(Tess):
"Knock knock," a familiar, and very dear, voice called out, nearly drowning out a soft tapping on the bedroom door.
I checked the door itself, just to see if Kyle would open it before I responded. When, after a moment, it didn't budge, I laughed softy and called "Come on in." So he did, and seeing his face made me smile any more. "What's up?"
"Ehh, got tired of loading my own crap into boxes, so I thought I'd come see how you were getting on... which, geez, looks pretty good!" I looked around the room as he waved, seeing how many of my belongings had been packed into cardboard or molded plastic storage containers. "How're you feeling about it?"
"Umm... not bad," I replied. "Wondering if I'll ever really be ready to go. I... I've lived in a lot of houses in my time, but... but somehow this was the first one to ever feel like a home." Sigh. "Okay, that was corny and cheesy enough that you are now required to shoot me in the head."
"No way, nothing doing," Kyle replied, and kissed the side of my head gently instead. "Well, I guess they say that home is where the heart is... if this place was a home because of Dad and me, then - well, we'll be right there with you in the new place, and so things'll be just fine there. Even better, really, because - well, you like Amy a lot, yeah?" I couldn't resist the impulse to nod at that, slipping one arm around Kyle's shoulders. "And... well - you and Maria have had some issues, I won't pretend otherwise, but she's been a pretty good friend lately, yeah?"
I thought seriously about that one. "Yeah, actualy." I still didn't feel as close to Maria as I did to Kyle, or his dad or Michael for that matter, but she had slipped well up the list of the most important people in my life, in a quiet and unexpected way... already I'd been starting to miss her familiar presence in the Crashdown when I came in for work waiting tables, now that she and Michael were off in Tucson with Laurie.
"Okay, so let's see," Kyle said, turning be around towards the open door again, the two of us standing next to each other. "I... I think it's time for you to take a break from packing too, huh? You've made an impressive start this afternoon." I smiled slightly and let him lead me out into the hall. "Any ideas for what we should do now?"
"I... I could really do with a cup of coffee," I admitted with a small sigh. "And... and maybe some of those little chocolate-covered cookies that Dad keeps up in the top shelf of the cupboard, where he still doesn't think that either of us can even guess that they're there."
Kyle chuckled himself. "Alright, sounds great to me. But... but how're we going to reach up all that way?" He smiled at me. "If you get up on a chair, I'll steady you."
"Oh, I just bet that you'd love that," I said, and then all of a sudden it hit me where that idea was familiar from. Last spring - practically the first day that I'd ever met Kyle, we had gone to the town library together, and I'd told him that I needed his help getting a book out of the ancient languages section.
Which was true enough, more or less, although I hadn't told him that the book had been hidden by Nasedo or one of his old shapeshifter buddies in a hidden cavity in the wall, keyed to alien handprint access. Or that it had come with us all, from a far distant planet. Or that I'd made sure that Liz knew we were going there together, in an effort to make sure that they followed me, would spot me grabing the book and become curious about it. Well, it wasn't like he'd really WANTED to know any of that, way back then. And I still remember the look on his face as I climbed up onto that library stool and directed him to keep his hands firmly on my hips as I strained up to reach the right spot, wearing a light and short summer dress that pretty much showed off everything. He had loved it.
But things seemed a bit different, so much later. "I... I'm sorry," I said suddenly. "Way back then - I used you as a pawn in the games that I was playing with Max and the others, and that was completely unfair to you, even though you didn't really care at the time. I..." I broke off there, because I wasn't sure what to say next. I should have called him later? Around the same time that Nasedo kidnapped Liz, Pierce captured Max, and all of us were in deadly danger from government forces? No, it was for the best that Kyle had been well clear of us right then - in fact, he hadn't been far ENOUGH away. He'd gotten into the middle of our last showdown with Pierce, and would have been killed if Max hadn't been able to heal the bullet wound he took. And after that, he didn't want anything to do with any of us until after he came back from football camp - and I can't really blame him.
Kyle just smiled slightly at me as we came out into the small dining room. "We all do what we have to do, at the particular place we are on our life's journey," he said softly. "That may not be exactly buddhist philosophy, but it's valid enough I think. You were doing what you needed to back then... and it was certainly a memorable first date." I chuckled softly. "Don't hold any of that stuff against you."
