Illumination, MI/I, CHILD 1/1

[burningchaos]

Illumination
Roswell
Het
Michael/Isabel pre-relationship
Child
Spoilers: Post-Graduation
Disclaimer: I don’t own Roswell or anything associated with it.
This is for thegabbster's (on lj) drabble request.


Isabel leaned her head back against the wall of the van despite the bumpiness of the road. From the corner of her eye she quickly caught Michael glancing away from her. It had been happening more often over the last few weeks but truthfully she was too exhausted physically and mentally to think about the reasons behind it at the moment.

She could hear Maria’s constant chatter, Kyle’s soft snoring, Liz’s pen restless moving across the pages of her notebook, nothing but silence from Michael, and a fraction of a second behind all those sounds Max announcing they were pulling into a large truck stop to eat and, oh god, Isabel wanted to jump up and hug her brother because the sign advertised showers.

The parking lot was close to empty because it was early afternoon so she quickly grabbed her bag and went to pay for a shower. Once again she had the urge to hug Max because the showers were empty and she was able to take one right away.

Warm water poured over her body washing the grime and sweat from the last three days of travel. She could feel the steam clearing the fog from her mind making her more aware instead of drowsy as it usually did. She could feel things Michael had said or not said and the quick way he would divert his gaze from her falling into place like pieces of a puzzle. Isabel quickly finished because the need to find was Michel overpowering.

After leaving the shower area she didn’t have to wander far, the back corner of the restaurant was always the best place to look. Apparently he had showered too because his hair was still hanging damply around the sharp contours of his face. She slid into the seat across from him, watching him quickly look up then back down at his plate.

“Do you miss him?” Michael surprised her. She had expected this to be harder.

“No, I …” Isabel hesitated searching for the right words. “Sometimes I miss that he made me think it was possible to live a normal life.” She reached out and took his hand. “But abnormal isn’t really so bad.” She watched a rare smile light his face.

He folded his larger hand around hers. “I’ve always thought normal was boring.” Warm hope for the future curled its way through Isabel and first time in months she found herself laughing.