” he murmured.
Liz turned so that she could look at him. Her eyes met his and a smile spread over her lips. “Hey yourself. Have you been up long?”
“A little while,” Alec replied. That wasn’t quite true. He hadn’t slept at all, preferring to watch Liz while she slept. She’d looked so peaceful, so calm. He could have spent eternity just watching her sleeping beside him like that.
“What time is it?” Liz asked, trying to stifle a yawn.
“Just past seven,” Alec replied without even glancing at his watch. Liz didn’t notice.
“I should probably get going,” Liz sighed, already regretting having to leave him. “I don’t want my mom to discover that I’m gone. I don’t think she’d take too kindly to me sneaking out in the middle of the night and spending the night at your place.”
“No, probably not,” Alec replied chuckling. When Liz made no move to get up he wrapped his arm around her, letting his fingers skim over her soft skin. “How long is she staying?”
“Her plane leaves early Sunday morning,” Liz replied while starting to draw circles over Alec’s naked chest. She loved the feeling of his body, the soft skin covering hard, well developed muscles. She didn’t think she’d ever get enough of just touching him.
“That’s only two more days.”
“Yeah. I’m sort of sad that she’s going, but on the other hand I’m glad that I’ll be getting my old life back, so to say.”
“Me too,” Alec replied grinning, earning himself a smack from Liz.
“Ever been down to the keys?” Alec asked changing the subject.
“Not recently,” Liz replied. “I remember going there with my parents as a kid, but that’s a long time ago. Why?”
“Well, I thought now that your mom was leaving we could take a few days off and head down. I’ve heard that it’s beautiful there around this time of year.”
“Just the two of us?” Liz asked, a bit surprised by his suggestion.
“Well, we could of course take Kyle and Jondy with us, but those two would just spend the whole time boinking anyway, and they can do that here just as well.”
Liz laughed. “True enough.”
“So, what do you say?” Alec asked, not liking the nervous way his stomach suddenly knotted up.
“I’d love to,” Liz replied.
tbc
Tact is for people not witty enough to be sarcastic.
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
I know it took forever for me to get this part out, I'm really sorry. I was completely blocked, so writing wasn't easy.
I've been thinking, and I realized that it's probably only two more parts after this one till the story is over. But there will be a sequel. Before I start posting the sequel I'll probably post another Liz/Alec story though. It will be shorter and very different, a lot more darker. I've been working on it for quite some time now, and I really want to get it out. After that I'll start posting the sequel. For now, enjoy!
Part 35
Liz snuck into the house as quietly as she could manage. She used the kitchen door since it was farther away from all the bedrooms, not wanting to alert anyone of the fact that she’d been gone. She didn’t think her mother would take too kindly to the fact that she’d snuck out of the house to spend the night at a friend’s apartment romping in the sheets. A movement in the corner of her eye had her whirling around, she just barely managed to hold in a gasp.
Her mother glanced up from the kitchen table where she was reading the morning paper and drinking a cup of coffee. An as of yet untouched muffin was resting beside her cup. She smiled at Liz. “Hi sweetie. What are you doing up so early?”
Liz forced herself to calm down and act normal. “I fell asleep right after we came home last night, so I woke up early. I was just out for a quick walk,” she covered smoothly. As always, lying to her mother left her with an uneasy feeling, but she was used to it. Years of practice, she thought.
“Want to join me for breakfast? Mandy and Kyle are still asleep,” Nancy suggested. In Roswell she and Liz always had breakfast together, it was something of a tradition between them. She missed that.
Liz shrugged. “Sure.” She went over to the counter and filled a mug with coffee, knowing that she’d need the caffeine after the night she’d had. Rummaging through the cupboards she found some Pop-Tarts and put two of them in the toaster before sliding onto the seat across from her mom.
“I just got off the phone with your dad,” Nancy began. “He sends you his love.”
Liz smiled. “Thanks. Is everything okay with the café?”
“Carlos will be out for a few weeks, but otherwise everything’s okay. Michael is mostly filling in for him.” Nancy smiled. “He’s been doing that a lot lately, filling in for the other cooks. We’re really starting to depend on him. Who would have thought?”
That caught Liz’s attention. “How did that happen?” Michael had never been someone who was usually deemed reliable, least of all by her parents. They’d only hired him because she’d asked – no, begged – them to give him a chance. He hadn’t been quite what they’d wanted, but since he was a friend of their daughter’s, they kept him on.
Nancy took a bite of the muffin. Blueberry. Her favorite. “Well, he’s been taking on a lot more responsibility lately. Asking for it actually. We even left him in charge of the café while we were here.”
Now Liz was stunned. “You left him in charge of the café? Michael? Michael Guerin?” When exactly had hell frozen over?
“Yes,” her mother said, slightly amused by her daughter’s reaction. “Him and Maria actually. Those two have really grown together. I never thought that relationship would last. But they’re a good team. They balance each other.”
“Yeah, they do.” Liz paused. “How is Maria?” Liz asked trying to sound nonchalant. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to have this conversation, but she missed her best friend, and hearing her mother talking about her made her realize just how much.
“She’s fine. She seems to have recovered from the shock of Alex’s accident, as far as that’s possible in this fairly short period of time. I think Michael helped her a great deal with that.” Nancy watched her daughter carefully. She was aware of the problems that had started between Liz and her best friend around that time, knew how strained their relationship had been before Liz had left to go to Florida.
“Yeah.” Liz toyed with a napkin lying on the table, staring at it to avoid looking at her mother. “He was really there for her when she needed him.”
“Yes, he was,” Nancy said softly, sorry that she had brought that up. She knew exactly what her daughter was thinking. Michael had been there for Maria, but Max hadn’t been there for her. Deciding that it would be best to change the subject she took on a lighter tone. “She and Isabel have been hanging out a lot. I never saw them together before, but now they seem to be spending a lot of time together. Isabel even helped out at the café a few times.”
“Isabel helped out at the café? Willingly?” Liz was baffled. The first and only time Isabel had ever lowered herself to that, Liz had had to beg for it.
Nancy chuckled. “I was surprised too. Apparently Maria talked her into it.”
“So, Maria and Isabel?” Liz hated the twinge of jealousy in her heart. She should be happy for them, both of them, that they’d become friends. They had both needed a friend after Alex’s death, what was more natural than them turning to each other? Especially with her out of the picture? She took a sip of her coffee, searing her tongue, and barely managed to suppress a few nice curses.
Nancy studied her daughter’s face, not liking the sadness shadowing her eyes. “She really misses you, you know?” She reached out, laid her hand over her daughter’s and squeezed gently.
Liz glanced up, doubt shimmering in her eyes. “Really?” Doubt was in her voice as well.
Nancy laughed. “Of course, sweetie. You’re her best friend. How could she not miss you?”
“I miss her too,” Liz admitted. She hesitated a moment, not sure whether she should tell her mother. Deciding that it couldn’t hurt to talk it through with an adult who knew them both, she carefully chose her words, not wanting to give too much away. There were certain aspects of Alex’s death and what came afterwards she would definitely not tell her mother about. “Things between us…they didn’t go too well after Alex died.”
“I know,” Nancy said sympathetically. “Losing someone so close to you is hard. You two had very different ways of dealing with it. That’s tough on a friendship, even on one as close as yours.”
“Yeah,” Liz said absentmindedly. Then shaking her head, she cleared her mind. “We’ve been writing emails. But just, you know, chitchat. We never really talked about what happened.”
Nancy took another bite of her muffin. “Well, maybe you should do that if you want your friendship to go back to the way it was before. You can’t be as close as you used to be with all this between you. You need to talk it out, be honest with each other, and then put it behind you. But that’s probably something better done in person.”
It made sense, Liz thought. Perfect sense. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Guess it has to wait till I’m back in Roswell.”
“That won’t be that long, sweetie. School starts up again in a few weeks. You’ll be home before you know it.”
“Yeah,” Liz said. She stared down into her mug, watching the black liquid swirl around while trying to decide whether that was a good thing or not. Somehow, it didn’t feel like one.
~*~*~*~
A few minutes after Liz had gone upstairs to grab a shower and change clothes, Mandy walked into the kitchen. Since it was a weekday she had to work, but since she was still exhausted from the day before, she’d allowed herself the pleasure of sleeping a bit longer than usual. One of the perks of being the boss, you got to come and go as you pleased. More or less.
She grunted something that might have been a ‘good morning’ in Nancy’s direction while heading straight for the coffee machine. She needed caffeine. And Pop-Tarts. To start a day without Pop-Tarts was just wrong, and to start it without caffeine was simply impossible.
Once she had everything she needed for her breakfast, she sat down across from Nancy. “I’ll never understand how someone can get up as early as you do and be so damn perky. That’s just unnatural.”
Nancy smiled at her sister over the rim of her mug. “Liz was up even before I was. Guess it runs in the family. Looks like you’re the black sheep.”
Mandy grinned back at her. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
Setting down her cup, Nancy’s expression grew a bit more serious. “Can I ask you something?”
Mandy nodded. “Sure.”
“How has Liz been? I mean, how has she really been? She was so terribly depressed before she left. I was worried sick about her.”
Mandy thought about it for a minute. “Well, she wasn’t exactly at her best when she arrived her, but she’s been fine. I think it did her good to be away from Roswell. And she seemed pretty happy the past few weeks actually,” she mused.
The two looked at each other. “Alec,” they said simultaneously, then cracked a smile. Even with almost two thousand miles between them, not much about their relationship had changed. They could just tell what the other was thinking without as much as a single word being uttered.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Mandy exclaimed. “I can’t believe Liz still hasn’t realized that she has feelings for him.”
“Funny how oblivious she is, isn’t it?” Nancy agreed. “Just like she’s oblivious to his feelings for her.”
Mandy nodded eagerly. She’s been dying to discuss this with someone, but up to now she hadn’t had the opportunity. “The boy’s a goner,” she said before getting her Pop-Tarts.
“That he is.” Nancy paused. “I like him,” she confessed after a minute. “He’s nice, polite, respectful. And he makes her smile.”
Mandy sat down again, took a bite and almost moaned in delight. “Yeah, he does. Besides, he’s really charming and not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. That can’t hurt.”
Nancy rolled her eyes. “If Liz hadn’t claimed him you would have probably gone after him yourself.”
“Sure would have.” Mandy laughed at the baffled expression on her sister’s face. “Come on, he’s not that young. I once dated this guy-”
Nancy grimaced, held up her hands. “Don’t. Please. I really don’t want to hear that.”
Mandy laughed again, but she obliged. “When do you think she’ll realize she’s in love with Alec?”
Nancy shrugged. “Hard to say. As I said, I’m surprised that she hasn’t realized it yet. When she’s leaving and has to say goodbye at the latest.”
Mandy sighed, playing absentmindedly with her cup while nibbling on her Pop-Tart. “That’ll be hard on her.”
Nancy nodded in agreement. “I know. What do you think would be harder, realizing it when it’s too late or having at least a few weeks with him?”
Mandy thought about it for a few moments. “Realizing it when it’s too late. She’d miss him either way, maybe more if they were together for a brief period before she has to leave, but at least she wouldn’t have any regrets that way, or feel like she missed out on something. She’d have the memories. That would probably tip the scale.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. What do you say about giving her a bit of a push in the right direction? You know, just too make sure she doesn’t realize it when it’s already late.”