"Alright, thanks," I said to him, and busied myself for a little while getting the coffee machine set up. "Okay, then - maybe turnabout is fair play this time - YOU get up on the chair and reach, and I'll steady *you*." Kyle laughed a little nervously, but he pulled a dining room chair out into the kitchen and got up on it, and I put my hands on his hips, just a bit above the top of his thights, and held just a bit more tightly than I needed to, loving the feel of his powerful flesh beneath my hands. It wasn't hard at all for Kyle to retrieve the treats and set them onto the sink counter, (though that necessitated some bending over, and thus gave me a good butt view for a few seconds,) and then I had to let go and help him down. But still a fun little moment, and I hope that he enjoyed it as much as I did.
Soon we were both enjoying coffee and cookies, and I looked up into Kyle's face as he finished mentioning something about the moving plans for tomorrow. "Is... is there something wrong?" I blurted out. "Not... not quite sure why I felt I had to ask, just - just wondered. Something seems... maybe I'm just not sure how I expect things to be, between us now, but..."
Kyle made a slight face. "I... I'm not sure myself, actually. I... it's nothing wrong with you. Umm, that didn't come out quite right."
"Ohh... so it IS me?" I teased him. Kyle shook his head.
"No, I just didn't want you to think that I was protesting too much."
"It's just once, so far, and reassurance is always appreciated," I told him.
"Well, okay then. I... I don't know. I - I don't want to worry you about something that's not important... and it's still nothing that I can put into words..."
"Not even very vague words?" I asked. Silence. "Not even hints?? -- Oh well, that's alright I guess." I sighed. "But... but please - I don't want you to feel like there's anything that you can't say to me. Even if you're just concerned about getting me worried... I'd be more worried if you DON'T talk to me."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," he admitted. "Alright, once I have any idea what there is to say, I'll tell you."
"Okay," I said. "Umm, in other news, we got emails from Alex and Maria today."
"Hmm?" Kyle asked. "Sent to both of us equally?"
"Well, mentioning both of our names, at least," I said. "Alex's was a pretty quick hi, and Maria went into a lot more detail, as you might imagine. You can get on the computer and take a look for yourself."
"Okay," Kyle said. "Once this cup is done." And he took another cookie.
-----------
"Hey, Tess," Sean said, as we met in the doorway, me carrying a big plastic container full of CDs and clothes, him just trying to helpfully get out of my way. "How's it going?"
"Ehh, not so great, not so bad," I pointed out. "Just busy." As I left, I thought that I caught a particular kind of look. High schools all over the country have done something to teach me what it is when a guy is scoping me out. Hmm... well, I guess it shouldn't be that surprising. Sean was really into Liz earlier this spring, before she dumped his ass to go back to Max... and - well, I guess this might be flattering myself, but Liz and I seem to attract the attention of the same sort of guys in a few ways... Max may not really count with that, but I think that Kyle does, damn it. Of course, I didn't really want anything to do with him, but it was still a bit flattering to be wanted.
I got the container up to my old room and put it down at the foot of my bed. The place looked very different from when I'd first settled in - well, partly that was because I hadn't really finished settling in this time. What boxes had been moved in were mostly sitting around, not unpacked or anything. Sometime soon I'd have to devote some time to that - just turn on a stereo and try to see how much stuff I could get put away. But that wasn't the order of the day just yet. And then, there was the fact that there was another bed in the room - Maria's bed, which the guys (including Max, who'd been here helping earlier,) had brought in from a pickup truck that Sean had borrowed from one of his classmates. The place wasn't extremely small to be sharing with another teenage girl, but - well, I guess I still hadn't really gotten used to the idea of rooming with anybody, no matter how much space there was, or how good friends we had become. Hopefully things would go okay.
And I'd sat here and rambled to myself mentally long enough. Headed out for another load - ran into Kyle around the foot of the stairs, and just on impulse decided not to pass him by. "Hey, let me take that for you," I suggested, indicating the slightly torn cardboard box in his hands. "You can go out to the car and get something else."
"Hmm... alright," Kyle decided, passing it over, and waving cutely at me before turning and heading back outside. I took the box into Kyle's room, put it on his dresser-top, (one of the few obvious places that hadn't already got a box there,) and debated with myself for a moment. Ahh, it wouldn't hurt to take a small peek. Let's see - a bunch of buddhist books, a football, and some of his uniform. Yeah, nothing terrifically exciting. I didn't push my luck, headed outside again, and met up with Kyle halfway again - this time he'd gotten something of mine. Alright - the relay chain thing seemed to be working about as well as anything else. I took my makeup and shoes into my closet and then emerged to find out that the relay chain had been lengthened by one - Mrs DeLuca was handling the stairs. Things went like that for a while, and then I offered to switch places with her and let her do the running around on the second floor while I did the running up and down stairs.
