Author: Annie (anniepoo98)
Rating: Teen, for a wee bitty bit of language
Category: UC – Misfit (Sean/Tess) and InCrowder (Isabel/Kyle)
Summary: This is a sequel to The Gift. After Isabel’s birthday, Tess and Sean started to hang out a lot more. However, there was more than a friendship that sparked up during that little dance. Will they be able to get past some confusion or will the need the help of some well meaning matchmakers?
Just so you all know, Eva bought this story for the Support Stacie Author Auction a couple of years ago. I am an evil thing who hasn’t finished it until just now. She deserves a huge amount of thanks for her support of that great cause.
Disclamer: I don’t own them. I just like sticking in different situations. They belong to Melinda Metz, Jason Katims, and the other powers that be.
Part One:
“Do you think I’m attractive?”
Finally, Kyle thought as he tilted his head down so Tess wouldn’t see the quick grin. For the last hour, they had sat at the dining room table making small talk, mostly about the big dance tomorrow. Still, through all the grins and claims of excitement about the event, he could detect just the slightest hint of sadness in Tess’s eyes.
So, he’d waited patiently, suffering while Tess quizzed him about the corsage he’d bought for Isabel, where he was planning on taking her to dinner, and if the tuxedo he rented fit okay. Yes, he had flat out refused when she strongly suggested he try the aforementioned tux just to be sure, but he was a guy. There was no way he was going to wear the monkey suit more than once a year, even if it would only be for a few minutes.
But now they were finally getting down to the heart of the matter. “Ah… Tess, you know I have a girlfriend.”
She rolled her eyes even as she was reached out to give his arm a little punch. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“Yeah,” Kyle chuckled, “but I have to tease you. It’s like my job now.”
The big brother gig, he thought. If someone would have told him a two years ago that he’d come to think of Tess Harding like his little sister, he would have called them crazy. He’d spent a long time thinking he didn’t really need anyone. Okay, except his dad. Even there, he’d felt more like a roommate than a son, left to his own devices the majority of the time. He called his own hours, fixed his own meals, and took care of his own chores. And, while the arrangement worked, Kyle found himself resenting it more as time when by. Especially after a certain group of aliens entered their lives, causing his father’s attention to be diverted away from him even more.
Things began to change when Tess moved in. At first, he hated the situation. It was just one more way the alien abyss was screwing with his life. He was even less happy that his new roommate was the girl that played him. Yet, the longer she stayed, the more he learned about her. The more he learned, the more he cared. Before he knew it, they were a family, complete with decorations at Christmas and Sunday dinners where they sat at the dining room table.
Kyle broke away from his thoughts when he noticed Tess had grown quiet. The light humor from moments before had faded from her eyes leaving something else behind. Something that looked dangerously close to tears.
Quickly, Kyle reached out, laying a hand gently over hers. “What’s the matter, Tess?” When she simply shrugged her shoulders, he pushed a little bit harder. “You can’t hide it from me. I know something is wrong?”
“I don’t have a date.” To his horror, a little tear ran down the side of her cheek. Then, she snuffled and sucked the rest back. “I’m on the Prom committee, so I have to go, but I don’t have a date. I get to be the pitiful, dateless freak that stands over by the refreshment table, drowning her sorrows in fruit punch while everyone else has a good time.”
“Never,” he exclaimed, hoping to wipe the resigned look off her face. She sighed, but he got no other reaction. “You will be with all of us,” he continued quickly. “We will be this big group of Prom…”
“Couples,” she finished for him. “Plus me. The fifth wheel.” She tilted her head to the side, thinking for a moment. “Or seventh wheel in this case.”
“Why did you say no to everyone who asked you?” Kyle asked gently, though he already had his suspicions about the reason. “I know that Paulie and Todd asked you.”
Again, she shrugged. It was all the confirmation Kyle needed. “Sean Deluca is an asshole.”
Tess’s head whipped up, shock written all over her face. “What do you mean? He is not.”
Full of righteous anger on her behalf, he was already on his feet, pacing. “He should have done the right thing. He should have asked you to go. “
“What do you mean ‘the right thing’?” Tess demanded. “Are you saying that just because he isn’t dating anyone and happens to be a member of the I-Know-An-Alien Club that it automatically makes him obligated to date me?” She scoffed. “Now there’s a line to make a girl feel special.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Clarify.”
