To Sunrise from Indigo (UC,K/I,MATURE) (Complete)

[jbangelo]

Here we go! This part was very troublesome, so I hope it doesn't suck too bad. :lol

Christian, I will keep that request in mind.
Polia, thank you! I love him too
roswck, I promise I'll keep M/M together.
killjoy, your comment about Max and Isabel is spot on.
aussietasha77, thank you!
Pooh, thanks for the good thoughts!


Part 11

When Kyle awoke on Sunday morning, he was alone in his bed. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked around the room, but there was no sign of Isabel. The digital clock on the nightstand read 9:30 am.

Kyle stumbled sleepily out of the bed and into the living room, wondering where Isabel could have gone. He must have been sleeping pretty heavily if she’d left without waking him. There was a note on the coffee table, but it was just from his dad.

Kyle,

I’m out running some errands. I took my squad car, so the keys to my Jeep are by the back door if you need to go anywhere. See you for dinner tonight.

Dad

Going back to his bedroom, Kyle found his cell phone and dialed Isabel’s number. After four rings, her voice mail picked up and Kyle ended the call. He ran a hand nervously through his hair, feeling concerned for Isabel. Then he told himself that he was being ridiculous. Isabel was a grown woman and could more than take care of herself. Regardless, he dialed the number to the Evans’ home.

“Hello?” a gentle female voice answered after two rings.

“Mrs. Evans? Hi, it’s Kyle.”

“Oh, hello, Kyle,” she greeted.

“Is Isabel around?” he asked.

“No, she’s not here. I thought she was with you.”

“She was,” Kyle said. “But she must have left early this morning. Any idea where she might have gone?”

“I’m sorry, dear,” Diane replied. “I don’t know what her plans were for today.”

In the background, Kyle could hear Emma asking, “Is that Kyle?” and the sounds were muffled as Diane must have covered the receiver.

Coming back to the phone, Diane said, “Kyle, Emma wants to talk to you. Here she is.”

There were more muffled sounds as the phone was handed off, and Emma’s anxious voice came over the line. “Kyle?”

“Hey, Emma.”

“Where’s Iz? She didn’t come home last night.”

“I know,” Kyle said. “She stayed with me at Dad’s house. But when I woke up this morning, she was gone.”

“Kyle, you have to know that I didn’t mean for things to turn out this way,” Emma told him, as if she had to convince him as well as Isabel. “I’ve wanted to tell her for so long…”

“It’s okay, Em,” Kyle said. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

“I didn’t want her to find out this way,” Emma carried on, her voice breaking, as if she might start crying at any moment. Kyle really hoped she wouldn’t. He could handle an upset Isabel, but he wasn’t so sure if he could handle an upset Emma.

“She’s my best friend – I can’t lose her.”

“Hey, you’re not going to lose her,” Kyle said, trying his best to console Emma. “She just needs some time.”

“I’ve tried calling her and all I get is her voice mail. Same for Max.” Emma paused and then said, “I know she thinks that I’ve only been pretending to be her friend all this time. God, that’s what I’d think if I were in her shoes. But it’s not like that. Kyle, you have to get her to talk to me. She listens to you,” Emma pleaded.

“First I have to find her,” Kyle mumbled.

“I think she has lunch plans with Tess today. Maybe Tess has heard from her.”

“All right, I’ll try that.”

“You’ll let me know if you find her, won’t you?” Emma asked, almost as if she was afraid Kyle wouldn’t.

“Yeah, I’ll call you.”

“Thanks, Kyle.”

They said their goodbyes and Kyle ended the call, scrolling through the directory to find Tess’ number. She answered after the third ring. “Hey, Kyle, what’s up?” she asked.

“Hey, Tess. Have you heard from Isabel today?”

“No,” Tess answered, “but I’m supposed to meet her for lunch at noon. Why?”

Kyle didn’t want to worry Tess, so he simply said, “I just haven’t seen her this morning and was wondering where she was.”

“Kyle, is everything all right?” Tess asked with concern, and Kyle wasn’t at all surprised that she could see right through his nonchalance. Even though he and Tess weren’t as close as they used to be, they’d always had a special bond. Of course she’d be able to sense that something was amiss.

Kyle didn’t know if Tess knew about Emma and everything that had gone down, and if she didn’t, it wasn’t his place to tell. So he gave her an extremely abridged version of the truth. “She and Max had a fight yesterday, and she took it pretty hard,” he told her. “Just… when you see her at lunch, would you tell her to call me?”

“Of course,” Tess said.

“Thanks, Tess. Bye.”

Next Kyle called Michael, who hadn’t seen Isabel since the wedding reception the previous day, and neither had Maria. He debated calling Liz, but figured she’d be getting ready to leave for the honeymoon, so of course she wouldn’t have seen Isabel. He called the Crashdown… no one there had seen her either.

Kyle tossed his phone onto the bed in frustration. “Damnit, Isabel,” he muttered under his breath. His rational side told him that she was perfectly safe, and was probably just off somewhere blowing off steam. Logically, he knew she wasn’t in any kind of danger. She was more than capable of taking care of herself, and it’s not like they’d really even had any dangers to be concerned about for years now.

More than anything, Kyle was just disappointed. Disappointed that Isabel wouldn’t lean on him in her time of need. She wouldn’t talk to him last night about what had happened, all too eager to get lost in the sensations of their physical closeness. Which Kyle enjoyed, obviously, but he wanted to be so much more for her.

Kyle didn’t want to push Isabel to talk about it if she wasn’t ready, but it wasn’t good to keep everything bottled up inside. If she was going to continue to refuse to talk this out with Max and Emma, then she could at least talk to someone. And Kyle wanted to be that someone. They’d gotten so close since he’d moved to San Francisco – getting to know each other better, sharing secrets, bonding with each other – and it hurt him to know that she was shutting him out when she needed him the most.

But then that had always been Isabel’s problem. She was never willing to let anyone in… never let anyone help her through the tough times. Running away seemed to be her response when things got too difficult to deal with. Isn’t that how she ended up so far from home in the first place?

But she couldn’t very well continue to run from this. Max was her brother and Emma was her best friend. And even though Kyle knew that Isabel felt hurt and betrayed, she was going to have to deal with this… the sooner the better. Kyle believed Emma when she said that she didn’t mean to hurt Isabel, and he was even going to give Max the benefit of the doubt and assume that he didn’t plan things to turn out this way either. If the three of them would just sit down and talk, maybe they could work everything out.

Why couldn’t Isabel learn to lean on the people who loved her? Granted, two of those people were the cause of the problem, but that didn’t mean that Isabel was alone. When would she learn that life’s problems were easier to bear when you had someone to help share the burden?

Unexpectedly, a thought occurred to Kyle. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it before. Throwing on some jeans and a t-shirt and stuffing his wallet and cell phone into his pocket, he grabbed the keys to the Jeep and headed for the front door, stepping outside into the warm sunshine.

Suddenly Kyle knew exactly where he would find her.

[jbangelo]

Thank you, my darlings! And thanks to everyone who came by the Author's Chat last week. I was truly overwhelmed.

killjoy, were you right?
Christian, there might be a few, but I promise it won't get TOO angsty.
Annie, more Tess in this part, and probably much more in the next.
roswck, thanks! Hope you enjoy.
Polia, here you go!


Part 12

Isabel stepped lightly across the well-manicured grass of the Roswell cemetery, coming to a stop when she reached her destination. She dropped to her knees in front of the headstone and ran her fingers reverently along the engraved letters, tears springing into her eyes almost immediately.

<center>ALEXANDER C. WHITMAN
JUNE 21, 1983 – APRIL 29, 2001
BELOVED SON AND FRIEND
May your song always be sung</center>

“Hey, Alex,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper, placing the small bouquet of flowers that she had brought next to his headstone. “Sorry I haven’t been by to visit in a while. Things have been… well, you know.”

She sat next to his grave in silence for several long moments, a gentle spring breeze blowing around her, almost like a tender caress. Feeling ashamed of herself, she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d been here. It had been a couple of years at least. There were some other bouquets of flowers at the grave, probably left by Liz or Maria or Alex’s parents… people who visited on a regular basis.

“It’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Isabel glanced to her right, where Alex sat cross-legged next to her. He was looking at the headstone curiously, looking as young and handsome as the last time she’d seen him.

“Over what?” she asked him.

“That you don’t come visit much. It’s okay. I know you have your own life now,” he responded, and Isabel gave him a sad smile.

“So did you come here to talk or are we just going to sit in silence? Tell Dr. Alex what’s on your mind.”

Isabel sighed and settled herself into a more comfortable position. “Two of the most important people in my life have betrayed me. How could they have lied to me all this time?”

Alex gave no answer to her rhetorical question, so she continued to voice aloud the thoughts that had been running rampant in her mind for the last 24 hours. “First, there’s Max. All that stuff he said to me when I left Roswell – about how he trusted me and respected my decisions – it was all complete bull! He was only letting me go because he’d found someone else to keep tabs on me.”

Isabel paused, looking up at the sky. “And Emma… it’s like our entire friendship has been a lie. She’s just been pretending all these years.”

“Now, you don’t really believe that,” Alex said.

“How do I know?” Isabel asked, not really expecting an answer. “She only became my friend out of some loyalty to Max… the almighty king,” she added with disdain.

“Maybe that’s how it started,” Alex said with sympathy. “But do you really think you two would have become as close as you did if she was just pretending? She could have just watched you from afar… never even letting you know she was there. Think about all the good times you’ve had together. All the things you’ve shared. Can you really doubt that any of that was real?”

Isabel sat thoughtfully for moment, thinking about what Alex was saying. “Even so,” she said, “that doesn’t excuse lying to me for ten years.”

“Well, ask yourself this,” Alex said. “If you had known from the beginning who Emma was and that Max sent her, what would you have done? You would have pushed her away,” Alex said, without waiting for Isabel to answer. “And then you would have missed out on ten years of friendship.”

Isabel folded her arms across her chest. She knew Alex was right. He was always right.

“And you know that Max only did this because he cares about you. I’m not saying that makes it right, but you know that he loves you, and he would never do anything to intentionally upset you.”

“It just hurts, Alex,” Isabel said after a moment. “You know… you know how hard it is for me to let people in. There aren’t many people in this world that I can truly count on, and when two of those people…” she trailed off, her voice catching in her throat. “It just hurts.”

“I know,” Alex said in a soft voice, wrapping a comforting arm around Isabel’s shoulders. “Just talk to them, Iz. Tell them how you’re feeling, and let them explain themselves. I promise that everything will work out in the end.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Trust me. Have I ever let you down?”

Isabel smiled as she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Never,” she whispered.

***

Several yards behind her, Kyle quietly crept away without alerting Isabel to his presence. He wasn’t sure what to think about what he’d just witnessed. Isabel, talking to Alex – er, herself – as if he was right there with her.