Finally, everyone seemed to decide that it was time for a break at once. No, actually - well, it was Kyle who came up with the idea, big surprise, but I mentioned it to Amy, and she was the first one to actually act on it. (I guess the idea got relayed along just as if it was a box.) So we gathered around in the dining room of the new house, (which is an old house to me, but - well, let's not get hung up on the wording here.) Kyle's dad produced a pitcher of lime-aid that he'd mixed up and put in the fridge to chill, and then Liz just happened to show up right then with Galaxy fries and saturn rings fresh from the Crash.
Just around then, Sean said that he had to go and take the pickup truck back, and Liz made this big thing about how he shouldn't have to feel like he had to go on her account, and Sean kinduv repeated too much that it was just co-incidence that the timing worked out that way, and that he'd promised that he'd have it back by four o'clock and so on. Once he was gone, though, we started talking about something like - oh, it was the memorial service in Copper Summit - I don't for the life of me remember who got that particular topic started, but soon Liz and I were taking turns telling the story to Kyle, his dad, and Maria's mom, none of whom had really heard it before, it turns out. Then I had to go and pick up an evening shift at the cafe - Liz gave me a ride there, because she had Michael's wheels while he was away, and my car was back at Valenti's. While we were there, I mentioned that something seemed a little off between Kyle and I lately.
"Hmm... are you sure that it's not the brother-sister thing rearing up again?" she asked nervously.
"Umm..." Total truth time. "I... I admit that I'm afraid of that - but really I don't think so. He says that he's past that, and I believe him. I know that I am - if I ever did really think of him as a boyfriend." Sighed. "Of course, that doesn't mean that it can't be something else nearly as bad."
"Well... I do hope that it isn't," Liz admitted. "Call me if you need someone to unload on, eh?"
"Really?" I said, looking over at Liz, and she grinned and nodded vigorously. I guess a lot has changed between us since prom.
Once we got to the Crashdown, Liz headed upstairs and I went to change into that darn blue-green uniform.
-----------
(Max):
"Ehh, I dunno," Liz said. "I can't think of anything. How about you??"
"Umm... no, nothing really springs to mind," I said, and jumped slightly as Brody emerged from behind one of the UFO Museum's innumerable divider partitions and looked crossly in my direction. I was sitting in the information booth, with Liz leaning on it from outside, and the two of us were trying to nail down some kind of day-off plans.
"Evans, what's wrong with this picture??" Brody asked in his thick English accent.
"Umm... sorry Mister Davis," I muttered. "I... I know that I shouldn't have - well, it's just that there's practically no customers today, and..."
"That - er, that's what I was talking about," Brody said, and I made a silent 'oh' of recognition. "You know that I don't really mind your girl hanging around, as long as you're not busy - but I get to grouch at the fact that there's nothing to make you busy." He sighed. "It's the middle of summer - should be peak tourist season. University students hitting the open road with conspiracy theories dancing in their heads. Mothers with volvos or minivans full of little rugrats, eager to hear about gross alien stuff. Even a few high school kids with nothing better to do would put some cash into the register! Instead..." he sighed, looking around. "Maybe the whole thing is getting a bit stale. Do you think that we need something new to pull people back? Has everyone in the country already seen our exclusive alien autopsy footage??"
"Maybe everyone in the country who actually wants to see alien autopsy footage," Liz said, looking a little pale - maybe the subject hit a bit close to home because of how close I had come to being an alien autopsy star myself. (Personally, I think I've gotten to the point where I can laugh about the idea - a little.) "And if the two of you are going to start discussing new attractions for this place, then maybe I should take off."
"Mmm... nah, it can wait a little while," Brody said, sighing slightly. "What were the two of you talking about before I showed up and cast a pall of ill feeling over your young passionate souls??"
"Umm..." I mutteres, somewhat put off by this. Brody was in an unusually talkative and melancholy mood, it seemed - maybe more than the declining attendance at the museum was affecting him. "Trying to settle on something really cool to do tomorrow on our day off."
"Oh," he said, twinkling slightly, his spirits reviving before my very eyes. "A romantic experience??"