“I just meant that the two of you have been,” he paused, trying to think of a good way to put it, “hanging out a lot.” And by a lot, he meant nearly every single day. Ever since school started, he’d seen Tess and Maria’s cousin growing closer and closer. At first, it seemed completely random. She would mention that she’d run into him at the supermarket or while hanging out with Isabel. Then, she started to work at the Crashdown.
Nobody had been more surprised than Kyle when Tess had applied for the position after Agnes decided to quit suddenly right around Halloween. However, it seemed like she really wanted the job, so he was happy for her when she was hired. Looking out for her, he’d made a point to drop by during the first few weeks she worked just to make sure everything was okay. It didn’t take long for him to notice that he wasn’t the only one.
It quickly became apparent that Sean Deluca was finding time to do the exact same. In fact, Kyle could remember making a comment to Isabel that he wondered if Sean found out about Tess’s schedule before she did. Of course, Isabel just laughed at him, making some comment about Kyle being overprotective.
I'm not overprotective, he thought to himself. It was just concern. Whatever the thing was between Tess and Sean, it was obviously make her more miserable than happy lately, and Kyle wasn’t about to see Tess miserable.
She’d been through enough.
As much as he loved his girlfriend, Isabel hadn’t seen what Nasedo’s actions had done to Tess. She couldn’t, he knew. She’d been grieving over Alex. However, Tess had been grieving too, a grief that was compounded by guilt and betrayal.
Overnight, Tess seemed to change. The once outspoken and feisty girl became quiet and lost. Alex’s death and Nasedo’s betrayal seemed to be the last straw. For a long time, Kyle worried that she would do something drastic. Never in his life did he think that he would truly respect Max Evans, but when he saw how much he stood by Tess, how much their friendship grew during that time, he was grateful.
After that, Tess made a complete transformation. She gave up on her ‘destiny’, which seemed to strengthen her friendships with everyone else in the group. She also seemed determined to experience every aspect of being a high school senior. Kyle once thought to himself that Isabel was the biggest committee hound in the world. Tess soon made her look like a piker.
She joined the Student Council, than began volunteering for everything under the sun. When they had needed someone to blow up four dozen balloons for the Homecoming Parade, she’d done it. When they need help turning the gym into a winter wonderland for the Christmas Dance, she simply asked where they wanted her to string up the streamers. From bake sales to helping at the homeless shelter, Tess Harding was there.
In other words, she embraced her humanity. The Prom Committee was just her latest foray. Kyle was hell-bent on it being a night she would never forget.
“Tess, do you like Sean?”
Her eyes widened for an instant, than grew weary. “Of course I like him. He’s my friend.”
Kyle shook his head. “I mean LIKE like him. “
“Maybe,” she said softly. “It doesn’t matter. Sean doesn’t think of me that way. I think he still likes Liz.”
Though Kyle highly doubted that, he could also sympathize with how bad Tess might be feeling in that moment. There had been a time when he felt that every girl he’d shown an interest in was infatuated with Max Evans. He bet that Tess was feeling the same way towards Liz Parker. From his own personal experiences, he knew how badly that kind of rejection felt.
Sure, he would go through every second of it again as long as it led him to Isabel. He was getting his happy ending. Tess didn’t have hers. Yet, Kyle thought as a plan began to form.
With an exaggerated move, he looked up at the clock. “Hey Tess, it’s after four! Don’t you have to get going?”
She blinked, stunned by his sudden exclamation. Then, she looked at the clock herself. With a sigh, she started to gather up all the paper she’d spread across the dining room table. “Yeah. Prom Committee calls. I should be home after six.”
“Okay,” Kyle said cheerily. “Great. See you then.”
It took her another five minutes to grab a pair of shoes and hunt up her keys. Kyle felt like he was nearly ready to jump out of his skin by the time she walked out the door, giving him a funny look over her shoulder as she left. However, he managed to wait until he heard her car start before he picked up his cell phone.
Isabel answered on the second ring.
“Hey,” she said softly.
For a moment, Kyle let himself bask in the sound of her voice. Just hearing it created this strange kind of peace inside him. That was his miracle.
Finally, he cleared his throat, and began to layout his plan. It didn’t take long, as the best plans were the simplest. When he was done, he heard her delighted laughter thought the earpiece.
“Perfect,” she agreed. “It’s just perfect.”