What did this mean? What did it mean that Isabel wouldn’t confide her fears and her pain with him, but rather with someone who wasn’t even really there?

He knew that Isabel and Alex had always shared a special bond, and he respected that. He knew that Isabel loved Alex, and how difficult it was for her after he died. He would never hope to take Alex’s place in her heart, but what if there wasn’t any room left in there for him? He had no doubts that he was falling hard for Isabel, but what if he was just setting himself up to get hurt?

Kyle inwardly kicked himself. You selfish dumbass, he chided himself. Isabel’s going through some tough stuff, and all you’re worried about is that she won’t love you as much as her ex-boyfriend. Nice, Valenti, real nice.

But as Kyle walked dejectedly down the sidewalk, he couldn’t help his feelings of concern. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that the next thing he knew, he was in front of the Crashdown and running into – quite literally – Tess.

“Oh! Sorry, Kyle,” Tess said.

“My bad,” Kyle responded. “I wasn’t even looking where I was going.”

“Did you find Isabel?” Tess asked him, readjusting her handbag on her shoulder.

“Yeah, I found her.”

“Then why the long face?” Tess asked. She gestured to one of the outdoor tables, and they both sat down.

“She’s at Alex’s grave,” Kyle said, running his hands over his face.

“Okay,” Tess said, obviously confused by Kyle’s demeanor.

“She was… she was talking to him.”

“Yeah, so?” Tess asked. “People talk at graves all the time. I don’t understand it myself, but humans seem to find it comforting,” she said with a chuckle, hoping to get a smile out of Kyle.

He rewarded her with a little half-smile and said, “It’s just… she was sitting there confiding in this invisible person about how upset she was… but she won’t talk to me about it. Why won’t she talk to me?”

“Maybe it’s just easier for her to talk to someone who can’t talk back,” Tess suggested.

“But that’s the weird part. I think… I think she thinks he was talking back to her. It was like she was having a conversation with someone.”

“Is that what’s bothering you? That she’s talking to invisible people?”

“No,” Kyle grumbled, looking down at the table.

“Kyle?” Tess reached out and lifted his chin, urging him to look at her. “Are you in love with Isabel?”

“I don’t know… maybe…” He paused for a moment. “Yeah… yeah, I am. I know it’s crazy, because we’ve only really been together for a couple of weeks… but yeah, I think I am.”

“And you’re afraid that she still has feelings for Alex,” Tess said, as if she was reading his mind.

Kyle nodded glumly.

“I think you’re worrying over nothing,” Tess said, placing a sympathetic hand over his. “I’ve seen the way Isabel looks at you. She’s crazy about you.”

Kyle looked at her doubtfully, and she carried on. “Just talk to her, Kyle. Be open and honest. Let her know that you’re there for her. Good relationships are always built on communication.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow at her. “When did you get so smart about relationships?” he joked.

“Yeah, well, I know I don’t have much experience,” she said with a roll of her eyes, “but I do know some things.”

Kyle could sense an underlying sadness in her words, and inwardly kicked himself for the second time that morning. “God, Tess, I’ve been so wrapped up in myself that I haven’t even asked how you’ve been doing. How are things?”

“Same old, same old,” Tess responded dolefully. “Nothing to tell, really.”

Kyle squeezed Tess’ hand and said, “I know we’ve kind of drifted over the last few years, but you’ve always been a good friend to me, Tess. Thanks.”

“You’ve been a good friend to me, too. I’ve missed you.”

“You know you’re welcome in Frisco anytime, right?” he said to her.

“Thanks,” Tess said with a small smile, squeezing his hand in return. “That really means a lot.”

***

“I’m sorry to drag you into my messy life again,” Isabel apologized to Alex.

Alex just smiled at her and said, “Before you and I had our time taken away… before we gave loving each other a go… we were friends. And that’s what we’ll always be.”

“Thanks, Alex.”

“And don’t let this whole thing make you afraid to open your heart to people,” Alex continued on. “Especially a certain someone.”

Isabel knew exactly who Alex was talking about and, with a pang, realized that she hadn’t been very considerate of Kyle’s feelings the last couple of days. “Kyle’s been so good to me,” she murmured thoughtfully. “And I’ve taken him for granted.”

“Let him help you, Isabel. You know he wants to be there for you. Lean on him. Trust him,” Alex said. “He cares very deeply for you, and I know you care for him. Don’t be afraid to feel.”

“Thank you, Alex,” Isabel said again. “Thank you for always knowing the right thing to say.”

“Everything I’ve said, you already know,” Alex said with a meaningful smile. “You just needed to hear it.”

[jbangelo]

Thanks for your patience, guys!

Pooh, thanks darlin'! Hope you enjoy the new part.
killjoy, Thanks!
Krystle, welcome to the story! Isabel's not upset that Emma didn't tell her she was alien, she's more upset because she feels that Emma's only been pretending to be her friend all these years.

Author’s Note: Okay. First, my sincere apologies for taking so long with an update. The muse was not cooperating. Secondly, one of my problems from the beginning of this fic was that I really had no idea what to do with Tess. I wanted to use her in some way, but I just didn’t know how. And now I’m afraid that my attempt at using her in this story has failed miserably. So that’s what this part is – my feeble attempt at incorporating Tess into the plotline. Hopefully it’s better than I think it is, but in case it’s not, I wanted to apologize in advance if it seems flimsy. I think my creative juices will flow a little better with the next parts.


Part 13

As Isabel waited for Tess to arrive for their lunch date, she gently massaged her temples with the tips of her fingers. She didn’t exactly have a headache – because, fortunately, aliens didn’t seem to get headaches – but all the stress of the weekend was definitely getting to her.

After leaving the cemetery, she’d had no other choice but to go back to her parents’ house since that’s where all of her things were. She was hoping to be able to just sneak in and take a shower and sneak back out, but that wasn’t her luck. Max and Emma, who insisted that they all needed to talk, had immediately bombarded her.

Isabel had simply blown them off. Despite her earlier discussion with Alex, she just wasn’t ready to talk to them yet. She knew she needed to, but she just needed some more time to collect herself before she could have a rational conversation with either of them.

So she’d barricaded herself in her bedroom until she left to meet Tess for lunch. Maybe having a carefree afternoon with an old friend would help take her mind off things for a while.

Isabel smiled and waved when she saw Tess’ familiar face coming in her direction. Tess smiled back, but Isabel noticed that it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She remembered what Max had said on her first night back in town about Tess being unhappy, and Isabel wondered what could be causing her friend’s distress.

She and Tess had never been extraordinarily close, but they did share a special bond and kinship with one another… being the only two female hybrids and all. But Isabel had always regretted they they’d never formed a closer bond simply as friends. Maybe it wasn’t too late to fix that.

Isabel and Tess settled themselves at the table after greeting each other, and a flirtatious young waiter came to take their order. Isabel bit back a smile of amusement as she wondered if all wait staff were required to flirt with their customers.

She and Tess chatted idly as they waited for their food to arrive. Isabel talked about her job and life in San Francisco, and Tess told Isabel about her job as an assistant manager in a trendy boutique, as well as filled her in on some town gossip. They briefly reminisced about their younger days and marveled at the fact that there hadn’t been any alien chaos in nearly a decade – a fact that both of them were very thankful for.

Thinking about Emma, Isabel asked Tess, “Do you ever wonder if there are more of us out there?” Isabel had no idea if Tess knew about Emma, so she tried to gauge her reaction to the question.

Tess simply looked thoughtful and responded, “Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes the urge to find out is really overwhelming. But then there’s the fear that if there are more out there, they’re the enemy. So I try not to think about it so much. I mean, this is my life now,” she said, the forlorn look appearing in her eyes again. “What about you?” she asked Isabel.

“Not until recently,” Isabel muttered in a low voice, and Tess looked at her quizzically. Isabel guessed from her look that she didn’t know about Emma, and with a shake of her head, she said, “Never mind.”

Seeming to understand Isabel’s reluctance to explain, Tess skillfully changed the subject. “You know, I really envy you.”

Isabel looked at her in surprise. “Why?”

“Because you got out of here, and you’ve made this great life for yourself. I just… I feel like I’m stuck. All my life, all I wanted was to get back home. That was always the goal. But now that I’ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that that’s never going to happen, it’s like… what else is there?”

Isabel placed a sympathetic hand over Tess’ and said, “Tess, I’m sorry. I had no idea you were so unhappy.”

“It’s not that I’m unhappy, per say. It’s just… I didn’t sign up for this, you know?”

Isabel gave Tess a pensive look and asked, “So, what’s keeping you here?”

Tess looked caught off guard by Isabel’s question, and for a moment, she didn’t answer. “I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about it.”

“You say you envy me for getting out of here, so what’s stopping you from doing the same thing?”

Tess suddenly looked as though she’d had an epiphany. Giving Isabel a hint of a smile, she said, “You’re so right. I don’t know why it never occurred to me. I mean, I know why I stuck around at first,” she said sheepishly, “but things have changed. Maybe it’s time I accepted those changes and moved on.”

“And don’t let Max and Michael talk you out of it,” Isabel warned. “Let them know that you’re a big girl and can take care of yourself.”

Tess sensed the bitterness in Isabel’s voice and guessed that that was what she and Max must have fought about. Isabel didn’t volunteer any more information, so Tess said thoughtfully, “God. Where would I even go?”

“You could always come to California. There are plenty of job opportunities, and I have a spare bedroom that you’re more than welcome to use.”

“Thanks for the offer,” Tess said with a smile, “and maybe I’ll take you up on it one day, but I think maybe I need to try things on my own first. See what’s out there.”

“Well, you know you’re welcome anytime,” Isabel told her.

With a slight chuckle, Tess said, “Kyle said the exact same thing.”

“You talked to Kyle?” Isabel asked.

“Yeah, I ran into him this morning,” Tess said. “He was looking for you.”

Isabel’s eyes dropped guiltily to the surface of the table. “I took off on him this morning, without so much as a note. I guess he was pretty upset, huh?”

“A little,” Tess responded, her lips curving upward in a compassionate smile, “but probably not for the reasons you think.”

When Isabel cocked her head to the side curiously, Tess asked, “Can I give you some advice?” and Isabel gave a barely perceptible nod. “Don’t let Kyle slip away. I don’t really know what’s going on, and it’s not my business anyway, but just… hold on to him with everything you’ve got, Isabel.”

Tess paused, and Isabel realized with a pang that maybe Tess had more than one reason to be envious of her. She remembered how close Kyle and Tess had been back in high school when Tess was living with the Valentis.

“I’m happy for you and Kyle and what you’ve found together,” Tess told Isabel. “But I can’t deny that one of the biggest regrets in my life is that things never worked out for us. He’s a great guy, Iz. You’re lucky.”

Isabel smiled sadly at her friend as she let her words sink in. Tess was absolutely right. Isabel knew she needed to find Kyle and fix the mess she’d made before it got worse.