"Umm... I guess so, yeah," Liz said. "Why?"
"Well, I might be able to help out - that is, if you don't want me to just stay out of the issue entirely."
"Well..." I traded a long, uncertain look with Liz. "If you've got a suggestion, we'll take it into consideration I think... no guarantees of course."
"Certainly." And with that, Brody turned aside slightly and paced back and forth, with an expression on his face as if he were trying to calculate an integral in his head rather than thinking of romantic things to do. "How about Trattoria Nostrani??"
"Uh, what's that??" Liz asked.
Brody shot her a slightly aggrieved look. "Only one of the most romantic Italian restaurants in the country. Up in Santa Fe."
Hmm. "Santa Fe, you say?" I asked, shooting Liz a look. Memories of a Gomez concert that neither of us ever manged to get to were running through my mind.
"Oh, my god," Liz said, recognition dawning on her face. "I... I *have* heard of that place. They're - they're really exclusive, and more expensive than we could both afford together, Max."
I smiled and tried to put a good face on it. "Come on, how expensive can two dinners be??"
"Okay, we could probably swing it, and it wouldn't be giving our college funds away, exactly," Liz admitted. "But it's too much for two dinners... and that's absolutely final, Max - I'm serious." She sighed. "But I probably shouldn't be getting so panicked about it, since they wouldn't even TAKE our money..."
"Well, they might take mine," Brody said with a smile. Both of us turned to him and stared. "Let... let me make a call or two, just to see. I have a friend or two up in Fanta Se, and I *might* be able to get you a reservation. If I can, then you're taking my money for the food and you're going - no questions asked."
"That - that's sweet in a kooky multi-millionnaire kind of way, Brody," Liz said. "But we couldn't possibly. Didn't the whole thousand dollar tip with Maria teach you anything??"
"Okay, that's an entirely different level of capriciousness," Brody argued. "This is just a slightly whimsical way of saying thank you and paying back a kind of a debt. I... I know that I've been presuming on Max's time over the past few weeks when it comes to our little mission - not so much just the past few days, but it's going to be starting again soon. And that's obviously cut down on the amount of time that the two of you have had to spend together this summer. I... I can't give you that time back, no matter how much money I spend to try to buy it. So... so I'll do what I can to buy you a special memory in exchange. Sounds like a fair deal to me."
I chuckled slightly and turned to Liz. "He makes a pretty persuasive case I think."
"Hmm... I dunno," Liz said, and sighed. "Well, I guess you can go ahead and make your calls, Mister Davis. If it works out, then we'll go... but if you can't get us in, then you forget this notion of 'paying us back' - alright?" She smiled a wide grin. "And you said two calls at most, right??"
Brody stared at her - then barked with sudden laughter. "A wager on my talent and persuasiveness, then! You have a deal, Miss Parker." But he headed away from us before pulling out his cell phone, and although Liz looked in his direction several times, she didn't try to move closer to him to a distance where she could reasonably hope to enforce the 'two calls at most' rule.'
I got busy with a group of junior high school age kids and two college-age siblings or babysitters who arrived at just about that point, and then there were a few other groups of two and three, and by the time that I had a free moment, it had apparently all been decided. Brody had got the reservations - for four in the afternoon, but that was better than nothing, and it would mean that we wouldn't have to drive back to Roswell really late. Could probably even stop off to catch a pretty sunset over the desert, part of the way back along the highway. I told Liz that I'd call her later that night to figure out when we'd have to meet to hit the road, and she left to go off and interrogate Kyle about alien stuff. I'd almost forgotten that she was stil working on that database project thingee.
----------
(Alex):
"Okay," I muttered to myself, knocked on the suite door, and hoped that Isabel would answer it herself, and that she'd be alone. Not sure why, I just didn't particularly feel like dealing with Marcie or the other girls this morning.
What I got was half a loaf. Izzie did indeed open the door herself, (looking just incredible in a summery blouse with vertical pink and white stripes, and a denim miniskirt,) and Marcie was in the lounge beyond and called out 'Hi, Alex!' But possibly because she could tell how awkward I felt in that situation, Isabel just grabbed her bag and stepped out to join me in the residence hallway, giving me a big kiss good morning before we got too far. "Boy, I can hardly wait," she said, actually skipping a little as I walked back towards the door of the building. I wouldn't have called Isabel a skippy kind of girl, but... well, her attitude has changed a little over the summer. She certainly doesn't seem like the same angsty Ice princess that she was back at West Roswell. Not that I mind or anything, certainly enough.