Mandy’s eyes gleamed mischievously. “I’d say that sounds like a plan.”
~*~*~*~
“It’s so nice of you to come over to say goodbye, Alec,” Nancy said smiling. “But it really wasn’t necessary for you to go through the trouble.” Her last few days in Florida had flown by like nothing. It was hard to believe that the two weeks were already over and that she was going home again. Her suitcase was packed and waiting in the hallway, ready to be loaded into Kyle’s car. Liz was going to bring her to the airport, and just when they’d wanted to leave, Alec had dropped by.
“No trouble at all,” Alec replied. “And it was necessary. Besides, it’s practically on my way to work.”
Nancy frowned. “You’re working today? On Saturday?”
Alec cracked a smile. Nancy’s tone was almost motherly. “We’re pretty busy at the moment. And since I want to take a few days off next week, I have to put in extra time now.”
“Do you have a vacation planned?” Nancy inquired while eyeing her daughter. Liz hadn’t mentioned anything about that.
Alec grinned, glanced at Liz. “Something like that.”
Nancy smiled. You just had to smile at that boy. He had such a charming smile himself. “Well then, have fun. Oh my, we have to go,” she said glancing at her watch. “I don’t want to miss my plane.”
“Have a safe trip,” Alec offered.
Nancy smiled again, surprising Alec by pulling him into a hug. “Take good care of my little girl,” she said quietly, but not quietly enough.
Liz groaned. “Mom,” she said, almost whining.
Alec just smirked. “Will do.”
He insisted on carrying Nancy’s suitcase to the car, then said goodbye to both her and Liz and headed to work.
“I like him,” Nancy said once she and Liz were in the car and on their way to the airport.
Liz smiled wryly. “So you’ve said. About a million times now.”
Nancy smiled coyly. “I guess I have. He’s been a good friend to you, hasn’t he?”
A soft smile Nancy was sure her daughter was unaware of slid on Liz’s lips. “Yeah, he’s been great. He really helped take my mind off…everything. I don’t know how I would have gotten through all that without him.”
Nancy kept her face blank when she continued. It was time to put the plan she and her sister had put together into motion. “I’m sure you’ll miss him once you come back home. You must have gotten used to having him around. And it’s always hard to say goodbye to a friend, no matter how briefly you know him.”
Liz shifted around in her seat, a bit uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. “Yeah, I guess. I haven’t really thought about that much.”
Bingo, Nancy thought. “Oh well, you still have a few weeks. And you can always write emails or talk on the phone once you’re back in Roswell. Of course, summer friendships normally don’t last beyond that, but it could very well be different in this case. It happens that people stay friends even though they live so far apart.”
Now Liz frowned. Having to deal with her going back to Roswell and leaving Alec behind was one thing, but the thought of not having him in her life at all was strangely unsettling. Hell, unsettling wasn’t the word for it. It caused a weird pang in her heart of the most uncomfortable kind, made feelings that came awfully close to sadness wash through her and clouded her mood.
She shifted around in her seat. “I’m sure we’ll stay in touch.” But she didn’t sound very sure of herself. Not at all.
“Of course you will, sweetie,” Nancy said biting back a grin. “I don’t think he’d let anything come between your friendship. Even if he met someone, started dating, he’d still take the time to keep in touch with you.”
“What do you mean, even if he met someone?” Liz was definitely not liking the direction this conversation was taking.
“He’s a good-looking guy, funny and charming. He’s bound to meet a girl and fall in love sooner or later. But you know, he doesn’t strike me as the type who’d forget his friends just because he had a girlfriend, so you have nothing to worry about.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Liz said, and the pang in her heart intensified. Liz remained silent for the rest of the drive, and Nancy was more than content to leave her daughter to her thoughts, knowing that she’d sown enough seeds.
On her way home, after saying goodbye to her mother, Liz’s mood began to improve again. She and Alec were leaving for the Keys the next day, and she couldn’t wait. She’d been looking forward to that ever since they’d agreed to go, and she wasn’t going to let worries about what may or may not happen when she was back home get in the way of that.
Just when she pulled up into the drive, her cell phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, she grinned, and answered the phone. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Alec replied, wincing at Liz’s cheerful tone. Her good mood made what he was about to do even harder. Deciding that it was probably best to just get it out, he took a deep breath. “Look, I have bad news. We just pulled this really important client on board, and my boss is sending me out to him to wrap up the deal, develop the security system and overlook it being installed. I swear, I tried everything to get out of it, but he wouldn’t budge, insisting that I go. I’m really sorry, but we’ll have to put off our trip.”
“Oh,” Liz said, somewhat managing to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “When are you leaving?”
“Right away. I’m just going home to pack, then I have to catch my plane. I’m really sorry.”
Liz swallowed, trying hard to get past the lump in her throat. “No, don’t worry. It’s your job. I understand. How long will you be gone?”
“About a week I think. I’m really sorry. Look, I have to get going. I’ll call you as soon as I have a free moment.”
“Okay. Um, have a good trip.”
“Thanks.” There were a lot of other things Alec wanted to say, but none of them seemed appropriate, especially not on the phone. “Have a nice week. Bye.”
“Bye.” Liz ended the call, and just stayed where she was for a few minutes. What was wrong with her? Sure, she’d been looking forward to the trip, duh. But it wasn’t like they’d cancelled it. They’d just postponed it for a week. Alec had been on business trips before, and they’d hardly seen each other while her parents had been here. Waiting another week to go to the Keys wasn’t the end of the world. So how come it felt like it?
Liz climbed out of the car and decided to go down to the beach. She had some serious thinking to do.
tbc
I've been thinking, and I realized that it's probably only two more parts after this one till the story is over. But there will be a sequel. Before I start posting the sequel I'll probably post another Liz/Alec story though. It will be shorter and very different, a lot more darker. I've been working on it for quite some time now, and I really want to get it out. After that I'll start posting the sequel. For now, enjoy!
Part 35
Liz snuck into the house as quietly as she could manage. She used the kitchen door since it was farther away from all the bedrooms, not wanting to alert anyone of the fact that she’d been gone. She didn’t think her mother would take too kindly to the fact that she’d snuck out of the house to spend the night at a friend’s apartment romping in the sheets. A movement in the corner of her eye had her whirling around, she just barely managed to hold in a gasp.
Her mother glanced up from the kitchen table where she was reading the morning paper and drinking a cup of coffee. An as of yet untouched muffin was resting beside her cup. She smiled at Liz. “Hi sweetie. What are you doing up so early?”
Liz forced herself to calm down and act normal. “I fell asleep right after we came home last night, so I woke up early. I was just out for a quick walk,” she covered smoothly. As always, lying to her mother left her with an uneasy feeling, but she was used to it. Years of practice, she thought.
“Want to join me for breakfast? Mandy and Kyle are still asleep,” Nancy suggested. In Roswell she and Liz always had breakfast together, it was something of a tradition between them. She missed that.
Liz shrugged. “Sure.” She went over to the counter and filled a mug with coffee, knowing that she’d need the caffeine after the night she’d had. Rummaging through the cupboards she found some Pop-Tarts and put two of them in the toaster before sliding onto the seat across from her mom.
“I just got off the phone with your dad,” Nancy began. “He sends you his love.”
Liz smiled. “Thanks. Is everything okay with the café?”
“Carlos will be out for a few weeks, but otherwise everything’s okay. Michael is mostly filling in for him.” Nancy smiled. “He’s been doing that a lot lately, filling in for the other cooks. We’re really starting to depend on him. Who would have thought?”
That caught Liz’s attention. “How did that happen?” Michael had never been someone who was usually deemed reliable, least of all by her parents. They’d only hired him because she’d asked – no, begged – them to give him a chance. He hadn’t been quite what they’d wanted, but since he was a friend of their daughter’s, they kept him on.
Nancy took a bite of the muffin. Blueberry. Her favorite. “Well, he’s been taking on a lot more responsibility lately. Asking for it actually. We even left him in charge of the café while we were here.”
Now Liz was stunned. “You left him in charge of the café? Michael? Michael Guerin?” When exactly had hell frozen over?
“Yes,” her mother said, slightly amused by her daughter’s reaction. “Him and Maria actually. Those two have really grown together. I never thought that relationship would last. But they’re a good team. They balance each other.”
“Yeah, they do.” Liz paused. “How is Maria?” Liz asked trying to sound nonchalant. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to have this conversation, but she missed her best friend, and hearing her mother talking about her made her realize just how much.
“She’s fine. She seems to have recovered from the shock of Alex’s accident, as far as that’s possible in this fairly short period of time. I think Michael helped her a great deal with that.” Nancy watched her daughter carefully. She was aware of the problems that had started between Liz and her best friend around that time, knew how strained their relationship had been before Liz had left to go to Florida.
“Yeah.” Liz toyed with a napkin lying on the table, staring at it to avoid looking at her mother. “He was really there for her when she needed him.”
“Yes, he was,” Nancy said softly, sorry that she had brought that up. She knew exactly what her daughter was thinking. Michael had been there for Maria, but Max hadn’t been there for her. Deciding that it would be best to change the subject she took on a lighter tone. “She and Isabel have been hanging out a lot. I never saw them together before, but now they seem to be spending a lot of time together. Isabel even helped out at the café a few times.”
“Isabel helped out at the café? Willingly?” Liz was baffled. The first and only time Isabel had ever lowered herself to that, Liz had had to beg for it.
Nancy chuckled. “I was surprised too. Apparently Maria talked her into it.”
“So, Maria and Isabel?” Liz hated the twinge of jealousy in her heart. She should be happy for them, both of them, that they’d become friends. They had both needed a friend after Alex’s death, what was more natural than them turning to each other? Especially with her out of the picture? She took a sip of her coffee, searing her tongue, and barely managed to suppress a few nice curses.
Nancy studied her daughter’s face, not liking the sadness shadowing her eyes. “She really misses you, you know?” She reached out, laid her hand over her daughter’s and squeezed gently.
Liz glanced up, doubt shimmering in her eyes. “Really?” Doubt was in her voice as well.
Nancy laughed. “Of course, sweetie. You’re her best friend. How could she not miss you?”
“I miss her too,” Liz admitted. She hesitated a moment, not sure whether she should tell her mother. Deciding that it couldn’t hurt to talk it through with an adult who knew them both, she carefully chose her words, not wanting to give too much away. There were certain aspects of Alex’s death and what came afterwards she would definitely not tell her mother about. “Things between us…they didn’t go too well after Alex died.”
“I know,” Nancy said sympathetically. “Losing someone so close to you is hard. You two had very different ways of dealing with it. That’s tough on a friendship, even on one as close as yours.”
“Yeah,” Liz said absentmindedly. Then shaking her head, she cleared her mind. “We’ve been writing emails. But just, you know, chitchat. We never really talked about what happened.”
Nancy took another bite of her muffin. “Well, maybe you should do that if you want your friendship to go back to the way it was before. You can’t be as close as you used to be with all this between you. You need to talk it out, be honest with each other, and then put it behind you. But that’s probably something better done in person.”
It made sense, Liz thought. Perfect sense. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Guess it has to wait till I’m back in Roswell.”
“That won’t be that long, sweetie. School starts up again in a few weeks. You’ll be home before you know it.”