Before it was too late.

[jbangelo]

Thanks for the fb, guys!

Krystle, thanks!
killjoy, thanks for reading.
Polia, welcome back!


Author’s Note: This is another one of those parts that took on a life of its own. The pivotal moment that happens in this part (you’ll know it when you get to it) wasn’t actually planned to happen until Part 17 or 18. So anyway, enjoy!


Part 14

After leaving lunch with Tess, Isabel couldn’t make it to the Valenti house quickly enough. Logically, she knew she should call first to make sure Kyle was there, but she didn’t think he would have gone anywhere else. Luckily, he answered the front door after her two impatient rings of the doorbell.

“Iz!” he exclaimed. “God, I have been looking all over for you.”

In wordless response, Isabel pulled Kyle to her and captured his lips in a kiss. They both fell into the embrace easily, and Isabel knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was where she belonged. She couldn’t believe that she’d been so selfish as to risk losing him.

When they parted, both breathing heavily, Kyle asked, “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that all about?”

“That was an ‘I’m sorry I’ve been so selfish and inconsiderate’ kiss,” Isabel responded sheepishly.

Kyle chuckled softly and pulled Isabel by her hand into the house, closing the door behind them. “Come on in,” he said.

He led Isabel to the living room, where he sat down on the couch, motioning for her to join him. She accepted his invitation, curling up next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. “I really am sorry,” she told him, and he wrapped his arm her in a comforting gesture. “I was so wrapped up in myself that I didn’t even realize I was pushing you away.”

“It’s okay,” Kyle told her.

“No, it’s not,” Isabel said with a shake of her head. “You made it more than clear that you were here for me, and last night… you were so great… and I have completely taken you for granted, and I’m sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“You’ve had a lot to deal with the last couple of days,” he said softly, brushing a kiss against her forehead. “I just wish you’d talk to me, Iz. Don’t shut me out, please.”

And she didn’t. For the next half hour, Isabel confided in Kyle, not holding anything back. She told him everything that she’d told Alex earlier that morning – her anger at Max for treating her like a child, her fear that her friendship Emma was a fraud, her feelings of betrayal from both of them. Her concern about what it meant for the future of her relationship with her brother and with her best friend.

Kyle silently lent his ear as she let all of her fears and frustrations out. He held her close and gently wiped away the few stray tears that spilled down her cheeks. He didn’t feel the need to offer words of advice, as she was already starting to rationalize everything out loud to herself.

They sat quietly for several minutes after Isabel finished speaking, when Isabel suddenly sat up and said, “Oh my god, she knew.”

Puzzled, Kyle asked, “Knew what?”

“When you moved to San Francisco and she set us up,” Isabel explained, “she must have known that we already knew each other.”

“So?” Kyle asked.

“So she played us!”

“Isabel,” Kyle said, grasping her hands in an effort to calm her. “Isabel, so what? Does it really matter?”

“What if she’s just been manipulating us? What if…?” Her words died in her throat, unwilling to voice her fear.

Kyle took her head in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “Iz, listen to me. You’re talking crazy. What I feel for you for you is real. Nobody manipulated me into feeling like this. This – you and me – this would have happened regardless of Emma’s meddling. I knew you were in San Francisco when I moved there. I would have looked you up. We would still have become friends and gotten close, and I would still have fallen in love with you.”

Isabel’s mouth opened in an inaudible gasp, her worries about Emma momentarily forgotten as Kyle’s last words reached her ears. “You… you what?” she asked in a hesitant voice.

Kyle visibly gulped, as if just realizing what he’d voiced out loud. Nervously clearing his throat, he repeated, “I would still have fallen in love with you.”

Isabel stared at Kyle wide-eyed as he took a deep breath and tried to will his pounding heart to slow down. He hadn’t actually meant to say that out loud just yet, but now it was too late to take it back. He meant it, of that he had no doubt, but he didn’t want to scare Isabel. And at the moment, he was afraid he’d done just that.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he reassured her. “But it’s how I feel. And Emma had nothing to do with it.”

Before Isabel had the chance to form any kind of response, Kyle quickly changed the subject. “Have you talked to Max or Emma since yesterday?” he asked.

Isabel shook her head. “They were at the house this morning when I went back to shower, but I pretty much avoided them.”

“You know you have to talk to them, right? And soon. We leave tomorrow.”

“I don’t know if I can, Kyle.” Isabel turned pleading eyes to him. “I’m still so angry… that I’m afraid everything will blow up and it’ll just turn into a big fight.”

“So, what? You’re just going to leave without settling this?”

“I don’t know,” Isabel groaned, holding her head in her hands.

“Isabel, come on,” Kyle coaxed, wrapping his arm around her. “Can’t you at least try? I’ll go with you if you want. For moral support.”

Isabel sighed wearily, knowing that Kyle was right. She couldn’t leave Roswell without at least trying to sort things out. “No. I need to do this on my own. But thanks. I’ll go talk to them while you’re having dinner with your dad tonight.” She gave him a grateful smile and squeezed his hand. “In the meantime, do you have any plans for the afternoon?”

“Nope,” Kyle said with a definitive shake of his head. “What’d you have in mind?”

“Well,” Isabel replied, running a hand through his hair, “since I was so neglectful of you this morning, I thought I could try to make it up to you.”

A faint groan escaped Kyle’s lips when Isabel started placing feather-light kisses on his neck. “Tempting,” he replied huskily, “but my dad could be back from his errands any minute now.”

“Hm, too bad,” Isabel said playfully, planting one last kiss on his cheek. “How about a movie instead?”

“Can we sit in the back of the theater and make out?” Kyle asked with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

Isabel stood up and grabbed Kyle by his hand, pulling him to his feet. With a wink, she responded, “Oh, I’m counting on it.”

[jbangelo]

Author’s Note: Italicized parts are flashbacks. I apologize in advance if any of the details about Emma seem flimsy. The sci-fi stuff isn’t really my forte.


Part 15

Kyle treaded lightly over the green grass of the Roswell cemetery, making his way slowly to his destination. In his hands he held a small bouquet of flowers, which he placed on top of the headstone of Alex Whitman’s grave.

Awkwardly, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and muttered, “Hey, man.” He’d never come here alone before – he used to just accompany Liz or Maria and let them do all the talking. But this was something he felt he needed to do before he left Roswell again.

The spring breeze rustled the trees around him, and Kyle jerked to his left, almost as if he expected to see Alex there with him. He saw nothing, and laughed softly at himself.

“So, uh, I don’t really know how to do this,” he mumbled out loud. “I can’t just sit here and carry on a conversation with you like the girls do.”

He sat down on the ground, his arms resting on his knees, and stared at the engraving on the headstone. He thought about his friendship with Alex, and how much he missed it sometimes. In their early years, the two had never given each other the time of day, traveling in different social circles. But then came the alien invasion, and it swallowed them both whole. Kyle remembered when he and Alex had been trapped underground with the gandarium crystals, and how they’d bonded. He remembered how much he’d come to respect Alex after that, and how devastated he’d been when Alex was taken from them much too soon.

But most of all, Kyle remembered Alex’s unconditional and unending love for Isabel Evans. A love that he himself now carried.

He sat in silence for long moments, just remembering all these things. Finally, he said aloud, “I just want you to know that I love her. And that I’ll take care of her.”

***

May 2001

Max had been driving aimlessly through the desert for hours, completely lost in his thoughts and losing track of time. He’d just needed to get away from everyone after the funeral, his emotions running on high.

He’d replayed his confrontation with Liz over and over in his mind, until his head almost hurt from the harsh words they’d spoken to each other. He never would have thought it possible to be so angry with her. She wasn’t letting herself grieve for Alex, instead focusing her energies on her ridiculous theory that he’d been murdered. Max hadn’t meant to lash out at her like he did, but it was too late to take it back now. He didn’t know how they’d ever get past this.

Then there was Tess. Ever since their encounter at prom and the subsequent accident, she’d barely left his side. She was smothering him, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her to back off. And he didn’t have the heart to tell her that he didn’t want to pursue whatever relationship she thought they were forming.

And Isabel. Her response to all this was to run away. He’d successfully put her desire to go away to college on the back burner for now, but if he knew his sister, she’d be barking up that tree again soon enough. How could he protect her if he couldn’t be near her? Didn’t she understand how dangerous it was for her to leave on her own?

Ironically, the person who seemed to be holding it all together was Michael. Max really admired the way he’d stepped up for Maria. Maybe Michael could help him deal with Liz and Isabel and Tess.

Max felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders as his Jeep came to a stop near the pod chamber. He didn’t really know what he was doing there – if anything, this place usually added to his stress. But for some inexplicable reason, he climbed out of the Jeep and made his way across the rough terrain to the entrance. Waving his hand over the rocky surface, the opening slid aside, and Max stooped to enter the cavern.

For a while, he simply stood and stared at the four broken pods, wondering when things got so complicated. He could remember a time not so long ago when he, Isabel, and Michael lived their lives in blissful ignorance, and he almost wished he could go back to that.

Max stepped through the pods into the granilith chamber, finding the soft hum of the large conical device oddly soothing. He sat down on the hard ground, his back leaning against the wall, and closed his eyes. Before he even realized it, his tired body was drifting off to sleep…

Max jerked awake when he heard a scuffling noise coming from the pod chamber. He rubbed his eyes and hastily stood up, his body immediately on alert. He had no idea how long he’d been asleep – maybe someone had come looking for him. But he instinctively held his hand up in the direction of the noise, ready to blast or create a shield if need be.

He was momentarily startled when he was indeed greeted by an unfamiliar face. She was a girl who looked to be about his age, average height with shoulder-length auburn hair and soft eyes. She looked as startled to see him as he did seeing her. She certainly didn’t look threatening, but if there was anything Max had learned in his life, it was to trust no one.

“Who are you?” Max demanded, still holding his arm outstretched.

“Whoa,” the girl replied, holding both her hands up in a gesture of defense. “Don’t shoot.”

“Who are you?” Max asked again. “And how did you get in here?”

“I’m not an enemy,” she simply said, slowly lowering her hands to her sides. “Could you… maybe lower your weapon there?”

“Not until you answer my question,” he said, still pointing his hand in her direction menacingly.

“Okay, okay,” she surrendered, again holding her hands up. “I’m Emma – well, on Antar I was Serina, but here I go by Emma because I always thought it was such a pretty name – anyway,” she said with a shake of her head. “My name is Emma and I’m a protector of the granilith.” She looked Max up and down. “And I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you must be Max.”

“How do you know that?”

“I know a lot of things, Max,” Emma replied calmly. “I know that you’re going to give me a complex if you don’t stop pointing that hand at me. I swear, I’m not your enemy.”

Slowly Max lowered his hand down to his side, but didn’t take his eyes off the strange girl. “What do you mean you’re a protector of the granilith?” he asked.