So we chatted a bit about our friends in Roswell and a few barely-notable events of the past twenty-four hours, while walking together up towards the student union. "Oh, that reminds me I wanted to ask," I said. "Just how long is it now before your classes are over?"
"Umm... around a week and a half - my last exam is on the Tuesday," she said, her face falling. "And I'm supposed to be all moved out by Thursday at the latest." Pause. "Why??"
"Oh, umm..." I could hardly stop myself from grinning. "I... I just might have a bit of good news about that."
That stumped her for about a minute's walking. "Okay, come on," Isabel finally complained. "You cannot just drop a hint like that on me first thing in the morning like this and then not elaborate."
"Oh, can't I?" I teased.
It seemed like a blur as Isabel swung me up against the wall of the Fenmore Literary arts building and kissed me hard and hot. "Spill."
Oh, boy. I could hardly even bring myself to raise the stakes, but... "You can't make me talk about this..."
"Oh, can't I?" She kissed me again, but didn't stop there - pressing the length of her body up against mine, and letting her fingers squeeze between us to gently stroke my crotch. Okay, time to get out of this game, I decided. Just as soon as she lets my mouth go so that I can talk again. No telling just what she'd pull if I gave her a third opportunity.
"Okay, okay... if the timing works out okay, then - I'll be able to come back to Roswell with you at the same time... time as you go home," I panted. Isabel's eyes lit up.
"Really? But - but how... you haven't finished what you came here to do, have you??" she asked breathlessly herself. "And you haven't - haven't said anything to me about expecting a breakthrough soon."
"I, umm, unfortunately I didn't say I'd be coming home to stay," I put in, and Isabel nodded and then cocked her head to the side curiously. I tried to straighten myself out a bit before resuming our trip. "See, the thing is, Doctor Pryor's group is getting, umm, kicked off the quantum computers for about a week. They've had exclusive access for several months now, and it's hard for anybody to share the resource on a day by day basis, it seems. Well, the maths department has been lobbying for a chance to try using them to factor some extremely large numbers. Sounds like it's almost a foregone conclusion that they'll have their chance." I sighed slightly. "And for that period... there won't be much for me to do here, so I can go home."
Isabel looked around slightly as we came out onto the plaza in front of the union - no sign of the downtown bus that we wanted to catch yet. "And... and this is just happening right about the same time that my classes are over??"
"Yeah, looks like. Wednesday is the day of transition when we have to help the math guys set their factorization algorithms up on the quantum... not that I really need to be involved there."
"Well... cool!" Impulsively Isabel threw her arms around me and hugged me. "A... a week back in Roswell with you - not needing to hide from our parents or anybody - that's great news. I... I was kind of looking forward to going back home anyway, but I knew that I'd miss you. This way I get the best of both worlds!"
"Yeah, something like that had occured to me." Pause. "Oooh, I think that may be our ride coming up the road," I said, pointing to a Las Cruce city bus in the distance. "Come on."
So we hurried up to the bus stop, and sure enough it was the station one that we wanted. Isabel didn't take very long to get started listing off all of the things that she wanted to do together while the two of us were back home in Roswell. I started half daydreaming of some of them, and Isabel needed to poke me a little when it was time to get off back at the greyhound station. First thing, I went up to the board and re-checked times for the trip to El Paso. We had about sixteen minutes before the next one.
"It kind of makes me sad to think about you leaving, though," I mentioned once the round trip tickets had been bought. "End of the honeymoon period, I guess... while the two of us were alone up here in LC, it was something faintly magical. And looking back on it, all I can think of is that I was so busy we didn't have as much time together as we expected."
"Hmm." Izzie considered that. "Well, maybe not... though the quality of the memories kind of makes it up for me. Remember that time we woke up together in your room and it was raining like crazy?" I nodded - like I could forget that day. "And... well... other things are always going to come up and make demands on our time... or at least often enough, and never when we can really control them. All that your or I can do is do our best to live up to our responsibilities and make the other a priority when we can. That's what today is about, after all."
"Definitely it is," I replied. We'd both been looking forward to having this day together, a little way away from Las Cruces, but not so far as to take a long time to get there. Everybody said that El Paso was quite a place to spend the day.