“Yeah,” Liz said. She stared down into her mug, watching the black liquid swirl around while trying to decide whether that was a good thing or not. Somehow, it didn’t feel like one.
~*~*~*~
A few minutes after Liz had gone upstairs to grab a shower and change clothes, Mandy walked into the kitchen. Since it was a weekday she had to work, but since she was still exhausted from the day before, she’d allowed herself the pleasure of sleeping a bit longer than usual. One of the perks of being the boss, you got to come and go as you pleased. More or less.
She grunted something that might have been a ‘good morning’ in Nancy’s direction while heading straight for the coffee machine. She needed caffeine. And Pop-Tarts. To start a day without Pop-Tarts was just wrong, and to start it without caffeine was simply impossible.
Once she had everything she needed for her breakfast, she sat down across from Nancy. “I’ll never understand how someone can get up as early as you do and be so damn perky. That’s just unnatural.”
Nancy smiled at her sister over the rim of her mug. “Liz was up even before I was. Guess it runs in the family. Looks like you’re the black sheep.”
Mandy grinned back at her. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
Setting down her cup, Nancy’s expression grew a bit more serious. “Can I ask you something?”
Mandy nodded. “Sure.”
“How has Liz been? I mean, how has she really been? She was so terribly depressed before she left. I was worried sick about her.”
Mandy thought about it for a minute. “Well, she wasn’t exactly at her best when she arrived her, but she’s been fine. I think it did her good to be away from Roswell. And she seemed pretty happy the past few weeks actually,” she mused.
The two looked at each other. “Alec,” they said simultaneously, then cracked a smile. Even with almost two thousand miles between them, not much about their relationship had changed. They could just tell what the other was thinking without as much as a single word being uttered.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Mandy exclaimed. “I can’t believe Liz still hasn’t realized that she has feelings for him.”
“Funny how oblivious she is, isn’t it?” Nancy agreed. “Just like she’s oblivious to his feelings for her.”
Mandy nodded eagerly. She’s been dying to discuss this with someone, but up to now she hadn’t had the opportunity. “The boy’s a goner,” she said before getting her Pop-Tarts.
“That he is.” Nancy paused. “I like him,” she confessed after a minute. “He’s nice, polite, respectful. And he makes her smile.”
Mandy sat down again, took a bite and almost moaned in delight. “Yeah, he does. Besides, he’s really charming and not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. That can’t hurt.”
Nancy rolled her eyes. “If Liz hadn’t claimed him you would have probably gone after him yourself.”
“Sure would have.” Mandy laughed at the baffled expression on her sister’s face. “Come on, he’s not that young. I once dated this guy-”
Nancy grimaced, held up her hands. “Don’t. Please. I really don’t want to hear that.”
Mandy laughed again, but she obliged. “When do you think she’ll realize she’s in love with Alec?”
Nancy shrugged. “Hard to say. As I said, I’m surprised that she hasn’t realized it yet. When she’s leaving and has to say goodbye at the latest.”
Mandy sighed, playing absentmindedly with her cup while nibbling on her Pop-Tart. “That’ll be hard on her.”
Nancy nodded in agreement. “I know. What do you think would be harder, realizing it when it’s too late or having at least a few weeks with him?”
Mandy thought about it for a few moments. “Realizing it when it’s too late. She’d miss him either way, maybe more if they were together for a brief period before she has to leave, but at least she wouldn’t have any regrets that way, or feel like she missed out on something. She’d have the memories. That would probably tip the scale.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. What do you say about giving her a bit of a push in the right direction? You know, just too make sure she doesn’t realize it when it’s already late.”
Mandy’s eyes gleamed mischievously. “I’d say that sounds like a plan.”
~*~*~*~
“It’s so nice of you to come over to say goodbye, Alec,” Nancy said smiling. “But it really wasn’t necessary for you to go through the trouble.” Her last few days in Florida had flown by like nothing. It was hard to believe that the two weeks were already over and that she was going home again. Her suitcase was packed and waiting in the hallway, ready to be loaded into Kyle’s car. Liz was going to bring her to the airport, and just when they’d wanted to leave, Alec had dropped by.
“No trouble at all,” Alec replied. “And it was necessary. Besides, it’s practically on my way to work.”
Nancy frowned. “You’re working today? On Saturday?”
Alec cracked a smile. Nancy’s tone was almost motherly. “We’re pretty busy at the moment. And since I want to take a few days off next week, I have to put in extra time now.”
“Do you have a vacation planned?” Nancy inquired while eyeing her daughter. Liz hadn’t mentioned anything about that.
Alec grinned, glanced at Liz. “Something like that.”
Nancy smiled. You just had to smile at that boy. He had such a charming smile himself. “Well then, have fun. Oh my, we have to go,” she said glancing at her watch. “I don’t want to miss my plane.”
“Have a safe trip,” Alec offered.
Nancy smiled again, surprising Alec by pulling him into a hug. “Take good care of my little girl,” she said quietly, but not quietly enough.
Liz groaned. “Mom,” she said, almost whining.
Alec just smirked. “Will do.”
He insisted on carrying Nancy’s suitcase to the car, then said goodbye to both her and Liz and headed to work.
“I like him,” Nancy said once she and Liz were in the car and on their way to the airport.
Liz smiled wryly. “So you’ve said. About a million times now.”
Nancy smiled coyly. “I guess I have. He’s been a good friend to you, hasn’t he?”
A soft smile Nancy was sure her daughter was unaware of slid on Liz’s lips. “Yeah, he’s been great. He really helped take my mind off…everything. I don’t know how I would have gotten through all that without him.”
Nancy kept her face blank when she continued. It was time to put the plan she and her sister had put together into motion. “I’m sure you’ll miss him once you come back home. You must have gotten used to having him around. And it’s always hard to say goodbye to a friend, no matter how briefly you know him.”
Liz shifted around in her seat, a bit uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. “Yeah, I guess. I haven’t really thought about that much.”
Bingo, Nancy thought. “Oh well, you still have a few weeks. And you can always write emails or talk on the phone once you’re back in Roswell. Of course, summer friendships normally don’t last beyond that, but it could very well be different in this case. It happens that people stay friends even though they live so far apart.”
Now Liz frowned. Having to deal with her going back to Roswell and leaving Alec behind was one thing, but the thought of not having him in her life at all was strangely unsettling. Hell, unsettling wasn’t the word for it. It caused a weird pang in her heart of the most uncomfortable kind, made feelings that came awfully close to sadness wash through her and clouded her mood.
She shifted around in her seat. “I’m sure we’ll stay in touch.” But she didn’t sound very sure of herself. Not at all.
“Of course you will, sweetie,” Nancy said biting back a grin. “I don’t think he’d let anything come between your friendship. Even if he met someone, started dating, he’d still take the time to keep in touch with you.”
“What do you mean, even if he met someone?” Liz was definitely not liking the direction this conversation was taking.
“He’s a good-looking guy, funny and charming. He’s bound to meet a girl and fall in love sooner or later. But you know, he doesn’t strike me as the type who’d forget his friends just because he had a girlfriend, so you have nothing to worry about.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Liz said, and the pang in her heart intensified. Liz remained silent for the rest of the drive, and Nancy was more than content to leave her daughter to her thoughts, knowing that she’d sown enough seeds.
On her way home, after saying goodbye to her mother, Liz’s mood began to improve again. She and Alec were leaving for the Keys the next day, and she couldn’t wait. She’d been looking forward to that ever since they’d agreed to go, and she wasn’t going to let worries about what may or may not happen when she was back home get in the way of that.
Just when she pulled up into the drive, her cell phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, she grinned, and answered the phone. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Alec replied, wincing at Liz’s cheerful tone. Her good mood made what he was about to do even harder. Deciding that it was probably best to just get it out, he took a deep breath. “Look, I have bad news. We just pulled this really important client on board, and my boss is sending me out to him to wrap up the deal, develop the security system and overlook it being installed. I swear, I tried everything to get out of it, but he wouldn’t budge, insisting that I go. I’m really sorry, but we’ll have to put off our trip.”
“Oh,” Liz said, somewhat managing to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “When are you leaving?”
“Right away. I’m just going home to pack, then I have to catch my plane. I’m really sorry.”
Liz swallowed, trying hard to get past the lump in her throat. “No, don’t worry. It’s your job. I understand. How long will you be gone?”
“About a week I think. I’m really sorry. Look, I have to get going. I’ll call you as soon as I have a free moment.”
“Okay. Um, have a good trip.”
“Thanks.” There were a lot of other things Alec wanted to say, but none of them seemed appropriate, especially not on the phone. “Have a nice week. Bye.”
“Bye.” Liz ended the call, and just stayed where she was for a few minutes. What was wrong with her? Sure, she’d been looking forward to the trip, duh. But it wasn’t like they’d cancelled it. They’d just postponed it for a week. Alec had been on business trips before, and they’d hardly seen each other while her parents had been here. Waiting another week to go to the Keys wasn’t the end of the world. So how come it felt like it?
Liz climbed out of the car and decided to go down to the beach. She had some serious thinking to do.
tbc
Tact is for people not witty enough to be sarcastic.
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
Disclaimer: Song is "Will you fall for me" by Delta Goodrem
Okay, here it is, the second to last part. I've already started the next one, and I know exactly what I want to have happen, so it's just a matter of finding the time to write it. I should have it done and up in about a week though. There's something in this part that I know a lot of you have been waiting for for a very long time now, so I hope you like it.
Part 36
Liz was lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling. She hadn’t moved in hours, refrained from it all together if she could help it. She only left her room when basic physical needs or work forced her to. And during the nights. She spent the nights wandering the beach, often for hours without even noticing the time passing by. During the day she couldn’t stand the thought of going out and being among people, but as soon as it got dark she felt restless and closed in, and so she needed the open space as much as she needed to walk. Just walk. It helped somehow.
Alec had left four days ago, and since then nothing had been the same. Liz didn’t quite understand it. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted to. But from one moment to the next everything had changed. She missed him. She missed him terribly. Much more, she knew, than it was normal to miss a friend who was gone for such a short period of time. A week. A week. It was ridiculous.
She hadn’t seen Maria, her best friend, in over two months, but she didn’t miss her nearly as much as she missed Alec. She ached for him, ached for his touch, his smile, the way he always looked at her. She wanted to see him, talk to him, kiss him. Jesus, even the mere thought of that made heat shoot into her cheeks, as well as other, more intimate body parts. She rolled over, suppressing a groan. Sexual frustration was not a fun thing to deal with, as she’d recently discovered.
Sitting up, she walked over to the window and stared out over the beech. She missed Alec, more than it was normal to miss a friend, that much was clear. But what did it mean? There was only one logical reason for it. If she missed Alec more than a friend, then maybe he was more to her than a friend to her. That would mean that she had more than just friendly feelings for him. But that couldn’t be right. She couldn’t be in love with Alec. Could she?
Liz sighed and plopped down onto the window seat. She was so messed up. None of this made any sense. When she’d left Roswell, her heart had been broken, shattered into a million pieces. She’d been sure that she would never, could never love anyone the way she’d loved Max. She’d hated Max, and loved him, and hated him all the more for still loving him. And now, mere weeks later, she was considering being in love with someone else, a guy she hadn’t even known when she’d arrived in Florida? How could that be?