“It’s my job to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Though you and yours have been doing a pretty good job of that on your own,” she said with a small smile.

Max’s mind was swirling with questions and he didn’t even know where to begin, or even if he could trust this girl.

“I know you have a lot of questions,” Emma said, as if reading his mind. “Go ahead. I’ll answer anything I can.”

“Why should I believe anything you tell me?” Max asked. “This could all be a trick.”

Emma sighed and held out her hands to Max. When he looked at her confusion, she said, “Take my hands.”

“Why?” he asked suspiciously.

She rolled her eyes. “Good god, you’re stubborn. Take my hands, and I’ll show you that you can trust me.”

Max looked at Emma warily. Despite her confident demeanor, her eyes were pleading with him. Hesitantly, he placed his hands in hers, and he felt the connection almost immediately. His mind was assaulted with images, most of them going by too fast for him to discern. He saw images of himself and Isabel and Michael as children. Images that he somehow recognized as being from Antar. Images of people he knew, and some he didn’t.

But stronger than the images he saw were the feelings that accompanied them. Feelings of safety, security, hope, trust, love. Feelings and emotions that an evil enemy wouldn’t possibly be able to convey. Max remembered something Liz once told him. Last spring, when Nasedo had paraded around wearing Max’s face and had kidnapped Liz, Liz told him that she knew it wasn’t really Max from the images and feelings she received when she kissed him. Nasedo’s mind always projected images of darkness and death.

Emma dropped her hands, effectively breaking the connection. Locking her gaze with Max, she asked, “Do you believe me now?”

And in that instant Max knew that he had just found a new ally.

***

Isabel took a deep breath, letting the story thus far sink in. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Now get to the part where you followed me to San Francisco.”

“Technically, I didn’t follow you there,” Emma said.

“Emma was already living there,” Max explained. “When she told me that, that’s when I came up with the idea to have her look after you.”

Isabel fought back the urge to snap at him again about how she could take care of herself, and tried to remain calm. She had promised herself that she would hear them out and try not to fight with them. “Wait,” she asked, “why were you living in San Francisco when the granilith is here in Roswell?”

“I don’t actually have to be near the granilith at all times,” Emma told Isabel. “I can sense it from pretty far away – sense if it’s in danger. I just come to Roswell periodically to check up on things.”

“I don’t understand,” Isabel said, though that was an understatement. “Why didn’t you ever come to us before?”

Emma looked apologetic as she said, “That wasn’t really my purpose.”

Isabel scoffed.

“Isabel, try to understand,” Emma pleaded. “I was sent here to do a job, and in the meantime, I was – and still am – just trying to live my life. Earth is essentially my home, and I just want to be as normal as possible. The same as you.”

Isabel stood up abruptly. “I have to go,” she said.

“Iz, don’t go,” Max begged, standing up and trying to grasp her arm.

Isabel sidestepped Max’s attempt. “I need some time to think… to process everything,” she said.

“Isabel, there’s still a lot we need to talk about,” Emma pointed out.

“I know, but I just can’t right now. I’m sorry.” And with that, she was out the door.

Max hit the wall with his fist and muttered, “Damnit,” as Emma dropped her head into her hands.

“How are we ever going to fix this?” Emma asked.

“I don’t know, Em,” Max said with a sad shake of his head. “I just don’t know.”

[jbangelo]

Thanks Krystle and suicide_eagle_rath! Glad you enjoyed.


Part 16

“Why’d you bring your yearbooks?”

Isabel peeked out of her walk-in closet to see Kyle leafing through a West Roswell High School yearbook that she’d packed in her suitcase. “I don’t know,” she replied, hanging up the blouse that was in her hands. “Just feeling a little nostalgic, I guess.”

Isabel, Kyle, and Emma had arrived back in San Francisco that afternoon and Isabel was in the process of unpacking her bags. Isabel and Emma had barely said two words to each other on the trip home, the tension between them so thick it could have been cut with a knife. Isabel had said a cursory goodbye to Max when she left Roswell, partly mad at herself for leaving things that way, but still in too much turmoil to try to fix it. Now all she wanted to do was spend a nice evening with her boyfriend and try to forget about what a horrible weekend it had been.

“Ha, check it out,” Kyle said. “I signed your yearbook. ‘Isabel, have a great summer. Kyle V.’ How eloquent.”

Isabel giggled and said, “That must have been pre-Buddha.”

He gave her an affable scowl and went back to looking through the book.

“So, how come you never asked me out in high school?” Isabel asked as she continued putting away her clothes.

“What?” Kyle asked, looking up from the yearbook.

“Well, even before you found out the truth, we always hung out in the same crowd. Why didn’t you ever ask me out?”

Kyle gave a little chuckle. “You were untouchable in high school, Iz. I guess I was afraid of rejection.”

“But you thought about it?” Isabel asked curiously.

“Of course I thought about it. Every guy in our class thought about it,” he added with a smirk.

Isabel’s cheeks flushed slightly and then she said, “Well, what about you, Mr. Athlete of the Year? Girls would fall all over themselves in your presence.”

Kyle just chuckled. “Would you have gone out with me if I had asked?”

Isabel looked thoughtful for a moment. “Probably not,” she said.

His mouth opened in surprise at her blunt answer. “Why?”

“Because of your dad.”

Kyle gave her a dumbfounded look and said, “I’m not quite sure what to do with that.”

Isabel laughed, coming over to sit next to him on the bed. “You were the son of the town sheriff, Kyle, and I had this huge secret I was hiding. I was pretty petrified of your dad when I was younger.” After a beat, she said, “Besides, can you really picture us as a couple back then? God, how cliché.” She leaned over and planted a soft kiss just below Kyle’s ear. “We’re much better suited for each other now, don’t you think?”

“Uh huh,” he murmured before his lips met hers. He pulled her body closer to him, his hand sliding underneath the hem of her shirt, feeling the smooth skin beneath. Isabel’s hands cradled his head, her fingers playing with the short hair at the nape of his neck.

They were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell, and Kyle groaned when Isabel pulled away. She sighed and said, “Hold that thought,” before getting up to see who was at the door.

She hurried to the front door and flung it open to reveal Emma on the other side. “I’m kinda busy right now,” Isabel said curtly.

“Iz, I know you’re still upset,” Emma said. “But, please, we have to talk about this. I am begging you. If ten years of friendship have meant anything to you, you’ll talk to me.”

“That’s not fair,” Isabel said in a low voice.

“No, Isabel, you’re not being fair,” Emma accused, pointing a finger at her friend. “If you would get over yourself for two seconds, you’d realize that you’re not the only one who’s hurting here.”

Isabel’s mouth dropped open, surprised at Emma’s outburst. “Don’t you dare try to put this on me,” she said angrily.

Isabel heard Kyle clear his throat behind her, causing her to turn. “Iz, can I talk to you for a second?” He gestured to her. “Over here?”

Isabel glanced back at Emma, then followed Kyle into the living room. When they were out of earshot, Kyle said softly to Isabel, “You need to talk to her.”

“What? Kyle, I…”

“Iz, enough is enough,” Kyle said evenly. “This is obviously hurting both of you. Just hear what she has to say.”

“Why are you taking her side?” Isabel asked incredulously.

Kyle remained calm and said, “I’m not taking anyone’s side. I just hate seeing what this is doing to you. To both of you.”

Isabel stared at the wall behind him, and Kyle titled her chin so that she would look at him. “I’m gonna go home and unpack… let you two have some privacy. I’ll call you later.” He kissed her cheek. “Just talk to her, Iz.”

He squeezed her hand before he walked away, and Isabel heard him murmur something to Emma as he was leaving. Then they were alone.

Emma tentatively came into the living room where Isabel was, and Isabel couldn’t help but note the irony of the situation. Less than a week ago, Emma would never have felt any trepidation upon entering Isabel’s home. A wave of sadness washed over Isabel. How had everything gone so wrong?

“Look, I’m sorry I yelled before,” Emma said, taking a seat on the couch. “I just… this is as hard for me as it is for you, Isabel. I’ve wanted to tell you the truth for so long.”

Isabel nodded in acknowledgement. “I overheard you and Max in his room the other day.”

“Then you know,” Emma said, her eyes showing a sliver of hope. “You know that I never wanted to hurt you. You’re my best friend, Iz.”

“But our entire friendship is based on a lie!” Isabel exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “If it weren’t for Max and his obsessive need to control everyone, you and I would never have even met. And what have you been doing all these years, running to the king and telling him all my dirty little secrets?”

“It wasn’t like that, Isabel! I never told Max anything that he didn’t need to know. All he wanted to know was that you were safe.”

Isabel scoffed. “Well, he could know that for himself if he’d ever pick up a phone.”

“That goes two ways, Iz,” Emma said.

“Oh, so it’s all my fault?”

“I didn’t say that. Look, I’m not here to defend Max or get into your relationship with him, but you should know that he did what he did because he loves you. Maybe he went about it the wrong way, but he loves you all the same.”

Isabel fell into the armchair, suddenly feeling very weary. Of course she knew that her brother loved her. Throughout her life, it was one of the few constants that she’d always been sure of. But that didn’t make his betrayal hurt any less. And it did little to provide answers to all the questions swirling through her mind.

“Why?” Isabel asked softly, almost to herself.

“Why what?” Emma asked.

“Why did you agree to do this when Max asked you? I mean, you’re a protector of the granilith, not a protector of the Royal Four.”

“When I connected with Max that day, the connection went both ways,” Emma explained. “And one of the strongest feelings that I got from him was how much he cared about you and Michael and Tess. He would be devastated if anything ever happened to you – to any of you. He’d be lost. And that’s why I agreed.” Emma paused for a brief moment. “Then I met you. At first, I had no intention of even interacting with you. I was just going to discreetly keep an eye on you,” Emma told Isabel. “But… I felt drawn to you. You had this energy… this aura about you, and I wanted to talk to you. Hang out with you. Get to know you. The real you. Not Vilandra, princess of Antar. But Isabel Evans, the girl. I wanted to be your friend.”

Isabel remembered how she had felt drawn to Emma as well after they first met. With a wary look, she asked, “How do you know that you weren’t just feeling that because we’re… the same?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Emma said with a shake of her head. “I want to believe that we would have become friends anyway. I do believe it.” Emma rose from the couch and came to kneel next to the chair that Isabel was sitting in, placing her hand over Isabel’s. “I love you, Isabel. You are one of the most important people in my life, and I’m so sorry that I’ve made you doubt that. But I’m hurting too,” she said, her voice soft. “Please. I can’t lose you.”

Isabel remained silent, not meeting Emma’s eyes, tears forming in her own. She didn’t know what to say. Every fiber of her being believed what Emma was telling her, but she still had so many questions… so many doubts.

When Isabel didn’t respond, Emma rose to her feet, dropping a kiss on the top of Isabel’s head. “Think about what I’ve said. When you want to talk some more, you know where to find me.” With that, she headed for the door.