"Okay," Isabel continued, leaning close as we waited in the uncomfortable bus station pre-fab chairs. "If we had one extra day and night in Las Cruces with nothing at all that we had to do - no classes or tests for me, no Quantum project stuff for you, what would you want to spend it doing??"
"I... I'm not sure," I admitted. "Can I have some time to think about it?"
"Sure," Isabel said. "Until the bus arrives at El Paso, how about that??"
------------
(Maria):
"Okay, okay, I'm in position," I reported, taking my fingers away from the unfamiliar control set for a moment so that I didn't jostle myself accidentally, and to flex my hands slightly in preparation for what was to come. "Who - how do we do this??"
"All start shooting, on the count of three," Michael said, and chuckled softly. "Two, three!" Caught a little bit by surprise, I jammed down on the fire button and tried to aim as bolt after bold of red flame spat out of the turret of my mobile tank. More fire erupted on the screen - friendly fire from Michael and Laurie, striking our enemies, and panicked counterfire from the bad guys, who seemed to be so stunned by the sneak attack that they were just shooting every which way that they could. (Or maybe the computer programs for enemy response in the game were just that stupid.) After a little while though, some of the enemy assault units had slipped behind cover relative to Michael and his sister, and orienting their fire on me with more accuracy... about as much accuracy as I was getting with respect to them. (Of course, the smoke from those of the enemy tanks that had been totalled was making it very hard for me to see them and aim... maybe there was some kind of smoke bomb that we could use as a deliberate defensive tactic. Hmm...)
"Okay, what do I do?" I yelped.
"Take defensive action yourself," Laurie suggested. "We'll go around to back you up."
"No, there's no time for that," Michael said. "Just take a moment. Maria, you can do this if you concentrate. First, take your thumb off the fire button." I did. "Now, Just a little bit down, to the left, and - yeah, that's it. Shoot now." I did, and scored with a huge explosion of shrapnelling tank parts. With some help from Michael, I was able to get the second guy too, but the third guy then scored a direct hit on me. Meanwhile Laurie, who had indeed been circling around, got him as payback."
"I... I think that that's enough of this game," Laurie said once that board vanished to be replaced by the score board. "Maybe we can try a little 'dungeons of the ancients??'"
"Maybe we can try a little lunch," I said, still a little miffed at being blowed up.
"Oooh, lunch is good - I'm strongly in favor of lunch," Laurie said, and turned her brightest, most persuasive smile on Michael. I think I could spot the moment that he abandoned any further intention to keep playing with digital tanks. "You said that you'd cook me some authentic alien-themed food, and the days they are a-passing. How about now??"
"Now, I never said it was absolutely authentic," Michael protested. "For that, you'll have to come to Roswell and go to the cafe like everyone else."
"Oh, come on - who could I possibly stay with in Roswell?" Laurie teased.
"You're rich," I pointed out. "You can afford to get a hotel room."
"Hmm, I suppose that's true," she admitted. "And you managed to get us off the subject for a bit, brother dear. Will smith burgers and galaxy fries??"
"Alright," Michael admitted, and we headed back through the hallways and stairwells of the Dupree estate to the kitchen. While Michael started sorting through the supplies that we'd bought yesterday and figuring out what cooking pans he would need, I sat at the kitchen table with Laurie and started talking with her about clothes... actually, it was the conclusion of a talk that we started early this morning, before the computer game stuff started. "Hey, Laur, do you have a deep fryer??"
"Umm... I think so, but there isn't any oil in it," she said. "Do you absolutely need to do the potatoes like that? They get so greasy."
"It's more authentic that way," he said.
"Then we'll have them like that when we're actually in the Crashdown," I suggested. "Today, grill them in the oven, huh??"
Michael blinked a bit. "Umm, alright."
"Are... are you okay, Maria?" Laurie asked. "I... I didn't expect you to get that definite about it."
"Oh - well, it's nothing big," I told her. "Just... well, I was 'eating for two' for a couple weeks, and not worrying too much about putting on weight. Figured that it would get put to good use eventually, even if the baby was small enough that it didn't really need that much nutrition right away. Now - well, I guess I feel a bit fat and want to lose the weight again. Especially since - since it reminds me of..."
"Oh, of course, I didn't think of that," Laurie replied. "Though I have to say that you don't *look* fat at all, to me - you're in great shape. Didn't I tell you so that day we were at the park, playing softball??"
