PART 7



The rest of the week went by in a blur. She was running around, making arrangements. Her nights were spent at home since there were nothing else to do.


They either watched TV or sat in the backyard with Michael. They fought all the time; their banter was her favorite way of having fun lately, but neither of them spent time apart in their own rooms.


She found out that he could cook Italian and tortured him every night until he agreed to cook. They never talked about anything serious; she wanted to offer him a relaxed friendship unlike the ones he already had.


There of course were a couple of -well, okay, a LOT of- times that they found themselves getting too close. But thankfully they never acted on those. Most of the time it was Michael that broke the spell; Maria was way too weak to say no.


Michael kept having the dreams every night. They were getting even weirder. He kept seeing the black haired guy and some others he’d never met. There was a sad looking old man and a blond guy mostly. The old man made him feel sad but the blond guy, he made him angry. The guy gave off evil vibes.


He had no idea what those dreams meant. They were too real. He knew they meant something. Were they flashes? Maybe. But flashes of what? Not his other life, those scenes he saw were definitely on Earth not Antar. They weren’t future either. Some of them felt old, looked old, like past memories.


He was confused but not excited like he would have been if this had happened a couple years ago. He knew he was changing; losing his enthusiasm and will to carry on searching.


And ever since he had met Maria, he’d promised himself not to think too much about anything. He figured that that might be his problem. He was thinking all the time instead of living. And he was starting to get scared that life would pass him by and he would die as a lonely alien.


He was learning to have a friend and spend time with someone to just sit around or wash the dishes. He was actually having fun. He found himself coming home early every night to listen to her yell at people on the phone. Or hassle her while she was trying to meditate.


They were practically like siblings; except the part they wanted to ravage each other’s bodies against a wall of course.


Things were going just peachy…


- - -


It was Saturday morning and wedding was in three hours. Maria was on the phone with Tom, giving him the address while Michael pretended not to listen.


“Okay, babe. I’ll meet you at the church. Love you. Bye.”


“At least they aren’t all lovey dovey like Max and Liz…” Michael reasoned. He really wouldn’t have handled that well.


He had always hated couples with all their romance and s-hit. That was partly why he’d never spent time with them anymore. They were always holding hands and saying that they had missed each other after every time they went to the bathroom. It was stupid and disgusting. Yuck!


“Michael get your things, let’s go.”


“I’m not dressed yet!”


“No! Don’t wear it now, you'll ruin it.”


“Stop treating me like a baby. I can keep clean for a couple hours.”


Maria threw him a ‘get-real’ look from the door. Michael gave up easily. He did that a lot when it came to her.


“Okay. Okay. I'm coming.”


- - -


Michael was with Jim and Kyle while Maria terrorized the hairdresser. Michael hated this. He had avoided getting people’s attention all his life and now he had to walk down the aisle with Amy, gathering all that unnecessary attention. He was sweating just by thinking about all those eyes turned to him. The things he did for DeLucas…


He wore the stupid tux and let Kyle help him with the tie. Kyle wasn’t exactly his friend but they had a mutual understanding in their relationship. They shared a secret that would tie them forever and that made them respect each other. A weird kind of respect between a jock and a loner which neither of them wanted in the first place.


The atmosphere of the room was bizarre to say the least. Jim wasn’t really excited or nervous. He had been waiting too long to marry Amy, so all he could feel was impatience. But Kyle kept trying to calm him down. He was talking non-stop. Jim started to think he was the nervous one.


Michael, on the other hand, sat there silently like he couldn’t care less. But inside, he was anxious and dying to get out of that church.


It was just too much. All those guests watching him, meeting Tom and seeing THEM together, knowing tomorrow they would head back to another city to live happily, while he stayed in Roswell to rot waiting for a spaceship which wouldn’t come… Aaaargh! It was too much and he was thinking again. He hated this! He hated this town! He hated his life!


He was just about to burst when he heard the knock. He started to get up. So it was time. But he couldn’t find the strength to move when he saw the head poking from the door. It was that man. Tall man from the dreams.


“Hi, Maria sent me to get you guys. It’s time.” Tom looked at the weirded out faces and realized that he didn’t introduce himself.


“Uh, sorry I’m Tom. Tom Lindley.” He shook their hands starting with the groom. Michael was the last, cause Tom was a little scared from his skeptical expression.


Michael’s brain was working over the possibilities. He was seeing Maria’s boyfriend in his dreams. That couldn’t be good. He shook Tom’s hand carefully, concentrating to get a flash. It was the only thing he could do with his powers and he couldn’t even control that. Yeah, he was a loser, he knew that. He couldn’t get a flash, but got just a feeling instead. Tom felt safe, he was harmless.


He sighed with relief. So Maria was safe.


- - -


Michael was walking down the aisle. He was nervous. And he was angry. Why the hell was he nervous? It wasn’t even his wedding for God’s sake!


The music was getting on his nerves. It was unsettling. He kept his eyes on the floor afraid to look around to find all those familiar strangers’ eyes. Amy squeezed his arm to calm him down. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around?