Isabel’s mind screamed at her as Emma walked away. Tell her you love her too! Tell her you forgive her! Tell her you just want things back the way they were!

“Em?” Isabel called out.

Emma turned around, her face full of hope. “Yeah?” she asked anxiously.

She held Emma’s gaze for a moment, before faltering and simply asking, “How’s Aidan?”

Emma smiled sadly and said, “He’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna be okay.”

“That’s good,” Isabel replied, nodding.

Emma looked at Isabel, seemingly waiting to see if she was going to say anything else, then breathed a sigh of defeat. “I’ll see you later,” she said.

Isabel watched her leave, waiting for the door to close before she dropped her head into her hands and cried.

[jbangelo]

Thanks for the fb, everyone! I'm so sorry for taking so long with this part. It was a tough part to write, so I hope it turned out okay. Huge thanks go out to Kerri, who was instrumental in helping me get this part written.

Krystle, thanks!
Pooh, don't hurt me! I swear it's going to happen for real VERY soon.
Christian, I think that all of your wishes will eventually come true.
killjoy, don't we always feel like dorks when we look back on our younger days?
roswck, thanks! I'm glad you like Kyle.
Polia, thank you!


Author’s Note: The italicized lines at the beginning are from the Season 7 episode of Friends, The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs. Also, I borrowed slightly from a line in Departure.


Part 17

“The big question is, does he like you? All right? Because if he doesn’t like you, this is all a moo point.”

“Huh. A moo point?”

“Yeah. It’s like a cow’s opinion. It doesn’t matter. It’s moo.”

“Have I been living with him for too long, or did that all just make sense?”

The sounds coming from the TV had been long forgotten amidst heavy breathing, soft groans, and breathless sighs. Isabel and Kyle lay tangled together on the plush couch in Isabel’s living room, their bodies pressed tightly together. Hands traced limbs and searched out skin, while lips stole breaths and caused heady delight.

Kyle was nearly going insane with need, Isabel’s hands leaving a trail of fire on his skin. He was beyond ready to take this to the next level, and judging from the pleasured sounds Isabel was making, he was pretty sure she was too.

“Iz,” he breathed against her ear. “Do you… wanna move to the bedroom?” he asked tentatively.

Isabel looked briefly at him with dazed eyes, and Kyle was momentarily worried that he’d misread the situation. Despite her sometimes-aggressive behavior, Kyle knew that taking this step in their relationship was a big deal for her, and he didn’t want her to feel like he was pushing her. But Isabel’s eyes softened as their gazes locked, and she gave a silent nod in answer to his question. Together they sat up from their horizontal positions on the couch and prepared to move to Isabel’s room.

The shrill sound of the doorbell had Kyle stopping in his tracks. Isabel cursed softly and Kyle heaved a frustrated sigh. “Seriously, we have got to start hanging out at my place,” he muttered in slight annoyance.

Isabel gave him an apologetic look, standing up and adjusting her clothes. “I’ll get rid of whoever it is,” she told Kyle. “Don’t move,” she added with a smirk.

He gave her a crooked smile and said, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Kyle waited as Isabel quickly made herself presentable and took a deep breath. Maybe it was just the mailman or one of the neighborhood kids trying to sell something – someone that Isabel could get rid of quickly so they could continue what they’d started.

But Kyle snapped to attention when he heard Isabel’s gasp after opening the door. Looking past her, he saw the last person he would have expected.

“Max!” Isabel exclaimed in surprise.

“Hey, Iz,” Max said with a sheepish smile, and Kyle rose from his position on the couch to come closer to the door.

“What are you doing here?” Isabel asked.

“I know I should have called,” Max said by way of an apology. “But I was afraid you’d tell me not to come.”

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Isabel stepped aside to allow Max to come inside. He entered, almost hesitantly, a small duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He and Kyle regarded each other with tentative nods, and the three stood in awkward silence for what felt like an eternity.

“So, uh, you’ve got a nice place,” Max finally said, breaking the silence.

“Thanks,” Isabel responded, flipping her hair over her shoulder in a gesture of nonchalance. “I guess Emma gave you the address.” Kyle thought he detected a hint of bitterness in her voice.

With the disappointing realization that his plans with Isabel were once again going to be scrapped, Kyle cleared his throat and said, “Well, I guess I should go. I know you two probably have a lot to… talk about.”

“Kyle, you don’t have to go,” Isabel said apologetically, placing a hand on his arm.

He looked from Isabel to Max and back again before saying, “Yeah, I do.” He kissed her lips, unable to resist letting the touch linger a little longer than necessary because he knew it would make Max uncomfortable.

“Call me later,” he told Isabel. “Maybe we can all go to dinner or something.”

Isabel nodded in agreement and he excused himself, leaving the Evans siblings to sort out their problems. Kyle sincerely hoped that they would settle this thing once and for all. Because he got the sinking feeling that his relationship with Isabel would not be able to move forward – either physically or emotionally – until it was resolved.

***

Max and Isabel stood in awkward silence in the middle of her living room for several long moments, and Isabel felt the same pang of sadness that she’d felt when she talked to Emma a few days earlier. How had things gotten this bad? Even before this big fiasco, she and Max had barely been on speaking terms. Not because of any falling out, but just because neither one of them seemed willing to put forth the effort to stay in touch. How had her relationship with her brother – one of the people she loved most in the world – come to this?

“I’m sorry for just showing up like this,” Max apologized again. “Emma warned me that it would piss you off.”

Kyle’s words from the other day echoed in Isabel’s mind. “Enough is enough.” He was right. This had gone on long enough, and it was time to try to fix the damage before it got worse.

Isabel’s face softened and she gestured for Max to make himself comfortable. “I’m not pissed, Max,” she said softly. “You just caught me off guard is all.”

Max and Isabel sat down on opposite ends of the couch, regarding each other cautiously. Max finally broke the silence by saying, “Now that I’m here, I don’t really know where to start.”

“Let’s start with why you kept this to yourself for so long,” Isabel said. “I don’t understand, Max. Why all the secrecy?”

“I didn’t totally keep it a secret. Michael knows.”

“Michael,” Isabel repeated. She made a mental note to deal with him later.

“Iz, I wish I could give you some drawn-out explanation as to why I did what I did, but I just can’t. I was in a really bad place after Alex died, and I didn’t know how to fix anything. I know I’ve made some bad decisions.”

“Max, it’s not your job to fix everything,” Isabel told him. After a beat, she said, “And I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Max responded.

“Then why did you send a babysitter after me?” Isabel asked, her voice rising.

“Isabel.” Max tiredly rubbed his face, then raised sad eyes to look at his sister. “You and I always had a special bond. Stronger than most siblings. When we came out of the pods and lost Michael… it was just the two of us and I knew I wasn’t alone. That I had my sister. No matter how bad things got, I feel like you and I were always a constant for one another. And when you told me you wanted to go away to college… to leave Roswell… to leave me… Iz, it broke my heart a little. It meant you didn’t need me anymore.”

Isabel opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say anything, Max continued on. “I’m not trying to make you feel guilty, and I know it’s no excuse for what I’ve done, and if I could go back and change things, I would. If I had known that this is how things would turn out, I would have done everything differently.”

“Well, hindsight’s twenty-twenty, Max,” Isabel said to him. “Just because you say now that you’d do it all differently, doesn’t make everything okay.”

“Iz…”

“No, it’s my turn now,” Isabel cut him off. She slowly paced the room, gathering her thoughts. “I’m not going to apologize for leaving. I couldn’t stay there anymore. You of all people should understand that. I couldn’t stay there for you, or Michael, or anyone else. I had to get out. I will apologize for not trying harder to stay in touch. But that road goes two ways, Max. You didn’t try either. I mean, my god! I had to find out from a wedding invitation that you and Liz had broken up! How do you think that made me feel?” Pointing an accusing finger at her brother, she said, “So don’t give me this crap about me not needing you, because you obviously didn’t need me either!”

Isabel paused to catch her breath and tried to control the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. “I’m not a child anymore, Max,” she said firmly. “It’s time for you to stop treating me like one.”

“I don’t think of you as a child.”

“You sure have a funny way of showing it!” Isabel exclaimed. “God! From day one, you’ve acted like it’s your job to take care of me. All decisions have to go through you first. I’ve got news for you, Max. Here on Earth, you’re no king, and I am not your subject!”

Isabel took a weary breath, and softened her voice when she continued. “For the last ten years, I’ve been happy. Really happy, Max. And now… it’s like it was all an illusion being orchestrated by you.”

“Isabel, how can you think that?” Max asked. “Look at everything you’ve accomplished. You went to college and you’ve got a great job doing something you really love and care about. You have a beautiful home,” he said, waving his hand at their surroundings. “I didn’t have anything to do with that. You did it all on your own.”

Max rose from his position on the couch and came to stand in front of Isabel, their eyes level with one another. “I’m sorry, Iz,” he said. “I’m sorry for not trusting you to do things on your own. I’m sorry for not making a better effort to keep in touch with you. I’m sorry I’ve made you feel doubtful of yourself and your life. I don’t want to fight with you anymore, Isabel. I just want to be a part of your life again.”

Isabel sighed and looked upwards to the ceiling. “I don’t want to fight with you anymore either, Max. I never thought our relationship would come to this,” she said, bringing her gaze back to her brother’s dark eyes. “But things can’t just go back to the way they were. It’s going to take some time.”

“I understand,” Max responded solemnly. “I’ll do anything, Iz. Anything to make you trust me again.”

“Then I need you to trust me. Trust me that I can make my own decisions. That I know what’s best for me.”

“I do trust you,” Max affirmed.

“Those are just words, Max,” Isabel said with a sad smile. “Let’s just give it time, okay?” After a pause, she asked, “How long are you staying?”

“I’m off of work for the week. But I can leave in a couple of days, or even tomorrow…”

“No, don’t be silly,” Isabel said with a wave of her hand, suddenly anxious to have more time to talk with her brother. “Stay. Maybe you and Emma and I can… spend some time together.”

“I’d like that,” Max said with a tentative smile.

Isabel had meant what she said. She didn’t want to fight with Max anymore. Or Emma either. In reality, she wished she could just erase the last couple of weeks of her life. But maybe they were all taking a step in the right direction. In her heart, Isabel truly wished that things would eventually go back to the way they were.

[jbangelo]

Guess what? New part!

First of all, thanks for all the nominations and votes. You guys have no idea how much it means to me.

Pooh, thanks for being so patient with all the interruptions. You know what's coming up.
Polia, thanks, dear!
roswck, thank you. I'm glad you like Max and Isabel's chat, 'cause it was tough to write!
Shiesty, thank you!


Many thanks to ISLANDGIRL5 for filling in as beta while Kerri takes care of family stuff.


Author’s Note: This part fulfills a special request made by ISLANDGIRL5. Hope you like it! We’re nearing the end here – probably only two more parts after this.