"Umm - I don't think so," I muttered. "Certainly I wasn't in good enough shape to get to that pop fly." Laurie just kind of shrugged and didn't comment out loud.
Lunch was great - the burgers and fries and milkshakes weren't quite like they were in the cafe - some of the supplies are stuff that the Parkers get wholesale from restaurant suppliers, not findable in the Tucson supermarket that we went to - and grilling the french fries in the oven did make them seem a little different as well. But certainly everyone enjoyed themselves. We spent about two hours playing the fantasy adventure game on the computer entertainment system that Michael had rented out, and then went out onto the grounds to enjoy the sunshine some. Not feeling any particular sense of modesty in front of either Michael or Laurie, I stripped down to my underwear to bathe in the rays instead of going back to change into a suit. Neither of them really bothered taking off their clothes, though Laurie rolled up her sleeves and her pant legs.
"Do... do you feel like you'd be in trouble if I left, Laurie?" Michael suddenly asked. "Not... not just leaving here - I know that we're going to have to go home to Roswell, but - but Maria's mentioned the idea of leaving the planet. And... and the stuff that Alex is doing, up in Las Cruces - that may make it possible to actually go home. I... I know that we don't see each other that often - but still, I'm nearly the only family that you've got who doesn't want you to go to hell. And - well, I can't help but wonder..."
"Wow," Laurie muttered. "Sorry, I - I have to admit that I'm a little blown away by the enormity of the idea." She sighed. "I... I would miss you an awful lot, if you took off like that, Michael - but I realize that it might be something that you'd have to do. And... and, well, I might be lonely, if I stay here in Tucson, but -- actually, a question. If you go - would your friends be going too?"
Michael and I exchanged a look. "We... we haven't really discussed this kind of thing," he said. "I - I can't imagine that everyone would be that eager to go, though... Max and Liz, Isabel and Alex. Some of them would probably stick around. And I don't think that our home planet is exactly ready to deal with Tess and Ava at the same time." Laurie chuckled slightly. "So - so I guess that some of them would be around. And I'm sure that they wouldn't mind getting to know you better, even if I weren't around."
"Yeah, that's a good thought," Laurie said. "As far as that goes... well, I'm still kind of at the beginning of making a life for myself here in Tucson, but it's starting to get easier just surviving by myself, I've pretty much got that part down. Maybe soon I'll have more of a life of my own - college, friends, even a boyfriend or something like that." She smiled slightly. "Things'll get a bit easier then I think."
"Of course they will," I assured her. "And you'll have the two of us to bug you for a while yet I think. We're not going anywhere soon."
"Cool." Laurie lay back on a deck chair and tucked her top up slightly to bare her midriff. "So, what do you think that Tess is up to right now??"
----------
(Liz):
(What, were you expecting Kyle?
)We roared past the outskirts of Roswell in Max's jeep, and I couldn't help but feel as if this scene was slightly familiar, though I couldn't say from where. "So... long drive ahead of us," I mentioned. "Both ways."
"Yeah," he agreed. "Santa Fe isn't exactly in the neighborhood." He sighed. "Part of the problem of being out here in the desert I guess. There's so few actual big towns, and long distances between them." I nodded agreement to that, and the silence of the open road started to close in around us.
"So... I guess that you and Brody are probably going to take off to Utah again soon?" I asked. "He essentially said as much yesterday."
"Yeah. I... I hope I don't miss anything else important happening in Roswell." Something in his face seemed to be taking that possibility much more seriously than just an idle joke - I know that it just about killed him that he couldn't be there for Maria when she was having problems. He might not have been able to do something to save the baby's life, but he could probably have saved her a long time of uncertainty and fear if he'd happened to be available when she first noticed the bleeding. But - well, there was no sense crying over what could have been, right??
"I... I think we'll be able to take care of the place while you're gone," I said tentatively, and Max laughed, which made me smile at the thought.
We drove a bit further. "Penny for your thoughts," Max said offhandedly.
"Come on, with inflation even one thought is worth MUCH more than that," I shot back.
"Okay - a kiss then. Redeemable next time we stop for a drink or a bathroom break."
"...and, I'm not sure if it's something I should tell you," I admitted. "Somebody else's private business, that they confided in me."
"Oh," he muttered suddenly. "Well, I won't press the point."
Thought about that a little while longer. "On the other hand, couple rules could be stretched so far as to apply, I think, under the circumstances. Of course, you probably shouldn't give away that I told you, if it happens to come up."