He raised his head in an attempt to save some of his remaining pride. He looked right ahead towards the waiting groom but his eyes found someone else instead.


Maria was standing there, looking magnificent in her dress. She was wearing a long, soft looking dress in a pinkish white color. Michael didn’t know what that color was called but it definitely was his new favorite.


Her dress had a deep slit showing the length of her right thigh. Michael found himself imagining sliding his hand through that slit and feeling the velvety skin of her creamy, white thigh. “Stop it… Stop it… Look somewhere else…”


She was wearing heels. Michael mentally snickered. He knew how much she hated wearing heels and that she wore them anyway because she thought they made her legs look better. Michael thought her legs were incredible without any help from the heels but of course he would never tell her that.


He felt blessed just by watching her. Her curls were all around her bare shoulders.


She was shining.


He raised his eyes a little more. Her lips… red and pouty… tasting like strawberries… “Oh no! Don’t even go there!” Her nose… He loved kissing her nose. He never kissed anyone’s nose before. But she always did that to him, didn’t she? Everything was a first with her. And her eyes… Her big, green eyes… He looked at them and found them looking directly at him… Uh-oh!


Time stood still. He couldn’t take his eyes away. It seemed too long. He absentmindedly thought they should have reached there long ago, but nope, they were still walking and that disgusting music kept playing.


“So you’re in love with her?” Amy’s casual voice broke his gaze. He couldn’t process what she’d said for a moment.


“Who?”


“Ria, who else?”


“No, of course not, why would you think that?”


“Oh come on Michael! Even I can see that, don’t tell me you didn’t realize!”


Michael’s voice was low and ice cold now, stripped of all its earlier surprise. “No Amy, you’re wrong. I don’t even believe in love.” His voice gained a sarcastic tone when he spat out the word love. Like he found the word itself ridiculous.


“Well Michael, I had never believed in aliens, but when I found them, I didn’t say ‘No, there are no aliens.’. It was hard, but I accepted it. Just… open your eyes.”


- - -


“Mars, sweetie, will you care to explain to me why we’re doing this?”


Maria feigned innocence. “What, dancing?” Tom rolled his eyes and sighed.


“Why am I your boyfriend now?”


“Cause mom finally lost it. She wanted to meet my boyfriend and she was so damn emotional about me hiding my life. I just had to shut her up! Sorry I got you involved. But it would be too weird with someone else, you know?”


“We don’t have to have sex right?” Maria hit his head playfully.


“No idiot! We’ll just dance…” She checked her watch. “…for like another hour. Then they will go off to their honeymoon and we’re free.”


Michael was watching them dance from a distance. He was hiding. The backyard wasn’t big, so it was hard, but he was a pro at lurking.


He saw Tom’s hand touch her bare back and felt a twinge in his stomach. He wanted so badly to get drunk and forget ever knowing her. The thought made him sick. He was turning into Hank. That was his future, drinking his ass off till the day he died.


Maria. He wished he had never met her. Even her shadow turned his life inside out and upside down. Even the thought of her made him vulnerable and unfocused. “Like you have a focus…” And he was fighting himself now. Great!


What was that guy’s problem, he wondered. “He must be gay or something…” Michael reasoned. There was no way he could hold Maria that close and not kiss her. How could anyone resist that girl? Her every damn move turned him on.


There definitely was something wrong with him. He couldn’t control himself near her from the first minute they met. He had thought that it was just his urges playing dirty tricks on him, but he had tested himself with other girls and it had failed miserably.


It was her. It was always about her. Her voice alone excited him more than any other girl sitting naked on his lap. He was feeling depressed… and he was suffocating. He wondered how he would feel when she left, and felt sick to his stomach.


He wasn’t going to survive this.


Max chose that very exact moment to approach him. Great timing… as always.


- - -


“So who is he?”


“Who is who?”


“The guy you keep looking for.”


Maria threw him an exasperated you-know-me-too-well look. Tom, who had categorized and catalogued all her looks, knew that this meant she wanted to tell him but didn’t know how. She needed to be encouraged.


“Come on Mars, tell me, you’ll feel better.”


“Michael.” She whispered her eyes closed.


This was the worst. Looks, he could handle, but closed eyes meant problem.


“Have I met him?”


“Tall guy, spiky hair.” Her eyes were still closed.


“Oh yes, I met him. Hard to miss, he looked like he wanted to kill me.”


Her eyes snapped open at his comment. She couldn’t help but grin. “He did?”


“Yes, so what’s going on between you two?”


Her voice dropped again. “Nothing, we’re friends.”


“And you slept with him?” he guessed.


“Nope.”


“Why not?”


She sighed. “He’s not the right person.”


This was getting interesting. Tom smiled kindly at the newly wedded couple passing them by. “When did that ever stop you?”


“I’m scared Tom. I kissed him. And it felt good. Too good.” She was dancing close to him now. He knew it was because she could easily avoid his eyes this way. She was a chicken. A damn, big, fat chicken.


“So you think you won't be able to let him go, which in your own little mind somehow seems necessary?”