Part 18

One week later, five people sat together at a round table in a trendy downtown restaurant. The atmosphere was considerably lighter than it had been in weeks, and Isabel smiled to herself as she realized that maybe everything was going to be okay.

Not to say that everything was back to normal yet. There was still some tension between herself and Max and Emma, but she felt like they’d come a long way in just the course of a week. She’d spent some time with the two of them during Max’s visit, as well as some one-on-one time with her brother. They’d done a lot of talking and gotten a lot of things out in the open. Isabel felt emotionally drained, but she knew that it was worth it. Because as hurt and betrayed as she felt, she still couldn’t imagine not having Max and Emma in her life. It would probably take a while for the rift between them to be completely healed, but Isabel knew that they were all on the right track.

And through it all, Kyle had been there. He’d graciously taken a step back during Max’s visit, giving Isabel time to spend with her brother to try and patch things up. He’d been so understanding and so supportive through the whole ordeal, that Isabel had to ask herself what she’d ever done to deserve him.

Max’s return flight to Roswell would be leaving in a couple of hours, so they had gathered with Kyle, Emma, and Aidan to have dinner before he left. Isabel smiled contentedly as Kyle entertained the group with one of his outrageous stories – one that she’d already heard several times, but the others seemed to be enjoying it.

“Isabel, hi!”

Isabel looked up at the sound of her name to see Christian Perkins, one of her co-workers at the high school. She was an English teacher, and she and Isabel didn’t know each other very well, but had chatted at several school functions and meetings. Isabel had always found her to be very friendly and outgoing.

“Hey, Christian,” Isabel replied with a smile. “How are you?”

“I’m good. You?”

“Great. Enjoying summer break so far?”

“Of course!” Christian chuckled in reply.

“Oh, I’m being so rude!” Isabel suddenly exclaimed. “Everyone, this is Christian. She’s one of the teachers at school.” Gesturing around the table, she introduced her friends. “This is my boyfriend, Kyle, my friend, Emma, and her husband, Aidan. And my brother, Max.”

Everyone smiled and murmured hellos to the new arrival. “What are you up to tonight?” Isabel asked Christian.

“Well, I was supposed to meeting someone, but he was… um… detained.”

Seeing the disappointment on Christian’s face, Isabel asked, “Would you like to join us?”

“Oh, I don’t want to intrude,” Christian said apologetically.

“Don’t be silly,” Isabel said.

The others at the table nodded in agreement, so Christian took a seat in between Max and Isabel, and was soon comfortably engaged in the group’s conversation. Isabel noticed that she seemed to have a lot in common with Max in particular, and if she wasn’t mistaken, she thought her brother might even have been flirting a little bit.

After dinner, the group of friends prepared to head their separate ways. Christian thanked everyone for letting her join their party, and she and Isabel exchanged phone numbers with promises to hang out again.

As Emma and Aidan prepared to leave, Emma asked Isabel, “Do you wanna have lunch tomorrow? We haven’t done our Sunday lunch in a while.”

Isabel smiled. Sunday lunch used to be a tradition for them before Emma had gotten married, and Isabel had to admit she missed it. “Sure,” she replied. “I’ll meet you at noon.”

Emma and Aidan waved goodbye to everyone and headed off to their car, leaving Max, Isabel, and Kyle alone. Kyle helped Max get his bags out of the trunk of his car, and Isabel asked Max, “Are you sure you don’t want us to drive you to the airport?”

“I’m sure,” Max answered. “A cab is fine.” As he spoke, he stuck out his hand to flag down a taxi, hailing one in record time.

Turning to Kyle, Isabel said, “I’m just going to say goodbye.”

Kyle nodded and kissed her cheek, saying, “I’ll be in the car. Later, Evans,” he called out to Max, and Max waved in return.

Isabel helped Max put his bags in the trunk of the cab. “So you and Christian seemed to hit it off pretty well,” Isabel teased.

“Yeah,” Max replied, and Isabel was pretty sure he was blushing. “She’s nice.”

Isabel knew that was all she was going to get out of him, so she just winked and said, “I think she liked you too.”

Max smiled in embarrassment. Then he pulled Isabel into a hug and said, “Thanks for letting me stay with you this week.”

“I’m glad you came,” Isabel said, and she meant it. She was glad they’d had this time to start to work on their problems, and they’d promised each other that they would stay in touch this time.

“Bye, Iz,” Max murmured and climbed into the cab.

“Bye,” Isabel said. Before he shut the door, she called out, “Oh, and Max, for the record… you’re my brother. I’ll always need you.”

Max smiled, obviously grateful to hear those words. With a final wave, he shut the door and the cab pulled away from the curb.

Isabel watched the taxi drive away before going and getting into the passenger side of Kyle’s car. “You okay?” Kyle asked her.

Isabel looked at him appreciatively and reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’m good. Thanks.”

Kyle smiled in return and cranked the engine. “Ready to go home?”

“How about we go to your place?” Isabel suggested, the corners of her lips turning upward in a smile. “I don’t think there will be any interruptions tonight.”

***

They were barely inside the front door of the apartment before Kyle had his lips on hers. She’d gotten him all worked up on the drive over, first by simply holding his hand, then touching his leg, then running her fingers through the short hair at the nape of his neck. He felt like he might explode if he didn’t touch her. Buddha help him if they did get interrupted this time.

“Bedroom,” Isabel gasped out between kisses, and she let out a little squeal when Kyle scooped her up in his arms and carried her up the steps and around the corner to his bedroom.

When he set her back on her feet, Isabel placed her hands on Kyle’s shoulders and looked into his blue eyes. “Kyle, I just want to thank you,” she said, “for being so supportive these last few weeks. I really don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“I just want you to be happy, Isabel.”

“I am,” she affirmed, smiling gratefully at her boyfriend. “But I’ve been selfish. I’ve pushed you away… and I’ve put other things before you… and I don’t want to do that anymore. I keep remembering what you said that night in Roswell… about wanting this to be about us… and it is. I want this. I want you.”

“Iz, turning you down that night is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Kyle replied. “God, I wanted you so bad. I think I’ve wanted you since the moment you walked back into my life.”

“I’m all yours,” Isabel whispered as she began unfastening the buttons of his shirt. Tantalizingly slowly, the two lovers undressed each other, taking their time to explore each other’s bodies along the way, both of them wanting to savor the memory of their first time together.

“You are so beautiful,” Kyle murmured in awe as he gazed upon her nude body. Isabel, blushing under the scrutiny of his intense gaze, grasped Kyle’s hand and guided him to the bed with her. Laying back, Kyle’s body hovering over hers, she could feel the rapid pulse of his heartbeat beneath his chest.

“Your heart is racing,” Isabel noted in a soft voice.

He smiled down at her, his finger running along the side of her face. “Just a little nervous, I guess,” he said.

“Nervous?” Isabel asked in surprise. “But I’m sure you’ve probably… lots of times.”

“It’s different this time. This is more than just sex, Isabel,” he said, his voice sincere. “I love you.”

Isabel was so overwhelmed at the emotion she heard in his words and saw in his eyes, that she feared she might burst into tears. Her voice betraying her, she swallowed back the lump in her throat and kissed Kyle firmly on his lips, hoping to show him what she couldn’t quite say out loud just yet.

After obtaining a condom from the drawer of his nightstand and putting it on, Kyle locked gazes with Isabel. “Ready?” he asked breathlessly.

She nodded, her heart now pounding just as fast as his. “Just… go easy, okay?”

Kyle smiled and nodded, kissing her lips softly… and then they were one. They both gasped at the initial sensations, reveling in the fact that they were finally able to take this intimate step together. Soft moans and breathless pants filled the air as they easily developed a comfortable rhythm.

When he wasn’t looking into her eyes, Kyle was planting tiny kisses all over Isabel’s face and neck. Isabel ran her hands up and down Kyle’s back and up to thread through his hair, her hips rising up to meet his thrusts. Their lower bodies rocked together in perfect unison, and Kyle felt his end approaching far sooner than he would have liked.

“Iz,” he panted, “I don’t… I’m not going to… last much longer…”

Isabel, guiding his hand between their bodies, said, “Touch me, Kyle. I want to come with you.”

He complied with her request, and soon the sounds of their cries echoed throughout the room as they both reached the brink of ecstasy. Panting from exhaustion, Kyle collapsed against Isabel, his head resting in the crook of her neck.

After her breathing had calmed down, Isabel said, “That was… oh my god.”

Kyle placed a kiss to her neck and then rolled to the side to give her some breathing room. “Sorry that I couldn’t hold out any longer,” he said sheepishly, the color rising in his cheeks.

“That’s okay,” Isabel said, smiling to reassure him. With a wink, she added, “We still have all night.”

Kyle simply grinned.

***

When Isabel awoke the next morning, panic momentarily seized her when she found herself alone in bed. But then she saw the piece of paper with Kyle’s handwriting scrawled across it on the pillow next to her, and she smiled to herself. Eagerly, she picked up the note and read what it said.

Isabel,

You looked so peaceful in your sleep that I didn’t want to wake you. I have to go to work for a while today. Stay as long as you want – I left the spare key and my car keys on the coffee table for you so you could get home. I’ll call you when I get off work.

Kyle

PS – Last night was incredible.

Isabel smiled and a blush rose in her cheeks as she remembered every detail of their lovemaking from the night before. It had been perfect – just the way she’d always imagined it would be. Kyle had more than made up for the miserable experience she’d had in college.

Glancing at the clock, Isabel saw that she had just enough time to get back to her apartment and clean up before she had to meet Emma for lunch. Gathering her clothes, that Kyle had neatly folded and left on the chair for her, she quickly dressed and headed back to her own apartment to shower and change.

Shortly after twelve o’clock, Isabel was seated across from Emma at a small table at their favorite café. Even though some tension still existed between the two friends, Isabel was too far gone on cloud nine to care. Nothing could bring her down today.

Emma must have noticed, because she asked good-naturedly, “What are you all smiles about today?”

“Nothing,” Isabel replied, but she was unable to stop smiling.

“Yeah, right,” Emma laughed in response. “What, did you and Kyle finally do it or something?” When Isabel didn’t respond right away, Emma, always the intuitive one, exclaimed, “Oh my god, you did, didn’t you?”

Unable to stop herself, Isabel gave an enthusiastic nod.

“Well, dish! How was it?”

If it was possible, Isabel’s grin widened even more. “Amazing. Perfect. Wonderful,” she gushed.

“It must have been,” Emma said with a knowing smile. “You’re grinning like the damn Cheshire cat.”