She’d never considered herself as the kind of person who fell in love easily. She just wasn’t the head-over-heels kind of girl. Yet here she was. How had that happened? When had that happened? And why? Alec wasn’t even her type. Sure, he was cute, and funny, and sweet. But she’d always been more attracted to the serious type. She liked the mysterious, brooding kind of guy. Had everythng that had happened with Max changed that? It would make sense. Getting burned would have that kind of effect, wouldn’t it?
Oh, how the hell did she know? She couldn’t think straight, not with all these thoughts and emotions and doubts swirling around in her head. She needed someone to talk to. A girl preferably, someone who knew her, who knew about her history with Max. Someone who could maybe make sense of all this, help her straighten out her thoughts and get a grip on this mess. But the only person who fit this discription was Maria. Damn it. Was she ready to talk to Maria, to tell her about Alec? No. Definitely not. But she really needed to talk to someone. Mandy was not an option, she didn’t know anything about what had happened between her and Max. Neither was Kyle, he would just throw a fit if she told him that she had feelings for Alec. And as much as she loved her, she couldn’t talk to her mother about this. Jondy, being a better friend of Alec than of hers wasn’t a good idea either. So that left only Maria.
She wanted to dismiss the idea, but she was going crazy here. She needed to talk to someone. Deciding it was better to do it now before she could changer her mind, she took a deep breath and picked up the phone to dial Maria’s number.
~*~*~*~
Kyle and Jondy were at the beach, relaxing after a long night of hot, sweaty animal sex. Kyle still wasn’t quite sure how they’d managed to leave Jondy’s apartment, get into his car, drive down to the shore, get out of the car and walk to the beach. Right now he didn’t feel capable of moving. His limbs felt like rubber and his brain was mush. The night had been amazing. Their nights together were always amazing, but this one had just blown him away.
A shadow suddenly fell over them, and when he looked up he saw a tall burly guy with long dark hair that was slicked back standing next to Jondy, smiling at her suggestively while looking hr up and down. Kyle knew exactly what his intentions were before he even started talking. “Hey beautiful. Looks like today’s your lucky day,” he said to Jondy in a very fake southern drawl he probably thought was sexy.
Before Jondy could reply, Kyle fixed an icy glare at the guy. “Get lost,” he sneered. “She’s hear with me.”
The guy was at least a head taller than Kyle, but after seeing the look in his eyes and a moment of consideration, he snorted, shrugged, turned around and after winking at Jondy, stalked off with as much dignity as he could muster. Which wasn’t a lot.
Kyle glared after him until he as out of sight and therefore missed the baffled look on Jondy’s face, mixed with the first hints of anger.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” she exploded.
Kyle flinched, turned to her, confused by her outburst. “What?”
Jondy no longer looked baffled, she looked downright pissed. “Who do you think you are?! You’re not my god-damn keeper! If I want to talk to some guy, I damn well talk to him! It’s not up to you to decide who I socialize with!”
Kyle was completely taken by surprise by Jondy’s fury. He just stared at her for a few moments before he found his voice. “Jesus, what’s with you? He was a prick, I was simply doing you a favor.”
“A favor? A favor? Have you lost your mind? Your not my boyfriend, Kyle! We might have some amazing sex, but that’s it! Nothing gives you the right to try and run my life for me, got that? Nothing! It’s my life. I wanna talk to some prick, I talk to him. I wanna bang some prick, I bang him. It’s my decision, and none of your god-damn business!” With that said she jumped up, grabbed her things and was gone faster than Kyle could blink.
He sat there for a few minutes, stunned. What the hell had just happened here?
~*~*~*~
Liz took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a few seconds and then dialed Maria’s number, again. She done so twice before, and hung up every time before it even rang. I will not hang up this time. I will not hang up this time. I will not hang up this time.
“Hello?”
Liz almost dropped the phone. She hadn’t considered the possibility of Sean picking up the phone. “Um, hi Sean,” she said.
“Parker, that you?” He sounded surprised, but Liz thought she could also hear a smile in his voice.
She sat down on the bed, took a steadying breath. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“Hey, how’s it going? I heard you’re down in Florida.” Yes, he was definitely smiling.
Liz smiled in return, starting to relax. When he’d picked up the phone she’d expected him to be cool and distant, had braced herself for it. She could have hardly blamed him. She certainly hadn’t expected this warmth and friendliness despite everything that had happened. “Yeah, I am. I’m visiting my aunt. Kyle’s here with me.”
“So I’ve heard. You two hooked up?”
“No!” Liz exclaimed, and the obvious shock in her voice made Sean chuckle. “We’re just friends.”
“I’m just baiting you, Parker,” Sean told her, and Liz could just see him leaning against the kitchen counter, a half-smirk on his face. “So how’ve you been?”
Liz scooted up on the bed and leaned against the headboard, making herself comfortable. “Pretty good actually. It’s…good being away from Roswell for a bit.”
Sean snorted. “I can imagine. You weren’t exactly at your prime before you left.”
Liz fiddled around with the cord of the phone, a nervous habit she wasn’t even aware of. “Yeah, I wasn’t. Look Sean, I really wanted to apologize for the way I behaved before I left. I wasn’t fair to you, and I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry Parker, you were pretty down in the dumps. And I can take it.” He waited a beat. “Actually, I met someone.”
Liz sat up straight, forgetting about the phone cord. “You did? Who?”
“Her name’s Megan. She used to come into Amy’s shop all the time. It took me three weeks to figure out that she wasn’t an alien-junk-fanatic but came by because of me. So I asked her out. We’v been dating for over a month now. She’s amazing.” His voice was soft and almost dreamy now, making a grin spread over Liz’s face. Who would have thought that Sean could get so mushy over a girl.
“Wow Sean, that’s great. I’m really happy for you,” Liz said, and she meant it. She was glad that Sean had moved on and that he was happy. He deserved it.
“Thanks. I’m pretty damn happy for me myself.”
Liz laughed. She would have loved to talk to Sean for, say, a few more hours, but she knew she was stalling and that it was better to get to the true reason for her call. “Look, um, is Maria around?”
“M? She’s right here. Nice talking to you again, Parker.”
Liz smiled. “Nice talking to you too, Sean.”
“Liz? Liz, is that really you?” Maria’s voice was shrill and loud, forcing Liz to hold the reciever away from her ear.
She winced, almost regretting her decision to call Maria. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“Oh my God, Liz, I’m so happy you called! I missed you so much. How are you? How is Florida? How’s Kyle? What have you been up to? Any cute guys down there?”
“Um, good, hot, good, not much, yes. Answer your questions?”
“Wait a minute, there are cute guys down there? There are cute guys, and you noticed them?”
Liz rolled her eyes. “Geez, Maria, I’m not blind. I’ve got eyes in my head, don’t I?”
“Not when cute guys are involved. You never used to notice cute guys. You were much too hung up on-” An uncomfortable silence settled over them for a few moments. “Okay, bad topic. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, don’t worry,” Liz dismissed it.
“Okay.” Maria’s voice went back to chipper. “So, what’s up? It must be something important if you’re calling. I still can’t believe you’re talking to me again.”
“Maria!” Liz exclaimed. “I was never not talking to you.”
“Well, you weren’t exactly talking to me either. You ignored all my calls,” Maria pointed out.
“I know.” Guilt settled into Liz’s stomach, and she didn’t like it. “Look, I’m sorry. I just needed some time.”
“Yeah, I get that. And I understand. But you still haven’t told me why you’re calling.”
Liz got up, started to pace. “It’s a long story.”
“I have all the time in the world.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I sort of met this guy.”
“You met a guy?!” Maria shrieked.
Liz winced. “Louder, Maria, I’m sure they haven’t heard you yet in Texas.”
“Sorry, but chica, this is news! You can’t expect me to stay calm. What’s he like? Is he cute? What’s his name? How old? How did you meet? Are you dating? Have you kissed? Is he a good kisser? Have you done more?”
Liz’s head was beginning to spin. “Look, I’ll tell you everything, just don’t ask any more questions till I’m done. Please.”
“Okay,” Maria agreed with admirable restrain. “Just tell me if he’s cute.”
A slow smiled crept over Liz’s lips. “Yeah. He is.”
And then she told her everything. How they’d met, their first kiss in the ocean, everything that happened afterwards right up to Alec leaving for his business trip. She left out Alec and Jondy being aliens though, knowing that all this was probably already too much for Maria to take in. Besides, she really wasn’t ready for Maria to know that she’d been changed, and she sure as hell wasn’t ready for Maria to tell Michael and for him to tell Max and Isabel. She didn’t want them to know, not until she decided to tell them herself and could do so in person.
Maria managed to keep her promise and didn’t ask any questions, even though she did shriek a few times.
“So now he’s gone, and I just can’t stop thinking about him. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Liz explained.
“You’re in love,” Maria said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Liz groaned. “I was afraid you were going to say that. But Maria, how can I be in love with him? I barely know him. We just met.”
“You didn’t just meet, you met almost two months ago. And you do know him. You said you’ve seen each other at least every second day, except for when your parents were there or when he was on a business trip. You spent a lot of time with him, so you know him. And from what you told me, I can hardly blame you for falling for him. He sounds hot.”
Liz smiled, despite herself. “I still don’t get it. When I left Roswell, I was convinced I would never feel like that about anyone again. Ever. And now, a few weeks later, I’m making goo-goo eyes at a guy I just met? That’s just not me.”
“Who cares? Look, I can’t say that I’m not surprised myself that you moved on so quickly, but why complain about it? It’s the best thing that could have happened to you. Would you have preferred to spend your summer mooning over some jerk who doesn’t deserve you, who hurt you again and again and again? No! Instead you’re having fun and enjoying your vacation like a normal teenager should. That’s a good thing. Just enjoy it while it lasts.”
“I can’t believe that actually makes sense to me. But what if I’m just fooling myself? I haven’t seen Max in over two months now, what if nothing really changed? What if I just think it did because I haven’t seen him in so long, and once I’m back in Roswell everything will go back to the way it was?”
Maria thought about it for a minute. “Well, I think you can’t really be sure about that, but it’s still no reason to not enjoy the rest of your time with Alec. You can’t do anything about it while you’re in Florida, so just deal with Max and your feelings for him when you’re back.”
Liz bit her lip. “Don’t you think that would be unfair to Alec?”
“Does he know about Max?”
“It came up once. I told him a bit about what happened, but just the basics. Not too much.”
“Well, if he knows that you just got out of this thing with another guy he’ll probably realize that you’re not completely over it. Hence there’s no reason to feel guilty about it.”
Jesus, since when did Maria make so much sense? “Okay, let’s say I’m just gonna forget about the whole Max-thing for now. What do I do about Alec?”
“Well, do you think he feels the same way about you?”
Liz plopped down onto the bed. “I have no idea. I’ve been asking myself the same question for days now. I keep going back in time, searching my memories for hints that he might want more than what we have now, but I just don’t find anything.”
“Because it’s not there or because you didn’t notice?”
“See, that’s what I don’t know.”
“You could just tell him how you feel,” Maria suggested.
“No!” Liz shouted with just a hint of panic in her voice. “I couldn’t do that! What if he doesn’t feel the same way about me? It would change everything. It would ruin everything. Nothing would be the same anymore. I can’t risk that. I want to keep things the way they are between us. I’m only here for a few more weeks. Is that worth risking losing what we have now?”
