Dust in the Wind, 1/1, M/M, YT

[candygurl1718]

Title: Dust in the Wind
Author: Melissa
Rating: Young Teen
Summary: Tag to Blind Date
Category: Michael and Maria
Disclaimer: I don’t own Roswell. It belongs to Jason Katims, the WB, UPN and possibly now the CW network.

Dust in the Wind

The music filtered through the thick air. It was crowded and stuffy in the small club. The floor was sticky and Michael was positive he stepped in gum. Area 51 wasn’t exactly the hottest club, but it was the best Roswell had going for it.

Her voice cut through the room and smashed into him a full force. Soft, strong, sultry, sexy, everything that Maria was, her entire essence was reflected in her voice.

He leaned against the back wall and stared. Her hips swayed to the beat and he felt a soft groan rise instinctively in the back of his throat. They can’t be together, but that doesn’t mean he can’t watch her.

Suddenly, Michael noticed he wasn’t the only one watching her. Everyone was watching her. Every guy was watching her, just as intensely as he was. Watching the way her skirt slid up ever so slightly as she moved to the beat. Watching her lips form into a silent pout during pauses in the music. Watching her chest heave…Bastards.

“Dude, I never realized how hot Maria is,” one of them commented. Michael wasn’t sure who he was, but it looked like one of Kyle’s jock buddies.

“I’d bang her,” another one replied.

“Not if I’m doin’ her first,” the first jackass responded.

“Is that a challenge?”

“Damn straight. Fifty bucks says I can get into her pants tonight.”

“You’re on.”

Michael was fuming. How dare they talk about his Maria like that? She wasn’t just some girl that they could use and lose.

As soon as the last song was announced Michael made his way toward the stage. Unfortunately, so did the buffoons.

Maria took one final bow and began to skip off stage. She was absolutely glowing. Her first performance in front of such a large crowd was obviously a huge success. The crowd loved her and Michael was proud.

The feeling immediately disappeared as the goons bounded towards Maria. Their false congratulations and praise disgusted him. His scowl deepened as the big eared one wrapped a loose arm around her waist.

“Oh thanks guys,” Maria answered gracefully, as she nonchalantly wriggled out of Paulie’s half embrace. She continued moving away from them, but they refused to give up.

“So, Maria how about I buy you a drink?” Craig asked sweetly.

“No thanks,” she answered curtly. She continued to make her way towards the dressing room, unaware of a third person following her.

“Why don’t you go get yourself a drink Craig and leave me Maria alone,” he said snidely with a wink. Michael felt his gut lurch. These guys were unbelievable.

Craig wasn’t retreating so easily. Instead he wrapped an arm around Maria’s suddenly tense shoulders. “You know I don’t think I have ever heard an angel with a voice as sweet as yours before,” he whispered seductively in her ear.

“Hey,” Michael grunted. Maria turned around quickly and smiled brightly. She was obviously relieved to see him.

“You came,” she said softly, while still smiling. She knew Alex had given Isabel tickets, but she wasn’t sure if he would come.

“Yeah.”

“So Maria…” Paulie started, in an effort to gain her attention.

“Sorry guys we’re not suppose to have non-band mates in the dressing room,” she replied cutting him off. She grabbed Michael’s hand and pulled him into the room behind her.

“But he isn’t in the band,” Craig cried out fruitlessly.

“Pigs,” Maria sighed as she rolled her eyes. “Did Isabel come too?”

“No. She wasn’t feeling up to it,” he answered cryptically.

“Oh that’s too bad. Alex will be disappointed,” Maria answered. Slowly she began removing her makeup in the vanity. “So what did you think?” she asked curiously. She couldn’t quite explain it, but she wanted his approval.

“You weren’t too bad,” he replied. He tried to keep a straight face, but he couldn’t contain his devilish smirk.

“Gee thanks,” Maria answered with a light hearted giggle. She was still feeling the incredible high of being up on stage and nothing could dampen her mood tonight. “I don’t think I have ever been so nervous in my entire life,” Maria admitted.