Isabel giggled and blushed, saying, “Em, I just… I can’t even tell you how glad I am that Kyle came back into my life. I really thought that there was no one out there for me… that I was just one of those people who was meant to be alone.” Isabel’s words fell from her mouth in a jumble. “And now, I think… I might, you know… finally…”

Emma’s cell phone rang loudly, effectively cutting off Isabel’s words. Glancing at the caller ID, Emma said, “It’s Aidan. Hold that thought.” Flipping the phone open, she greeted, “Hey, honey… yeah… okay…” A strange look crossed Emma’s face and she mouthed, “Be right back,” to Isabel and excused herself from the table.

Any other time Isabel might have been concerned about the conversation, but her mind was still wrapped up in Kyle. What she’d been about to say when Emma’s phone rang, was that she thought she’d finally found the person she was meant to be with. And that she had fallen in love.

She hadn’t said those three magic words to Kyle yet – even though he’d voiced them out loud twice now – but she would soon enough. Tonight, she thought to herself. Tonight I’ll tell Kyle that I love him.

Isabel was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn’t notice Emma coming back to the table. But she did notice that her friend was visibly upset. “Emma?” Isabel questioned. “What’s wrong?”

“Okay,” Emma said, taking a deep breath. “Just… before you freak out… Kyle’s fine.”

At Emma’s words, Isabel’s heart leapt into her throat and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. “What?” she asked in a panicky voice. “What’s wrong with Kyle?”

“Iz, sweetie, he’s in the hospital. He’s been shot.”


AN: Don’t hurt me! *hides*

[jbangelo]

Come on, guys! Y'all know I wouldn't kill off my man.

Pooh, oh my! You spit your drink all over the screen? I hope you'll rest easier with this part.
Christian, thanks for all your help! And look for another appearance from Max and his "new friend" in the conclusion.
Lisa, welcome! I'm so glad you got to read! I knew you'd appreciate the Liz and Sean pairing.


Part 19

Isabel felt as though she’d been shot herself, a sharp pain slamming into her chest, making it difficult to breathe. She was only aware of the pounding of her own heart, as it seemed to reverberate in her ears.

Please, she pleaded internally – to God, to herself… she wasn’t really sure. This can’t be happening again.

“Iz? Isabel?” Emma’s voice broke through the fog that surrounded her. “Sweetie, do you need to sit down?”

“No,” Isabel rasped, shaking her head firmly. She wasn’t even sure when she had risen out of her chair. “I need to get to the hospital,” she said.

“Okay.” Emma nodded, grasping Isabel by the arm for support. “Come on. I’ll drive.”

On the way to the hospital, Emma filled Isabel in on what she’d learned from her short phone conversation with Aidan. The guys had been called in on a domestic dispute around mid-morning after a neighbor had called 911. They had arrived to find a woman threatening her husband with a handgun, and while trying to diffuse the situation, the gun had gone off, hitting Kyle in the arm. Aidan had assured Emma that Kyle was fine and would probably be home by tomorrow.

“Isabel, he’s going to be fine,” Emma assured her friend, reaching across the center console to clasp Isabel’s hand in hers.

Isabel just nodded stoically, staring out the window at the passing scenery. She wouldn’t be able to relax until she saw for herself that Kyle was okay.

After stopping at the reception desk to find out what room Kyle was in, Isabel practically raced down the corridor, Emma right on her heels. She burst into the room without so much as a knock, and her heart leapt into her throat when she saw him.

Kyle was sitting upright in the hospital bed, his left arm bandaged and resting in a sling. His face was slightly pale, probably from the loss of blood, and he looked a little tired, but other than that, he seemed perfectly healthy. When he saw Isabel, he smiled and said, “Hey.”

Isabel drew in a sharp breath, immediately going to Kyle’s right side. She dropped her purse to the floor unnoticed and grasped his hand in between hers. “Are you okay?” she asked in concern.

“Better now that you’re here,” he replied with a smile.

“We’ll just give you two a minute alone,” Emma said softly, gesturing to Aidan, who was sitting in the chair on the opposite side of Kyle’s bed.

Isabel glanced up, momentarily embarrassed that she had ignored her friends in her haste to get to Kyle. “Thanks, guys,” she said sincerely.

“Thanks,” Kyle echoed.

When they were alone, Isabel focused her attention back on Kyle, touching his face gently. “God, Kyle, I was so scared,” she said. “I thought…” she trailed off as the sob that had been threatening to escape for the last half hour was finally released, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Hey, come here,” Kyle urged softly, and Isabel climbed onto the bed alongside him, resting her head on his chest. Tears leaked from her eyes and her hand fisted in his hospital gown as she tried to reassure herself that he was real… that she hadn’t lost him.

“Isabel, shh,” Kyle whispered, stroking his free hand through her soft hair. “Baby, please don’t cry. I’m fine. The doctor says I can probably go home tomorrow morning.”

Isabel wiped at her eyes and leaned up on her elbow so that she could look into his face when she told him what she was about to tell him. “Kyle, all I kept thinking on the way over here… was that last night could have been the last time I ever saw you… and I never even told you that I love you. I should have told you a thousand times already, and I’m so sorry that I let my fear get the best of me again. I love you, Kyle. I love you so much.”

Now the tears shimmered in Kyle’s eyes, and he reached out to caress Isabel’s cheek. “Say it again,” he implored in a near whisper.

Isabel smiled through her tears and said, “Kyle Valenti, I am so in love with you.”

He lifted his head to meet her mouth with his, their lips parting to allow their tongues to languidly caress each other. With his thumb, he wiped away the tear tracks from her cheek. They parted breathlessly, and Kyle said, “I love you too, Iz. More than you can know.”

“Kyle, I thought I was happy before you came here, but I was wrong. You brought something to my life that I didn’t even know I was missing. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“You don’t have to. I’m not going anywhere,” Kyle told her, his blue eyes boring into hers. With a grin, he added, “You’re stuck with me.”

Isabel let out a little laugh as their lips met once more.

***

Three Weeks Later

“Kyle, have you seen my pillow?” Isabel asked as she walked into the living room of Kyle’s apartment.

“What pillow?” Kyle asked between bites of pretzels.

Isabel smirked and folded her arms across her chest in mock annoyance as she looked down at her boyfriend sprawled across the couch, munching on pretzels and watching ESPN. “The one your head is laying on, silly,” she teased.

“Hm, I knew the couch felt extra comfortable today,” he said with a grin.

“Well, I need it,” Isabel said. “I’m about to take my stuff out to the car.”

“You would take a pillow from a wounded man?” he asked with a mock gasp.

“Wounded?” Isabel asked with a laugh. “This morning you told me you felt fine. In fact, if I remember correctly, you were feeling pretty darn good this morning,” she added with a smirk.

“I’m suddenly feeling very achy,” he said with a mischievous smile, pulling her by the hand until she was lying next to him on the couch. He kissed her deeply, running his hand through her blonde locks. When they parted, he turned serious and said, “Don’t go.”

“Kyle, I haven’t been to my apartment in nearly three weeks. It’s probably pretty dusty. And I can’t keep expecting Emma to go by and feed Freckles.”

“So, bring Freckles here,” Kyle said.

Isabel chuckled and said, “What happened to, ‘I don’t need you to stay, Isabel. I can take care of myself.’”

“You’ve spoiled me,” Kyle told her, kissing her neck.

“And don’t you miss having your own space? No more of my clothes in your closet. No more of my girly things all over your bathroom.”

“I like your girly things all over my bathroom,” he said with a crooked smile.

“So that wasn’t you that was whining about all the different bottles of lotion and cleanser next to the sink?”

“Baby, I’m a man. I had to at least pretend to put up a fight.”

Isabel giggled and said, “You just have an answer for everything today, don’t you?”

“Is it working?” he asked with a hopeful raise of his eyebrow.

“No,” she said pointedly. “Now give me my pillow so I can take my things to the car.”

“You are mean, woman,” Kyle said, pretending to be hurt. But he let her get up from the couch and handed her the pillow, and even helped her take her bags to her car.

“Did you remember to take your pill?” Isabel asked him as they stood next to her car after everything was loaded up.

“See? Who’s going to remind me to take my medication once you’re gone?” Kyle teased.

Isabel rolled her eyes amicably. “Goodbye, Kyle,” she said, giving his lips a brief kiss. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Bye,” he said with a chuckle, opening the door for her so she could get in the car. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” she responded, blowing a kiss and waving to him as she drove away.

***

Later that night, back in her own apartment, Isabel was preparing for bed. She’d spent the evening cleaning up – it was amazing how dirty things could get even when no one was around – and unpacking from her stay at Kyle’s.

As she crawled in between the freshly washed sheets, she couldn’t help thinking how much she missed Kyle already. She had put up a pretty tough front that afternoon, but the truth was she had almost caved when Kyle begged her not to go. She just thought it might be a good idea for them to spend a couple of nights apart.

Just as Isabel was about to turn off the light, the telephone on her nightstand rang, piercing the silence. Glancing at the caller ID, she saw Valenti, Kyle, and picked up the receiver with a smile. “Hey,” she greeted. “How’re you feeling?”

“Not so good,” Kyle answered dolefully.

“Why, what’s wrong?” Isabel asked in concern. Maybe he really had forgotten to take his medication.

“I’m in this big old bed… all alone.”

Isabel let out a giggle when she realized he was joking. “Oh, you are so pitiful,” she said teasingly.

“Mm hm,” he murmured in agreement. “I miss you already.”

Isabel dropped all pretense of being tough when she said, “I miss you too.”

“So I was thinking.”

“About what?” Isabel asked, settling back against her pillows with the phone cradled to her ear.

“Move in with me,” Kyle blurted.

“What?” Isabel asked in surprise, immediately sitting upright again.

“Move in with me,” Kyle repeated.

“Kyle, you’re just saying that because you’ve gotten used to having me around for the last few weeks.”

“No, I’m not, Iz,” Kyle said. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since you left this afternoon. Actually, if I’m being completely truthful, I’ve been thinking about it for a few days now. I want you here… with me… everyday.”

Isabel sat speechless for a moment. She didn’t know what to say. Of course the idea of living with Kyle day in and day out excited her… but it was too soon for that… right?

She let out a half-hearted laugh. “Kyle, this is crazy.”

She heard Kyle take a deep breath on the other end of the line. “Iz, all I know is that I love you. I know this might seem sudden, and maybe I am being totally crazy. But this feels right. I feel it in my heart.” He paused briefly before he continued on. “You’re it for me, Isabel Evans. I don’t want to spend another night apart from you.”

The things he could do to her with just his words. It was a good thing she was already sitting down, otherwise her legs would have failed her by now.

She knew in her heart that Kyle was the one for her too. It had taken almost losing him for her to figure it out, but she knew it. And if she was being completely honest with herself, she didn’t want to spend another night alone either.

“Okay,” Isabel finally said.

“Okay?”

“Okay. Let’s move in together.”

“Really?” Kyle questioned again, like he couldn’t believe that he’d actually talked her into it.

“Really,” Isabel affirmed, a smile crossing her pretty face. “I love you, Kyle.”