“I don’ know. I can’t help you with that. You’ll have to figure it out for yourself. You know, follow your heart.”
Liz sighed. “I’m really starting to hate that advise. Every time I follow it I end up in a huge mess.”
“Love’s a messy business,” Maria told her.
“Tell me about it. Speaking of which, how’s Michael?”
Maria’s voice filled with indignation. “You won’t believe what Space-Jerk did the other day.”
Liz couldn’t help but grin. Looks like some things never change.
~*~*~*~
Liz stared at the clock hanging over the bar, mentally urging the hands to move faster. Work was a drag. Anything that required her leaving the house was a drag lately. Alec had been gone for close to two weeks now and they’d only talked on the phone a handful of times. She missed him more with every passing minute. It had started as a dull ache and became almost unbearable as the days went by, leaving little room for doubt concerning her recently discovered feelings for Alec. She could twist and turn it any way she liked, it didn’t change the facts. She had feelings for Alec, strong feelings, feelings that had nothing to do with friendship.
Her gaze wandered to Kyle and Jondy, her eyes narrowing at the detached way they worked together. Something was up with those two. Kyle had spent every night of the last week at home. He hadn’t seen her at all as far as Liz knew, except at work. But even then they didn’t talk, didn’t as much as look at each other, except for a few angry glares. Liz had given a half-hearted attempt at finding out what had happened, but Kyle refused to talk about it, and so she’d dropped it again. To be honest, she was just too caught up in her own problems to try and deal with other people’s petty fights on top of everything. When Kyle was ready to talk about it, he would come to her. Until then, she would try to figure out her own dilemma.
As much as she hated working at the moment, seeing how it required leaving her room and being among people, it did help her sort through her thoughts and come to terms with her feelings. And gave her time to obsess over how Alec might feel about this whole…thing. Too much of it actually. She finished a song, and started a new one.
My head's full of thought
Thoughts of you
And I'm distracted so easy
Thinking what to do
So unsure, so unfamiliar
Am I wrong to think that something could happen
Will you fall for me
I need to know, the way I'd like you to
Baby, will you fall for me
The way I've fallen for you
Liz couldn’t help but wonder how Alec would react if she told him that she had feelings for him, that she might actually be in love with him. The foolishly romantic part of her dreamt of Alec telling her that he felt the same way, of flowery declarations of love and a happily-ever-after. The other, more cynical and pessimistic part of her sneered at her silly dreams and called herself several kinds of fools for getting into this situation in the first place. So far neither part had the upper hand.
I'm not like myself
And I'm playing the role of someone else
And my hearts beating so fast
I can't stop it
And I'm so unsure
So unfamiliar
Am I wrong to think that something could happen
Will you fall for me
The way I'd like you to
Will you fall for me
The way I've fallen for you
The way I've fallen for you
The way I've fallen for you
Fallen for, fallen for you
For you
Then the door opened, and even before she could see his face, Liz knew it was Alec. When he stepped into the light their eyes met, sending a jolt stronger than anything she’d ever felt right down to her groin. The air of gloom that had settled over her when he’d left vanished when he smiled at her, and her world was back on track again. Simple as that. She had to swallow hard before starting the next verse, and even then there was a tremor in her voice that she could only hope nobody would notice.
So unsure, so unfamiliar
Am I wrong to think,
That something could happen
Was I wrong to think I
Will you fall for me
The way I'd like you to
Will you fall for me
The way I've fallen for you
The way I've fallen for you
The way I've fallen for you
Then the song was over, and her eyes were still locked on Alec’s, and she was still smiling. At least she thought she was smiling. That’s when she noticed it. Alec wasn’t alone. There was a girl with him, standing beside him and scowling at the look that passed between him and Liz.
tbc
*Kat runs away laughing evily*
Okay, here it is, the second to last part. I've already started the next one, and I know exactly what I want to have happen, so it's just a matter of finding the time to write it. I should have it done and up in about a week though. There's something in this part that I know a lot of you have been waiting for for a very long time now, so I hope you like it.
Part 36
Liz was lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling. She hadn’t moved in hours, refrained from it all together if she could help it. She only left her room when basic physical needs or work forced her to. And during the nights. She spent the nights wandering the beach, often for hours without even noticing the time passing by. During the day she couldn’t stand the thought of going out and being among people, but as soon as it got dark she felt restless and closed in, and so she needed the open space as much as she needed to walk. Just walk. It helped somehow.
Alec had left four days ago, and since then nothing had been the same. Liz didn’t quite understand it. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted to. But from one moment to the next everything had changed. She missed him. She missed him terribly. Much more, she knew, than it was normal to miss a friend who was gone for such a short period of time. A week. A week. It was ridiculous.
She hadn’t seen Maria, her best friend, in over two months, but she didn’t miss her nearly as much as she missed Alec. She ached for him, ached for his touch, his smile, the way he always looked at her. She wanted to see him, talk to him, kiss him. Jesus, even the mere thought of that made heat shoot into her cheeks, as well as other, more intimate body parts. She rolled over, suppressing a groan. Sexual frustration was not a fun thing to deal with, as she’d recently discovered.
Sitting up, she walked over to the window and stared out over the beech. She missed Alec, more than it was normal to miss a friend, that much was clear. But what did it mean? There was only one logical reason for it. If she missed Alec more than a friend, then maybe he was more to her than a friend to her. That would mean that she had more than just friendly feelings for him. But that couldn’t be right. She couldn’t be in love with Alec. Could she?
Liz sighed and plopped down onto the window seat. She was so messed up. None of this made any sense. When she’d left Roswell, her heart had been broken, shattered into a million pieces. She’d been sure that she would never, could never love anyone the way she’d loved Max. She’d hated Max, and loved him, and hated him all the more for still loving him. And now, mere weeks later, she was considering being in love with someone else, a guy she hadn’t even known when she’d arrived in Florida? How could that be?
She’d never considered herself as the kind of person who fell in love easily. She just wasn’t the head-over-heels kind of girl. Yet here she was. How had that happened? When had that happened? And why? Alec wasn’t even her type. Sure, he was cute, and funny, and sweet. But she’d always been more attracted to the serious type. She liked the mysterious, brooding kind of guy. Had everythng that had happened with Max changed that? It would make sense. Getting burned would have that kind of effect, wouldn’t it?
Oh, how the hell did she know? She couldn’t think straight, not with all these thoughts and emotions and doubts swirling around in her head. She needed someone to talk to. A girl preferably, someone who knew her, who knew about her history with Max. Someone who could maybe make sense of all this, help her straighten out her thoughts and get a grip on this mess. But the only person who fit this discription was Maria. Damn it. Was she ready to talk to Maria, to tell her about Alec? No. Definitely not. But she really needed to talk to someone. Mandy was not an option, she didn’t know anything about what had happened between her and Max. Neither was Kyle, he would just throw a fit if she told him that she had feelings for Alec. And as much as she loved her, she couldn’t talk to her mother about this. Jondy, being a better friend of Alec than of hers wasn’t a good idea either. So that left only Maria.
She wanted to dismiss the idea, but she was going crazy here. She needed to talk to someone. Deciding it was better to do it now before she could changer her mind, she took a deep breath and picked up the phone to dial Maria’s number.
~*~*~*~
Kyle and Jondy were at the beach, relaxing after a long night of hot, sweaty animal sex. Kyle still wasn’t quite sure how they’d managed to leave Jondy’s apartment, get into his car, drive down to the shore, get out of the car and walk to the beach. Right now he didn’t feel capable of moving. His limbs felt like rubber and his brain was mush. The night had been amazing. Their nights together were always amazing, but this one had just blown him away.
A shadow suddenly fell over them, and when he looked up he saw a tall burly guy with long dark hair that was slicked back standing next to Jondy, smiling at her suggestively while looking hr up and down. Kyle knew exactly what his intentions were before he even started talking. “Hey beautiful. Looks like today’s your lucky day,” he said to Jondy in a very fake southern drawl he probably thought was sexy.
Before Jondy could reply, Kyle fixed an icy glare at the guy. “Get lost,” he sneered. “She’s hear with me.”
The guy was at least a head taller than Kyle, but after seeing the look in his eyes and a moment of consideration, he snorted, shrugged, turned around and after winking at Jondy, stalked off with as much dignity as he could muster. Which wasn’t a lot.
Kyle glared after him until he as out of sight and therefore missed the baffled look on Jondy’s face, mixed with the first hints of anger.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” she exploded.
Kyle flinched, turned to her, confused by her outburst. “What?”
Jondy no longer looked baffled, she looked downright pissed. “Who do you think you are?! You’re not my god-damn keeper! If I want to talk to some guy, I damn well talk to him! It’s not up to you to decide who I socialize with!”
Kyle was completely taken by surprise by Jondy’s fury. He just stared at her for a few moments before he found his voice. “Jesus, what’s with you? He was a prick, I was simply doing you a favor.”
“A favor? A favor? Have you lost your mind? Your not my boyfriend, Kyle! We might have some amazing sex, but that’s it! Nothing gives you the right to try and run my life for me, got that? Nothing! It’s my life. I wanna talk to some prick, I talk to him. I wanna bang some prick, I bang him. It’s my decision, and none of your god-damn business!” With that said she jumped up, grabbed her things and was gone faster than Kyle could blink.
He sat there for a few minutes, stunned. What the hell had just happened here?
~*~*~*~
Liz took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a few seconds and then dialed Maria’s number, again. She done so twice before, and hung up every time before it even rang. I will not hang up this time. I will not hang up this time. I will not hang up this time.
“Hello?”
Liz almost dropped the phone. She hadn’t considered the possibility of Sean picking up the phone. “Um, hi Sean,” she said.
“Parker, that you?” He sounded surprised, but Liz thought she could also hear a smile in his voice.
She sat down on the bed, took a steadying breath. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“Hey, how’s it going? I heard you’re down in Florida.” Yes, he was definitely smiling.
Liz smiled in return, starting to relax. When he’d picked up the phone she’d expected him to be cool and distant, had braced herself for it. She could have hardly blamed him. She certainly hadn’t expected this warmth and friendliness despite everything that had happened. “Yeah, I am. I’m visiting my aunt. Kyle’s here with me.”
“So I’ve heard. You two hooked up?”
“No!” Liz exclaimed, and the obvious shock in her voice made Sean chuckle. “We’re just friends.”
“I’m just baiting you, Parker,” Sean told her, and Liz could just see him leaning against the kitchen counter, a half-smirk on his face. “So how’ve you been?”
Liz scooted up on the bed and leaned against the headboard, making herself comfortable. “Pretty good actually. It’s…good being away from Roswell for a bit.”
Sean snorted. “I can imagine. You weren’t exactly at your prime before you left.”
Liz fiddled around with the cord of the phone, a nervous habit she wasn’t even aware of. “Yeah, I wasn’t. Look Sean, I really wanted to apologize for the way I behaved before I left. I wasn’t fair to you, and I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry Parker, you were pretty down in the dumps. And I can take it.” He waited a beat. “Actually, I met someone.”
Liz sat up straight, forgetting about the phone cord. “You did? Who?”