"Alright I suppose. Who's this about, anyway?"
"Tess." Wasn't quite sure if Max laughed at this point or not. "Yeah, I'm a bit surprised that she confided in me at all too, but - well, I guess it's generally a good sign. Tess and Kyle. She... I dunno, she says that everything seems to be fine on the surface, but something feels wrong deeper down and she's not sure what it is, except that it's almost certainly not the sister effect."
"Oh, boy," I muttered. "I... I actually have a bit of a theory about that, bit of a wild-ass guess actually, but... what if there's another girl, that Kyle's falling in love with, and doesn't want to admit it even to himself??"
"Umm... yeah, actually that might fit the situation - though it absolutely sucks for Tess of course. Who are you thinki--" And then, the obvious answer just filled in itself. "Oh, NO. Ava??"
"Yeah. And... well, Tess knew that Kyle had a crush on her when she asked him out." Max sighed. "But... I see them together at work sometimes, or just hanging around town. He's a perfect gentleman, really, whatever's happening between him and Tess he's not stepping over the line of it. But... but Ava's the one who he can't seem to keep his eyes off of."
"Oh, boy," I muttered. "Now I almost wish that I hadn't told you. What the heck do I do with this? Do I tell her? And if so - do I pretend that it was me who spotted it?"
"Hmm... probably you check it out for yourself," he said, and I nodded. "You know Kyle pretty well... probably a bit better than me - and you're friends with Ava too. Between the two of them, you can probably find out enough to either put your mind to rest... or go talk to Tess yourself - or Kyle, or both. Without needing to necessarily bring up the fact that I was the one who put you on the track." He sighed.
"Just great," I said. and shook my head, trying to put it out of my mind. I think Max noticed the gesture and realized that I wanted a change of subject.
"Seems like we're not the only ones with big day out plans today."
"Hmm? Oh, Alex and Isabel, the big El Paso thing?" I realized. "Yeah, I got a phone call from Alex last night, and he was just going on and on about everything that they planned. Cool - I hope it's going well. They've probably arrived by now, huh?"
"Umm... I'm not sure of the itinerary, but yeah, so one would think. Unless my sister overslept," Max put in. "You know, come to think of it, maybe we should have left a bit earlier, so that we'd have time to sightsee more in Santa Fe."
"I couldn't have taken off much earlier without leaving the Cafe shorthanded," I pointed out, and Max groaned a little, as if he couldn't believe he'd forgotten that. "And we can probably squeeze in a bit of touristi stuff before we leave... I mean, there's no particular reason that we need to be back in town before ten, right?"
"I guess you're right," Max admitted. "Cool. Oh, while we're talking about those out of town, any word from Maria??"
"Umm... not really," I said. "Got a few emails... picnic in the park and baseball and swimming and star wars and a bunch of fairly cool and not *extremely* exciting stuff... which sounds like just what they need," I admitted. "What about you - Michael hasn't picked up the phone and called, has he?"
"Not after that first evening when he let me know that they'd arrived safely," Max said, smiling. "I guess I don't really mind - Laurie's probably keeping them fairly busy."
"Yeah, I guess so," I admitted. "Do you know when they're supposed to come back home?"
"I think they're flying back on Tuesday, but I'm not sure," Max replied. I sighed as the desert seemed to speed past us. "Oooh, Blackie's!"
Max grinned. "Want to go through the drive-through?"
"Umm... not if we can actually park and go inside," I said. "I do kind of need to use the facilities, and besides..."
"Well, it's more than a little unprecedented, but yeah, I think it's possible to go inside," Max teased me. "They even have a few tables if you want to eat something before getting back into the car." He braked to slow the Jeep down and maneuvered into the parking lot of the barbecue joint. "Besides what??"
I just grinned my best cheshire cat grin as he parked, as he got out - and then, because I didn't seem to be coming out by myself, Max shrugged and went around the vehicle to open my door for me. I popped through, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing myself close to his body. "Besides, you owe me a kiss, and I wouldn't be able to collect as well from the drive through," I whispered sexily.
The liplock Max planted on me, both of us leaning against the passenger side door, was definitely worth all of those little games I'd gone through to try and make the perfect moment for it.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Listen, umm, I think that's Sara at the door, we've got a study group thing for the Art History final. Send my love to everyone back in Roswell, and I'll be back home soon!!