“I love you too, babe,” Kyle said. “God, I wish you were here right now.”

“I know. I do too,” Isabel said, once again making herself comfortable.

“Guess we could go with the next best thing.”

“And what would that be?” Isabel asked flirtatiously, having a pretty good idea of where this conversation was about to go.

She could practically see his grin through the phone when he asked, “What are you wearing?”

[jbangelo]

Thanks for the fb, everyone! Let me say again, that if you have any questions, please feel free to ask, and I'll explain anything as best I can.

Pooh, actually, I think I probably could write this forever. I just love writing these two together, and you can bet that there will still be more In Crowder fics in the future.
Christian, of course any Kyle is a good Kyle! Thanks again, darlin’!
Lisa, thanks! I really, really love writing their scenes together.
Kath, thanks for reading! No worries about hijacking the thread with your Dreamer angst. I admit that I didn’t really give as much thought to that angle of the story as I should have, because, well, I didn’t want to. As for Max and Tess, as I told Lisa, I did come *thisclose* to putting them together in this story, but decided against it. They’ll both get their happy endings, just not together. But you know, lately I have found myself REALLY wanting to write a Rebel fic for some unknown reason, but I just can’t come up with a good idea, so if you have any challenges, throw them my way. Anyway, thanks for all the great fb!


Part 20

One Year Later

“Isabel, for the love of Buddha, will you come on? If we don’t leave here in the next five minutes, we’re going to be late.”

“I’ll be done in a minute,” Isabel called back from the bathroom, and Kyle could detect the slight annoyance in her voice.

“That’s what you said fifteen minutes ago,” Kyle grumbled to himself, looking in the mirror and readjusting his tie. God, he hated these things.

“What?” Isabel called out.

“Nothing,” Kyle responded innocently, though he was pretty sure she’d heard his comment.

True to her word this time, Isabel finally came out of the bathroom a minute later, and all of Kyle’s irritation left him the instant he laid eyes on her. She was dressed in a knee-length charcoal gray dress with spaghetti straps and subtle sequins on the bodice, her blonde hair in loose waves around her bare shoulders. She had dark makeup around her eyes, giving her a sexy, smoldering look. Kyle had to suck in a breath – after all this time, she still managed to take his breath away.

“How do I look?” Isabel asked, doing a little twirl for him.

Kyle grinned. As if there was any question. “Damn, baby,” he murmured, pulling her body close to his. “You’re not supposed to look prettier than the bride.”

Isabel giggled and said, “I could wear a garbage bag and you’d still say I was prettier than the bride.”

“Well, to me, you’ll always be the most beautiful woman in the room,” he charmed, kissing her firmly on the lips.

“Hmm,” Isabel hummed against Kyle’s lips before she pulled away from the kiss. “Save that for later,” she said with a wink. “Let’s go. We don’t want to show up late to Tess’ wedding.”

Isabel couldn’t believe it had only been a year since she’d sat at a table with Tess and convinced her to take her life into her own hands. Tess had taken Isabel’s advice almost immediately, heading out of Roswell with no particular destination in mind. Six months later, she’d shown up in San Francisco – with a new fiancé in tow. Isabel and Kyle had both been wary at first, thinking things were moving way too fast. But Isabel had never seen Tess so happy, and after she got to know Caleb a little and decided he was trustworthy, she gave them her blessing. (Max and Michael, as per usual, were much harder to convince.) Caleb had been let into the ‘I Know an Alien’ Club soon after, and the whole gang had been invited to Seattle to help them celebrate their special day.

The ceremony was very small and intimate – just family and close friends of the bride and groom. Jim Valenti gave Tess away, who looked radiant in her simple but beautiful gown. A small reception followed at a quaint country club, where everyone mingled with old and new friends and offered congratulations to the newlyweds.

Now Isabel was wrapped in the arms of her boyfriend on the dance floor, swaying softly to the music. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt more content. She was happy, her friends were happy… it felt like everything was right with the world.

The last year with Kyle had been everything Isabel had hoped it would be. It had gotten off to a rocky start right after they moved in together, as they adjusted to each other and sharing their space. They’d had their share of lover’s spats in the beginning – at times making Isabel question whether or not they’d made the right decision by living together so soon – but in the end she knew that they had come out stronger. It had undoubtedly been the best year of her life, and she had fallen more in love with Kyle everyday.

“Can I cut in?” a voice asked, interrupting Isabel’s musings.

Isabel smiled when she saw her brother, and Kyle graciously handed her over, saying jokingly, “Guess I’ll go dance with your woman then.”

Max and Isabel just laughed as Kyle wandered off, and they danced slowly to the ballad that was drifting over the speakers.

“I have some big news,” Max told her.

“Oh yeah?” Isabel asked curiously.

“I’m moving to San Francisco.”

Isabel’s mouth opened in surprise. “You are?”

Max nodded. “Chris and I have been talking about it for a while… you know, wanting to be closer to each other. And it was time for me to move on from Dad’s firm anyway, so I started submitting some resumes, and I’ve gotten a very nice offer from a small law firm in San Francisco.”

“Oh my god, Max!” Isabel exclaimed. “I had no idea you two had gotten this serious.”

Max and Christian had kept in touch after their initial meeting last year. They had hung out during Max’s two visits to San Francisco and Christian had come to Roswell with Isabel for Christmas. It took forever for Isabel to just get them to admit that they were more than friends, so she didn’t even realize how serious they were about each other.

Max cast a discreet glance in his girlfriend’s direction, who was dancing with Kyle and laughing at something he’d said. “I’m ready to give this relationship a real shot. She’s really special.”

Isabel knew that was Max’s way of saying that he was falling for Christian. She smiled and said, “I’m so happy for you, Max.”

Max and Isabel had been slowly rebuilding their relationship over the last year. They’d kept their promise to each other to stay in touch, talking on the phone at least once a week and making visits whenever they could. Isabel was ecstatic that they would once again be living in the same city. If there was anything that she had learned from everything that had happened, it was that her life was better with Max in it.

“What about you and Kyle?” Max asked. “Any wedding bells in the future?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Isabel said with a blush. “We haven’t really talked about that.” Even though she knew that she and Kyle were both in it for the long haul, marriage was one topic that had never come up. And that was fine with Isabel – she was more than happy to take things one day at a time.

“I know I’ve never said it, but I think you guys are really good together, Iz,” Max said sincerely.

“Thanks, Max,” Isabel responded with a smile. “That means a lot.”

***

Later that evening, after the day’s celebrations were over, Isabel and Kyle came back to their hotel room for some much needed rest. Kyle blissfully shed his jacket and tie, and Isabel sat on the edge of the bed to remove her shoes, much to her relief.

“Maria asked if we wanted to have lunch with her and Michael tomorrow,” Isabel told Kyle. “I told her we’d meet them in the lobby at noon.”

“Okay,” Kyle said noncommittally, falling down onto the bed next to Isabel.

“Tired?” Isabel asked. She lay down on her side next to Kyle, sliding her hand under the edge of his shirt to caress the taut muscles of his stomach.

He nodded, his hand reaching out to run through her hair. “But not too tired,” he said with a suggestive raise of his eyebrow.

Isabel giggled as Kyle pulled her body closer to him and began peppering her neck with tiny kisses. The ringing of Isabel’s cell phone, however, prevented him from going any further. Kyle let out a small groan of frustration as Isabel reached over to the nightstand where she’d left her phone.

“It’s Emma,” Isabel said after looking at the caller ID.

“Tell her you’re busy,” Kyle said.

“I’ll be quick,” Isabel promised as she answered the phone. “Hey, Em.”

Her relationship with Emma was another thing Isabel had been working on over the last year. They’d spent a lot of time just talking and getting things out in the open. They’d promised each other that from now on out, they would be completely honest with each other about everything. Despite everything, Isabel found that it was actually a great weight off her shoulders to not have to hide her origins from Emma and Aidan anymore, and it gave her one more thing to bond with Emma about. And Kyle had been very instrumental in helping Aidan come to terms with the new knowledge about his wife.

“Hey, Iz, I know you’re probably busy,” Emma said on the other end of the line. “But I just couldn’t wait to tell you.”

“Tell me what?” Isabel asked curiously.

“I’m pregnant!”

“Oh my god!” Isabel exclaimed. “Emma, that’s great. Congratulations!”

“God, I’m still shaking,” Emma said with a little laugh. “Aidan and I are about to go out and celebrate, but I wanted you to be the first to know.”

“I’m glad you called,” Isabel said, smiling. “I’m so happy for you.”

The two friends said their goodbyes, and Isabel conveyed the good news to Kyle. Emma and Aidan had been trying for a while, so Isabel knew how happy they must be.

“You’re so cute when you get all excited about something,” Kyle told her with a grin, pulling her body back to him.

Isabel giggled again, meeting his lips with hers. Kyle kissed her deeply, until they both had to part for need of breath. He looked into her eyes, and it nearly took Isabel’s breath away with all the love and devotion she could see shining in his blue depths.

“Marry me,” Kyle said suddenly.

Isabel’s heart skipped a beat. “Wh-what?” she stuttered.

She watched in confusion as he jumped off the bed and went over to his suitcase, rummaging through its contents. When he turned around, he held a small black box in his hand.

“I’ve been carrying this around for the last two weeks,” he explained, coming back to the bed and sitting on his knees. “Just waiting for the right moment.” He lifted the lid of the box, revealing a stunning princess-cut diamond ring.

“Oh my god,” Isabel gasped, her hand flying to her mouth and moisture filling her eyes.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Kyle said softly. “That I’m only doing this now because it’s been a pretty eventful day. But that’s not it. When I was looking at you just now, I just knew I couldn’t wait another minute to ask you to be my wife.”

“Kyle…” Isabel choked out, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“I know life isn’t perfect, and it never will be,” Kyle said. “But, Iz, being with you is as close as it gets. I never thought it was possible to love another person this much. You’re not just my lover… you’re my soulmate… you’re my best friend. You make me happier than I ever thought possible.” His voice dropped to a near whisper as he made his final plea. “Make me even happier and say you’ll marry me.”

Words failed her. She wanted to tell him that she loved him too. That he made her life complete. But the only thing she could manage was the only thing she really needed to say anyway. “Yes,” she said through her tears. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Kyle released the breath he’d been holding and his face broke out into a grin. With trembling hands, he took the ring out of its box and slid it onto Isabel’s finger. Isabel held out her hand to admire the luminous gem, saying, “It’s perfect.”

“I love you so much,” Kyle whispered, his hand brushing away the tears from her face.

“I love you too,” Isabel returned, closing the distance between them with a kiss.

As they made love, Isabel reflected on the fact that it wasn’t so long that she had resigned herself to being alone forever. But then Kyle walked back into her life, bringing something with him that she didn’t know how she’d ever lived without.

And now, with her relationships on the mend and the man that she loved forever by her side… now her life was finally complete.

THE END