“Her name’s Megan. She used to come into Amy’s shop all the time. It took me three weeks to figure out that she wasn’t an alien-junk-fanatic but came by because of me. So I asked her out. We’v been dating for over a month now. She’s amazing.” His voice was soft and almost dreamy now, making a grin spread over Liz’s face. Who would have thought that Sean could get so mushy over a girl.
“Wow Sean, that’s great. I’m really happy for you,” Liz said, and she meant it. She was glad that Sean had moved on and that he was happy. He deserved it.
“Thanks. I’m pretty damn happy for me myself.”
Liz laughed. She would have loved to talk to Sean for, say, a few more hours, but she knew she was stalling and that it was better to get to the true reason for her call. “Look, um, is Maria around?”
“M? She’s right here. Nice talking to you again, Parker.”
Liz smiled. “Nice talking to you too, Sean.”
“Liz? Liz, is that really you?” Maria’s voice was shrill and loud, forcing Liz to hold the reciever away from her ear.
She winced, almost regretting her decision to call Maria. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“Oh my God, Liz, I’m so happy you called! I missed you so much. How are you? How is Florida? How’s Kyle? What have you been up to? Any cute guys down there?”
“Um, good, hot, good, not much, yes. Answer your questions?”
“Wait a minute, there are cute guys down there? There are cute guys, and you noticed them?”
Liz rolled her eyes. “Geez, Maria, I’m not blind. I’ve got eyes in my head, don’t I?”
“Not when cute guys are involved. You never used to notice cute guys. You were much too hung up on-” An uncomfortable silence settled over them for a few moments. “Okay, bad topic. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, don’t worry,” Liz dismissed it.
“Okay.” Maria’s voice went back to chipper. “So, what’s up? It must be something important if you’re calling. I still can’t believe you’re talking to me again.”
“Maria!” Liz exclaimed. “I was never not talking to you.”
“Well, you weren’t exactly talking to me either. You ignored all my calls,” Maria pointed out.
“I know.” Guilt settled into Liz’s stomach, and she didn’t like it. “Look, I’m sorry. I just needed some time.”
“Yeah, I get that. And I understand. But you still haven’t told me why you’re calling.”
Liz got up, started to pace. “It’s a long story.”
“I have all the time in the world.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I sort of met this guy.”
“You met a guy?!” Maria shrieked.
Liz winced. “Louder, Maria, I’m sure they haven’t heard you yet in Texas.”
“Sorry, but chica, this is news! You can’t expect me to stay calm. What’s he like? Is he cute? What’s his name? How old? How did you meet? Are you dating? Have you kissed? Is he a good kisser? Have you done more?”
Liz’s head was beginning to spin. “Look, I’ll tell you everything, just don’t ask any more questions till I’m done. Please.”
“Okay,” Maria agreed with admirable restrain. “Just tell me if he’s cute.”
A slow smiled crept over Liz’s lips. “Yeah. He is.”
And then she told her everything. How they’d met, their first kiss in the ocean, everything that happened afterwards right up to Alec leaving for his business trip. She left out Alec and Jondy being aliens though, knowing that all this was probably already too much for Maria to take in. Besides, she really wasn’t ready for Maria to know that she’d been changed, and she sure as hell wasn’t ready for Maria to tell Michael and for him to tell Max and Isabel. She didn’t want them to know, not until she decided to tell them herself and could do so in person.
Maria managed to keep her promise and didn’t ask any questions, even though she did shriek a few times.
“So now he’s gone, and I just can’t stop thinking about him. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Liz explained.
“You’re in love,” Maria said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Liz groaned. “I was afraid you were going to say that. But Maria, how can I be in love with him? I barely know him. We just met.”
“You didn’t just meet, you met almost two months ago. And you do know him. You said you’ve seen each other at least every second day, except for when your parents were there or when he was on a business trip. You spent a lot of time with him, so you know him. And from what you told me, I can hardly blame you for falling for him. He sounds hot.”
Liz smiled, despite herself. “I still don’t get it. When I left Roswell, I was convinced I would never feel like that about anyone again. Ever. And now, a few weeks later, I’m making goo-goo eyes at a guy I just met? That’s just not me.”
“Who cares? Look, I can’t say that I’m not surprised myself that you moved on so quickly, but why complain about it? It’s the best thing that could have happened to you. Would you have preferred to spend your summer mooning over some jerk who doesn’t deserve you, who hurt you again and again and again? No! Instead you’re having fun and enjoying your vacation like a normal teenager should. That’s a good thing. Just enjoy it while it lasts.”
“I can’t believe that actually makes sense to me. But what if I’m just fooling myself? I haven’t seen Max in over two months now, what if nothing really changed? What if I just think it did because I haven’t seen him in so long, and once I’m back in Roswell everything will go back to the way it was?”
Maria thought about it for a minute. “Well, I think you can’t really be sure about that, but it’s still no reason to not enjoy the rest of your time with Alec. You can’t do anything about it while you’re in Florida, so just deal with Max and your feelings for him when you’re back.”
Liz bit her lip. “Don’t you think that would be unfair to Alec?”
“Does he know about Max?”
“It came up once. I told him a bit about what happened, but just the basics. Not too much.”
“Well, if he knows that you just got out of this thing with another guy he’ll probably realize that you’re not completely over it. Hence there’s no reason to feel guilty about it.”
Jesus, since when did Maria make so much sense? “Okay, let’s say I’m just gonna forget about the whole Max-thing for now. What do I do about Alec?”
“Well, do you think he feels the same way about you?”
Liz plopped down onto the bed. “I have no idea. I’ve been asking myself the same question for days now. I keep going back in time, searching my memories for hints that he might want more than what we have now, but I just don’t find anything.”
“Because it’s not there or because you didn’t notice?”
“See, that’s what I don’t know.”
“You could just tell him how you feel,” Maria suggested.
“No!” Liz shouted with just a hint of panic in her voice. “I couldn’t do that! What if he doesn’t feel the same way about me? It would change everything. It would ruin everything. Nothing would be the same anymore. I can’t risk that. I want to keep things the way they are between us. I’m only here for a few more weeks. Is that worth risking losing what we have now?”
“I don’ know. I can’t help you with that. You’ll have to figure it out for yourself. You know, follow your heart.”
Liz sighed. “I’m really starting to hate that advise. Every time I follow it I end up in a huge mess.”
“Love’s a messy business,” Maria told her.
“Tell me about it. Speaking of which, how’s Michael?”
Maria’s voice filled with indignation. “You won’t believe what Space-Jerk did the other day.”
Liz couldn’t help but grin. Looks like some things never change.
~*~*~*~
Liz stared at the clock hanging over the bar, mentally urging the hands to move faster. Work was a drag. Anything that required her leaving the house was a drag lately. Alec had been gone for close to two weeks now and they’d only talked on the phone a handful of times. She missed him more with every passing minute. It had started as a dull ache and became almost unbearable as the days went by, leaving little room for doubt concerning her recently discovered feelings for Alec. She could twist and turn it any way she liked, it didn’t change the facts. She had feelings for Alec, strong feelings, feelings that had nothing to do with friendship.
Her gaze wandered to Kyle and Jondy, her eyes narrowing at the detached way they worked together. Something was up with those two. Kyle had spent every night of the last week at home. He hadn’t seen her at all as far as Liz knew, except at work. But even then they didn’t talk, didn’t as much as look at each other, except for a few angry glares. Liz had given a half-hearted attempt at finding out what had happened, but Kyle refused to talk about it, and so she’d dropped it again. To be honest, she was just too caught up in her own problems to try and deal with other people’s petty fights on top of everything. When Kyle was ready to talk about it, he would come to her. Until then, she would try to figure out her own dilemma.
As much as she hated working at the moment, seeing how it required leaving her room and being among people, it did help her sort through her thoughts and come to terms with her feelings. And gave her time to obsess over how Alec might feel about this whole…thing. Too much of it actually. She finished a song, and started a new one.
My head's full of thought
Thoughts of you
And I'm distracted so easy
Thinking what to do
So unsure, so unfamiliar
Am I wrong to think that something could happen
Will you fall for me
I need to know, the way I'd like you to
Baby, will you fall for me
The way I've fallen for you
Liz couldn’t help but wonder how Alec would react if she told him that she had feelings for him, that she might actually be in love with him. The foolishly romantic part of her dreamt of Alec telling her that he felt the same way, of flowery declarations of love and a happily-ever-after. The other, more cynical and pessimistic part of her sneered at her silly dreams and called herself several kinds of fools for getting into this situation in the first place. So far neither part had the upper hand.
I'm not like myself
And I'm playing the role of someone else
And my hearts beating so fast
I can't stop it
And I'm so unsure
So unfamiliar
Am I wrong to think that something could happen
Will you fall for me
The way I'd like you to
Will you fall for me
The way I've fallen for you
The way I've fallen for you
The way I've fallen for you
Fallen for, fallen for you
For you
Then the door opened, and even before she could see his face, Liz knew it was Alec. When he stepped into the light their eyes met, sending a jolt stronger than anything she’d ever felt right down to her groin. The air of gloom that had settled over her when he’d left vanished when he smiled at her, and her world was back on track again. Simple as that. She had to swallow hard before starting the next verse, and even then there was a tremor in her voice that she could only hope nobody would notice.
So unsure, so unfamiliar
Am I wrong to think,
That something could happen
Was I wrong to think I
Will you fall for me
The way I'd like you to
Will you fall for me
The way I've fallen for you
The way I've fallen for you
The way I've fallen for you
Then the song was over, and her eyes were still locked on Alec’s, and she was still smiling. At least she thought she was smiling. That’s when she noticed it. Alec wasn’t alone. There was a girl with him, standing beside him and scowling at the look that passed between him and Liz.
tbc
*Kat runs away laughing evily*
Last edited by Calinia on Mon Jun 14, 2004 3:19 am, edited 2 times in total.
Tact is for people not witty enough to be sarcastic.
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
Well, here it finally is, the last part of Don't Dream It's Over. After the way you reacted to the last part, I was a bit worried about posting this one. Just remember, if you kill me there will be no sequel! I'm gonna start posting my other Liz/Alec fic tomorrow I think, it's called "When the rain begins to fall", and it's also post-Departure, but very different from this one. Enough rambling, on to the part.
Part 37
Liz stood there frozen. Her mind went blank even as hurt settled over her heart. She wanted to move, but she couldn’t. Just like she couldn’t tear her gaze away form Alec, who was as of now being dragged to the bar by the girl that was with him. She had long, dark hair that went down to her waist, big brown doe eyes that even Bambi would be jealous of and a mouth so pouty and perfect that Liz would have hated her even if she hadn’t come here with Alec.
Oh God. She was here with Alec. Alec was here with her.
Suddenly Liz could move again, and so she left the stage as quickly as she could, practically running. She didn’t find it in herself to be concerned with what people, including Alec, might think. She just had to get out of there.
It was much too early for a break, but she couldn’t have cared less. She needed a moment alone to try and get a grip on herself again. She still had a few hours of work ahead of herself, and so she needed to get over the shock and collect herself. As far as that was possible.
Once she reached the back room she went straight to the door that led outside and stepped out into the stifling night air. It was still warm, and the air was heavy and damp.