“I didn’t notice,” he answered honestly. Watching Maria up on stage he couldn’t have guessed she felt nervous at all. She looked powerful and completely in control up there.

“When I started singing I felt so much better, but when Crystal, the event coordinator, asked me to keep going I was freaking out even more. I have never sung my own songs in front of a crowd so large. Plus being up there, just me and my guitar, I was petrified,” she babbled on. Wiping away the last bit of makeup she sighed and looked up at him in the mirror. “Do you have any plans for the rest of the night?”

“No.”

“You want to go get ice cream?” she asked hopefully.

Looking at her large, bright emerald green eyes in the mirror he couldn’t say no, so instead he just nodded his head yes.

“Great,” she said with the second bright smile of the night. He hated getting all goopy, but he loved putting that smile on her face.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“Are you okay?” Maria asked, as she licked her strawberry swirl frozen yogurt. Michael looked up at her surprised. “You seem kind of down.”

Michael shrugged his shoulders casually. He looked up again into those eyes and felt compelled to answer. “I thought I figured something out tonight. I thought I found a link to, you know home, but it didn’t work out,” he answered.

Maria nodded slowly, contemplatively. “You’ll find your answers someday Spaceboy. Someone knows you’re here and they will come for you,” she replied softly. She felt a little sad as she said it, the thought of Michael flying away on a spaceship someday left a sickened feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“It’s been fifty years, nobody is looking for us,” he responded dejectedly. He stopped eating his pistachio ice cream laced generously with Tabasco and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed across his chest defensively.

“Come on,” Maria ordered, as she stood up and grabbed his arm.

“Where are we going?” Michael asked, as she dragged him towards the Jetta.

“You’ll see,” she answered.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The desert stretched for miles and miles in front of them. Michael had been in the desert a thousand times before, but he never saw it form this perspective. He and Maria were sitting atop a large structure of rocks. He never felt more important, or more powerful. The stars felt so close, as if he could reach out and grab one.

“I come out here sometimes to think,” she explained, as she laid back and stared up at the stars wistfully. Michael laid down next to her and took in the full night’s sky. “Sometimes I think about leaving, hopping on a bus and never looking back,” she admitted softly.

“Where would you go?” Michael asked, truly interested.

“New York, LA, Seattle, Boston, anywhere I could get lost in a sea of people. Maybe I would travel around, never really settle down,” she answered dreamily.

“Would you ever really do it?”

Maria hesitated and thought about the question. “Yes,” she answered honestly. “Not now, but someday,” she explained. She couldn’t leave now. It would crush her mother, but after high school she would leave. She would become her own person, find herself.

“The only reason I stay is for Max and Isabel,” Michael admitted. “Someday they won’t hold me here either,” he added.

Maria felt a tear well in her eye, but she willed it away. Again she could picture him leaving her behind, just dust in the wind.

Noticing Maria’s sudden silence Michael glanced over at her. He could have sworn he saw her eyes glistening, but within a blink of the eye it was gone. Looking back up at the stars he reached out and took her hand slowly, cautiously. Maria intertwined her fingers with his and gratefully squeezed his hand gently.

“Let’s make a promise,” Michael suddenly suggested, the words coming out of his mouth before he could stop them. “After high school, if you know I don’t find a way home first, we should leave. Just take off and get lost in a sea of people.”

“And if you do find a way home first?” Maria asked, slightly sarcastically and a little angry that he would make such a sweet suggestion.

Michael didn’t answer because honestly he wasn’t sure how to. The truth was he didn’t know how things were going to turn out. Maybe he would go home and find the place he belonged out in the stars, with his family. Maybe he would live out the rest of his life here on Earth with a feisty little Earth girl. Either way he had to admit he would be the winner.

They stayed like that watching the stars silently for an eternity, every flicker and twinkle representing a thought, a doubt, or maybe even a hope. As the night sky lightened and the sun began to rise over the horizon both made silent prayers and promises for the future.

The End