Alec was here with someone else. He was seeing someone else. Oh, of course he was. A guy like Alec was bound to have dozens of women falling at his feet. They weren’t exclusive. She’d made very sure of that. No strings, no promises, no commitment. Hadn’t those been her exact words? So why shouldn’t he date other girls? Especially if they were as gorgeous as the one he was with tonight.
Liz took several deep breaths, willing the tears back. She couldn’t cry. Not now. Not when she had to go back on stage in a few minutes, right under Alec’s nose. Just when she felt stable enough to go back inside the door behind her was opened. She whirled around, eyes wide. It was Alec.
He smiled at her, making her stomach knot and her knees tremble, and for a moment she forgot that he was here with someone else. And then his hands were cupping her face and he was kissing her, causing her to forget about it all over again. Her arms came up automatically with the intent of pushing him away, but then she lost herself in the kiss and so they wrapped themselves around Alec instead.
When he broke the kiss Liz was gasping for air. He didn’t move away, instead he kept her close and rested his forehead against hers. “I missed you,” he confessed, his eyes never leaving hers. Liz’s heart skipped a beat before beginning to pound furiously in her chest. She was sure her top was moving in unison. Before she could come up with any sort of coherent comeback, he continued to speak.
“Look, something’s come up. I’ll tell you about it later, but we’re a bit pressed for time right now. I really have to go, or Max and Jondy will tear me to pieces for delaying their gab-fest.” He rolled his eyes at the last part.
“Max?” Liz asked, her voice far from smooth.
Alec’s expression changed to one bordering on annoyance. “Yeah, you couldn’t have missed her. Brown hair, short, constant scowl on her face?”
Liz blinked. “I saw her.” She was even more confused now than she had been a few minutes ago, but after the greeting she’d gotten and the way Alec had described the girl he’d come with, she doubted that he was actually dating her. But it sounded like he knew her, had known her for quite some time. Long enough for her to annoy him.
“I have to go,” Alec said with some regret. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
Liz bit her lip, a nervous gesture Alec was sure she was unaware of. “Um, sure.”
He smiled. “Good. I’ll call you.” Pressing one last kiss to her lips, he was gone.
~*~*~*~
It wasn’t even noon yet, but the city was already boiling. The sun was blazing down on them mercilessly, heating up the pavement, causing people to escape into the cool of air-conditioned buildings and cars whenever possible. The air was humid and heavy, and Liz suspected that there was a storm coming up. It smelled like it.
She was walking down the street towards Alec’s building, asking herself what the hell she was doing here. She didn’t even know if Alec was home. It was very much possible that he was working today. Most people did on Friday mornings. And yet, here she was. But she had good reasons for being here. She wanted to know who the girl Alec had been with the night before was. He’d called her Max, hadn’t he? And it just had to be that name, didn’t it? She also wanted to know what had come up that had caused him to leave again so quickly, what it had to do with Jondy and what it had to do with this Max. He’d never mentioned her before, and she was sure she’d never seen her around.
Oh hell, like she cared about any of that. She just wanted to see him again. So much that she was willing to risk making a fool of herself by showing up at his apartment unannounced. She didn’t care if it made her look desperate or foolish, she just wanted to see him again. She’d slept poorly and been antsy all morning while waiting for his call, so she’d decided to go for a walk.
The minute she’d stepped outside she’d known where she would end up going. Trying to fool herself, she’d headed off in the opposite direction at first, but she’d circled back soon enough and changed her course to the intended destination. After all, why waste valuable time she could be spending with Alec by aimlessly running around the city so that she could convince herself that she wasn’t actually planning on going to see him when she knew perfectly well that that was just what she was planning on doing?
She reached his building and once again found the front door not properly closed. Liz frowned, not liking the lack of security at the building Alec lived in. She headed up the stairs and frowned again when she reached Alec’s floor. His door wasn’t closed either. For a second panic shot up inside her, afraid that something might have happened to him, but then she made out voices, one of them clearly Alec’s. The other one was a girl’s voice.
“God, Alec, can you get your mind off getting laid for just a minute here and concentrate on something important?”
Liz stopped walking. What was the girl talking about? She knew it was wrong of her to eavesdrop, but she really didn’t want to make her presence known while the girl was with him. Especially not while they were talking about that.
“This is important. I told Liz that I would call her, and so that’s what I’m gonna do. Now leave. This is a private conversation.”
Liz smiled. She couldn’t help it. She was important to him. Important enough to start an argument about calling her with whoever this girl was.
“Jesus, can you for once stop thinking with your dick? So she’s number two million four-hundred seventy-six in Alec’s long line of conquests. Big deal. This is important here. Really important.”
Liz froze, a chill creeping up her spine, despite the heat. Alec’s long line of conquests? What the hell was she talking about?
“And if the whole planet was being invaded, I don’t care,” Liz heard Alec replying.
“Will you two stop arguing?” a voice Liz recognized as Jondy’s interrupted. “Alec, if you want some privacy, just go into the bedroom. Max, let him call her, it will take five minutes. That’s not the end of the world. We do have that much time to spare. I hope,” she added.
“Fine,” Max huffed out.
She heard the shuffle of feet, then a door close. Probably Alec’s bedroom door.
“Was he really that much of a player in Seattle?” Jondy asked after waiting a beat.
“Worse,” Max replied.
Liz inched back towards the staircase, half way there she broke out into a run. Somehow she managed to get down the stairs without stumbling, falling and breaking a few dozen bones, even though she wasn’t sure how she managed it. What had Max been talking about? Alec a player? That couldn’t be right, could it? But she’d sounded like she’s known him for quite some time. And she’d sounded so damn sure of herself. Alec hadn’t objected either.
Was that really all that she was? One girl in a long line of conquests? Tears shot into her eyes as she gasped in a breath. She stumbled forward, not seeing where she was going, not caring. She just had to get away from there. She felt her phone vibrating in her bag, causing a sob to escape her throat since she knew that it was Alec. She clamped a hand over her mouth, hoping to hold them in this way. It didn’t work.
~*~*~*~
Liz sat on the same spot she’d been sitting for hours now, staring out over the city. She was up on the hill, the place Alec had shown her not so long ago. It seemed like an eternity to her. The sun was setting, dipping her surroundings in a warm, orange light. It was still hot, the air still stifling. The light breeze did nothing to cool it down, the air was too warm for that. Dark clouds were beginning to brew up over the city, and Liz knew that the first rain drops would fall soon. She should probably get going. But not just yet.
Sitting here did her good. It calmed her, made her feel strangely detached from the situation and numb. Numb was good. Better than actually feeling. She didn’t allow herself to think either. Thinking hurt almost as much as feeling did. So instead she just let her mind go blank.
She heard the motorcycle about a minute before it appeared on the top of the hill. If she’d moved right away she would have probably made it to Kyle’s car in time to get out of there and avoid a confrontation. Instead she just sat there, staring out over the city. She didn’t dare move. Somehow she thought she would break into a million pieces if she did. The sky was now covered with clouds, but she could still see the sun. About two thirds of it had disappeared behind the horizon. She wondered if she’d get to see the rest of the sunset before it started to rain.
“Liz?” Alec’s tone was careful, almost wary, and definitely confused.
Liz didn’t turn her head. From the corner of her eyes she could see Alec sitting down beside her. She just kept staring out over the city. “I came by your apartment this morning.” Her voice was calm and gave away nothing. She wasn’t sure why she was telling him this. He just seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction to his presence here.
“You did?” he asked confused. “When? I was home all morning, you couldn’t have missed me.”
Liz still didn’t move. “I know. Your door was open. I overheard your argument with Max about calling me.”
Now she did glance over to him. He drew his eyebrows together, obviously trying to remember the argument. “You…?” he trailed off, thinking.
Liz could tell the exact moment he remembered. His eyes widened as his mouth opened in shock. “Oh God Liz, don’t listen to Max. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She doesn’t know anything about us, about our relationship.”
Liz swallowed. “Relationship?”
Alec took a moment to answer, just staring into her eyes. “Yeah,” he said softly as he reached out to brush a strand of hair behind her ear, the need to touch her too strong. It was always too strong. “Relationship.”
Then he cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. He was so sweet and tender that Liz wanted to weep. But she wanted more, needed more, and so she fisted her hands into his hair and pulled him closer while nibbling his mouth open and deepening the kiss. Passion sparked between them as lust settled into Liz’s groin and hazed her senses. The kiss took on a more demanding tone, became greedy, then almost brutal. That’s when the flashes started. Liz saw so many pictures whiz by her mind, she didn’t have the time to take them all in, even less to make sense of them.
Alec broke away from her gasping for air. He looked startled, almost shocked. “What the hell was that?”
“Flashes,” Liz replied a bit taken aback by Alec’s reaction. “Have you never had any before?”
Alec raised his brows. “Flashes?”
Liz drew hers together. “Yeah. It’s an alien thing,” she explained.
Now Alec just stared at her. “Alien?”
Liz started to feel uneasy. “Are you okay?”
“Alien?” Alec repeated. “You’re…” Then he stopped, and just stared.
Liz felt the color drain from her face as panic began to settle in. It was her turn to stare. Alec looked shocked. Not just surprised but shocked. Deeply shocked. He’d had no idea. He didn’t know. Oh God.
Before she knew what she was doing she’d jumped up and rushed over to the car. She was gone before Alec could blink, leaving behind a cloud of dust and more questions than Alec could count.
~*~*~*~
Liz was sitting in Kyle's car, staring out the window at the scenery that was flying by without really seeing it. She still couldn't believe it, any of it. Everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours seemed so unreal to her, almost like it had happened to someone else.
She glanced over at Kyle. He had been admirably cool-headed when she’d told him what had happened and agreed to leave Palm Beach without any discussion, or panic, a fact that had surprised Liz. They’d given Mandy some phoney reason to explain their sudden departure and asked her to tell Matt that they couldn’t work at Jaded any longer. Then they’d packed their stuff and taken off.
It was getting dark, Liz noticed. And for the first time, small doubts gnawed their way around the panic and the fear Liz was feeling. Was she over reacting? Should she have taken the chance of explaining it all to Alec, hoping that he would somehow understand? Maybe.
But then Liz thought of the utter shock in his expression at the word alien. She didn’t even want to know how he would react to the rest of it. She didn’t think she would have been able to take it. Not if he would have turned away from her, disgusted by what she was. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit that that was the true reason for her panic, and for leaving Florida. She wouldn’t have been able to handle his rejection. Not Alec’s. It would have killed her. That’s when a song came up on the radio.
There is freedom within, there is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're travelling with me
Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win
The End
I'm gonna run and hide in a minute, I just wanted to let you know that the sequel will be called "Dare to Dream" (I've already started it btw), so just go with the title, and do as it says.
I should start posting it in a month or two, I can promise you it won't take longer than that.
Part 37
Liz stood there frozen. Her mind went blank even as hurt settled over her heart. She wanted to move, but she couldn’t. Just like she couldn’t tear her gaze away form Alec, who was as of now being dragged to the bar by the girl that was with him. She had long, dark hair that went down to her waist, big brown doe eyes that even Bambi would be jealous of and a mouth so pouty and perfect that Liz would have hated her even if she hadn’t come here with Alec.
Oh God. She was here with Alec. Alec was here with her.
Suddenly Liz could move again, and so she left the stage as quickly as she could, practically running. She didn’t find it in herself to be concerned with what people, including Alec, might think. She just had to get out of there.
It was much too early for a break, but she couldn’t have cared less. She needed a moment alone to try and get a grip on herself again. She still had a few hours of work ahead of herself, and so she needed to get over the shock and collect herself. As far as that was possible.
Once she reached the back room she went straight to the door that led outside and stepped out into the stifling night air. It was still warm, and the air was heavy and damp.
Alec was here with someone else. He was seeing someone else. Oh, of course he was. A guy like Alec was bound to have dozens of women falling at his feet. They weren’t exclusive. She’d made very sure of that. No strings, no promises, no commitment. Hadn’t those been her exact words? So why shouldn’t he date other girls? Especially if they were as gorgeous as the one he was with tonight.
Liz took several deep breaths, willing the tears back. She couldn’t cry. Not now. Not when she had to go back on stage in a few minutes, right under Alec’s nose. Just when she felt stable enough to go back inside the door behind her was opened. She whirled around, eyes wide. It was Alec.
He smiled at her, making her stomach knot and her knees tremble, and for a moment she forgot that he was here with someone else. And then his hands were cupping her face and he was kissing her, causing her to forget about it all over again. Her arms came up automatically with the intent of pushing him away, but then she lost herself in the kiss and so they wrapped themselves around Alec instead.
When he broke the kiss Liz was gasping for air. He didn’t move away, instead he kept her close and rested his forehead against hers. “I missed you,” he confessed, his eyes never leaving hers. Liz’s heart skipped a beat before beginning to pound furiously in her chest. She was sure her top was moving in unison. Before she could come up with any sort of coherent comeback, he continued to speak.
“Look, something’s come up. I’ll tell you about it later, but we’re a bit pressed for time right now. I really have to go, or Max and Jondy will tear me to pieces for delaying their gab-fest.” He rolled his eyes at the last part.
“Max?” Liz asked, her voice far from smooth.
Alec’s expression changed to one bordering on annoyance. “Yeah, you couldn’t have missed her. Brown hair, short, constant scowl on her face?”
Liz blinked. “I saw her.” She was even more confused now than she had been a few minutes ago, but after the greeting she’d gotten and the way Alec had described the girl he’d come with, she doubted that he was actually dating her. But it sounded like he knew her, had known her for quite some time. Long enough for her to annoy him.
“I have to go,” Alec said with some regret. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
Liz bit her lip, a nervous gesture Alec was sure she was unaware of. “Um, sure.”
He smiled. “Good. I’ll call you.” Pressing one last kiss to her lips, he was gone.
~*~*~*~
It wasn’t even noon yet, but the city was already boiling. The sun was blazing down on them mercilessly, heating up the pavement, causing people to escape into the cool of air-conditioned buildings and cars whenever possible. The air was humid and heavy, and Liz suspected that there was a storm coming up. It smelled like it.
She was walking down the street towards Alec’s building, asking herself what the hell she was doing here. She didn’t even know if Alec was home. It was very much possible that he was working today. Most people did on Friday mornings. And yet, here she was. But she had good reasons for being here. She wanted to know who the girl Alec had been with the night before was. He’d called her Max, hadn’t he? And it just had to be that name, didn’t it? She also wanted to know what had come up that had caused him to leave again so quickly, what it had to do with Jondy and what it had to do with this Max. He’d never mentioned her before, and she was sure she’d never seen her around.
Oh hell, like she cared about any of that. She just wanted to see him again. So much that she was willing to risk making a fool of herself by showing up at his apartment unannounced. She didn’t care if it made her look desperate or foolish, she just wanted to see him again. She’d slept poorly and been antsy all morning while waiting for his call, so she’d decided to go for a walk.
The minute she’d stepped outside she’d known where she would end up going. Trying to fool herself, she’d headed off in the opposite direction at first, but she’d circled back soon enough and changed her course to the intended destination. After all, why waste valuable time she could be spending with Alec by aimlessly running around the city so that she could convince herself that she wasn’t actually planning on going to see him when she knew perfectly well that that was just what she was planning on doing?
She reached his building and once again found the front door not properly closed. Liz frowned, not liking the lack of security at the building Alec lived in. She headed up the stairs and frowned again when she reached Alec’s floor. His door wasn’t closed either. For a second panic shot up inside her, afraid that something might have happened to him, but then she made out voices, one of them clearly Alec’s. The other one was a girl’s voice.
“God, Alec, can you get your mind off getting laid for just a minute here and concentrate on something important?”
Liz stopped walking. What was the girl talking about? She knew it was wrong of her to eavesdrop, but she really didn’t want to make her presence known while the girl was with him. Especially not while they were talking about that.
“This is important. I told Liz that I would call her, and so that’s what I’m gonna do. Now leave. This is a private conversation.”
Liz smiled. She couldn’t help it. She was important to him. Important enough to start an argument about calling her with whoever this girl was.
“Jesus, can you for once stop thinking with your dick? So she’s number two million four-hundred seventy-six in Alec’s long line of conquests. Big deal. This is important here. Really important.”
Liz froze, a chill creeping up her spine, despite the heat. Alec’s long line of conquests? What the hell was she talking about?
“And if the whole planet was being invaded, I don’t care,” Liz heard Alec replying.
“Will you two stop arguing?” a voice Liz recognized as Jondy’s interrupted. “Alec, if you want some privacy, just go into the bedroom. Max, let him call her, it will take five minutes. That’s not the end of the world. We do have that much time to spare. I hope,” she added.
“Fine,” Max huffed out.
She heard the shuffle of feet, then a door close. Probably Alec’s bedroom door.
“Was he really that much of a player in Seattle?” Jondy asked after waiting a beat.
“Worse,” Max replied.
Liz inched back towards the staircase, half way there she broke out into a run. Somehow she managed to get down the stairs without stumbling, falling and breaking a few dozen bones, even though she wasn’t sure how she managed it. What had Max been talking about? Alec a player? That couldn’t be right, could it? But she’d sounded like she’s known him for quite some time. And she’d sounded so damn sure of herself. Alec hadn’t objected either.
Was that really all that she was? One girl in a long line of conquests? Tears shot into her eyes as she gasped in a breath. She stumbled forward, not seeing where she was going, not caring. She just had to get away from there. She felt her phone vibrating in her bag, causing a sob to escape her throat since she knew that it was Alec. She clamped a hand over her mouth, hoping to hold them in this way. It didn’t work.
~*~*~*~
Liz sat on the same spot she’d been sitting for hours now, staring out over the city. She was up on the hill, the place Alec had shown her not so long ago. It seemed like an eternity to her. The sun was setting, dipping her surroundings in a warm, orange light. It was still hot, the air still stifling. The light breeze did nothing to cool it down, the air was too warm for that. Dark clouds were beginning to brew up over the city, and Liz knew that the first rain drops would fall soon. She should probably get going. But not just yet.
Sitting here did her good. It calmed her, made her feel strangely detached from the situation and numb. Numb was good. Better than actually feeling. She didn’t allow herself to think either. Thinking hurt almost as much as feeling did. So instead she just let her mind go blank.
She heard the motorcycle about a minute before it appeared on the top of the hill. If she’d moved right away she would have probably made it to Kyle’s car in time to get out of there and avoid a confrontation. Instead she just sat there, staring out over the city. She didn’t dare move. Somehow she thought she would break into a million pieces if she did. The sky was now covered with clouds, but she could still see the sun. About two thirds of it had disappeared behind the horizon. She wondered if she’d get to see the rest of the sunset before it started to rain.
“Liz?” Alec’s tone was careful, almost wary, and definitely confused.
Liz didn’t turn her head. From the corner of her eyes she could see Alec sitting down beside her. She just kept staring out over the city. “I came by your apartment this morning.” Her voice was calm and gave away nothing. She wasn’t sure why she was telling him this. He just seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction to his presence here.
“You did?” he asked confused. “When? I was home all morning, you couldn’t have missed me.”
Liz still didn’t move. “I know. Your door was open. I overheard your argument with Max about calling me.”
Now she did glance over to him. He drew his eyebrows together, obviously trying to remember the argument. “You…?” he trailed off, thinking.
Liz could tell the exact moment he remembered. His eyes widened as his mouth opened in shock. “Oh God Liz, don’t listen to Max. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She doesn’t know anything about us, about our relationship.”
Liz swallowed. “Relationship?”
Alec took a moment to answer, just staring into her eyes. “Yeah,” he said softly as he reached out to brush a strand of hair behind her ear, the need to touch her too strong. It was always too strong. “Relationship.”
Then he cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. He was so sweet and tender that Liz wanted to weep. But she wanted more, needed more, and so she fisted her hands into his hair and pulled him closer while nibbling his mouth open and deepening the kiss. Passion sparked between them as lust settled into Liz’s groin and hazed her senses. The kiss took on a more demanding tone, became greedy, then almost brutal. That’s when the flashes started. Liz saw so many pictures whiz by her mind, she didn’t have the time to take them all in, even less to make sense of them.
Alec broke away from her gasping for air. He looked startled, almost shocked. “What the hell was that?”
“Flashes,” Liz replied a bit taken aback by Alec’s reaction. “Have you never had any before?”
Alec raised his brows. “Flashes?”
Liz drew hers together. “Yeah. It’s an alien thing,” she explained.
Now Alec just stared at her. “Alien?”
Liz started to feel uneasy. “Are you okay?”
“Alien?” Alec repeated. “You’re…” Then he stopped, and just stared.
Liz felt the color drain from her face as panic began to settle in. It was her turn to stare. Alec looked shocked. Not just surprised but shocked. Deeply shocked. He’d had no idea. He didn’t know. Oh God.
Before she knew what she was doing she’d jumped up and rushed over to the car. She was gone before Alec could blink, leaving behind a cloud of dust and more questions than Alec could count.
~*~*~*~
Liz was sitting in Kyle's car, staring out the window at the scenery that was flying by without really seeing it. She still couldn't believe it, any of it. Everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours seemed so unreal to her, almost like it had happened to someone else.
She glanced over at Kyle. He had been admirably cool-headed when she’d told him what had happened and agreed to leave Palm Beach without any discussion, or panic, a fact that had surprised Liz. They’d given Mandy some phoney reason to explain their sudden departure and asked her to tell Matt that they couldn’t work at Jaded any longer. Then they’d packed their stuff and taken off.
It was getting dark, Liz noticed. And for the first time, small doubts gnawed their way around the panic and the fear Liz was feeling. Was she over reacting? Should she have taken the chance of explaining it all to Alec, hoping that he would somehow understand? Maybe.
But then Liz thought of the utter shock in his expression at the word alien. She didn’t even want to know how he would react to the rest of it. She didn’t think she would have been able to take it. Not if he would have turned away from her, disgusted by what she was. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit that that was the true reason for her panic, and for leaving Florida. She wouldn’t have been able to handle his rejection. Not Alec’s. It would have killed her. That’s when a song came up on the radio.
There is freedom within, there is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're travelling with me
Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win
The End
I'm gonna run and hide in a minute, I just wanted to let you know that the sequel will be called "Dare to Dream" (I've already started it btw), so just go with the title, and do as it says.
I should start posting it in a month or two, I can promise you it won't take longer than that.Tact is for people not witty enough to be sarcastic.
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08
holier than thou | katastrophee
Updated 03/16/07 | Updated 02/10/08