“Yeah.” She was grateful that he understood. Finally. Someone to talk to.


“Bulls-hit!” Or maybe not.


“What?”


“You fell in love with him didn't you?” His tone was accusing. She panicked.


“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” She said hurriedly.


“Why the hell would you want to let him go if you're in love with him?”


“You can't understand. You don’t know him.”


“What, he’s a criminal or something?”


“No. I mean he is, but that’s not the problem.” Tom looked bemused.


“You make no sense at all.”


“He is a heartbreaker Tom. I can smell it on him. He can just easily break me and throw me away. He doesn’t even have a future. At least all other Mr.Wrongs I'd been with were rich and looked right. He is a Mr.Wrong who doesn’t even have the decency to look right. And he has secrets. He won't tell me. I know I told him he didn’t have to but you’d think he would trust me… but noo… not him! And he… he… he has intimacy issues. He never had any relationships… And…”


Tom was about to stop her babbling but someone else interrupted before he could.


“Hi, can I borrow her for a moment?” Max. What was he doing dancing with her? The thought entered both Maria’s and Michael’s minds at once.


“Hey, you did a great job. The wedding was beautiful.”


“Thank you Max. Hope I can help you with yours too.”


A sad look crossed his face. “Yeah. I hope so.”


“What… Max… What is it? Something wrong with Liz?”


“No, no, no… Liz is great. I just talked to Michael and he KINDLY refused to be my best man.”


“Ouch! I’m sorry. I know he's not the nicest person but he means well Max. I don’t know what exactly happened between you, but I know he is just hurt.”


What was she doing? She was defending his best friend to him. Shame crept over his heart and squeezed it. When had she become Michael’s ally and him, the enemy? How the hell had that happened? How had he let it happen? He feared at that moment he had lost Michael completely.


“I know Maria, I sometimes forget it, but I know. I'm so glad he has you now.”


Max left a blushing Maria behind and made his way to his future wife.


“So sis, can I have this dance?”


Maria rolled her eyes but smiled.


“Oh Kyle, please. I'm a little old to have a new brother and a one I had a crush on in elementary is way too bizarre.”


“Even for you?” he asked laughing.


“Yeah, even for me.”


They danced and talked. Kyle was always capable of making her laugh. He had been dating Liz when she’d moved away, and had been a total jerk at the time but he looked a lot more mature now. She would never admit that to anyone but he almost looked wise.


Alex was on the stage -well, they didn’t exactly have a stage, just a small area where they squeezed in the band-. He was trying to get people’s attention.


“Hi, everyone… We have a special request from our lovely bride. Can anyone see Maria around?”


Maria was hiding behind Kyle. She should have known that Amy would do something like that! Stupid, stupid!


“Kyle, can you bring her over?”


Great, now Kyle was teaming up with them. He was pushing her towards Alex.


“Kyle, please, no! I can't!”


Damn, this place was small! They were almost there. Everything was working against her. It was a universal conspiracy.


She gave up and stepped up the stage with a very dangerous looking smile. Alex gulped, maybe that wasn’t such a bright idea after all. She kissed his cheek, hit his head and sent him away.


Maria talked to the band and took the microphone. She gave a nervous smile to her mother, her eyes found the surprised eyes of Tom and she closed her eyes, too scared to find those deep brown ones.


- - -


He was about to bolt when he heard her name. He sat in the shadows and watched her. When she started singing, time stopped. It tended to do that a lot lately.


He had heard her voice before. Not exactly like this of course, mostly in the shower or when she was cleaning which was a rare occasion. He always enjoyed listening to her in the morning. It was his second favorite way to wake up.


He didn’t know what she was singing, he couldn’t hear the words. It was just the sound of her voice. Her tender voice surrounded him, and he felt the familiar warmth in his stomach. She was bewitching him. That was it. There was no other logical explanation.


He watched her sway her hips to the music. He memorized her every move and filed them in his head for future, for when she went away. He tried, but couldn’t remember how life was before she had arrived. That was just like her; to replace all his past memories without bothering to have his consent. She just had to poke her nose into everything.


Memories… That reminded him of the dreams. Hospitals, an apartment, strange streets, rain, Tom… Didn’t make sense. Bunny slippers, a birthday party, a club… An idea hit him suddenly. Maria. Her memories. They were coming from her. His head was like a photo album of her life. He had seen it all… from her eyes.


Stupid! Stupid! How come he hadn’t thought of that before? It was so obvious! That was her fault again of course. He couldn’t think anything but her lately. His head was so full of her, he even forgot to eat sometimes.


Wheels started turning in his head. What had happened to her? All that blood and hurt. He could remember seeing her in the shower with a razor in her hand. A shiver ran down his spine. She was about to slit her wrists. She hadn't done it. Thank god! She had just dropped it and cried herself to sleep under the cold water.


He was pacing now frantically. What was wrong with her? The things he had gotten from her were mostly bad memories. He saw no specific events but the feelings were clear. Sadness, hurt, desperation, defeat… This was wrong, very wrong.


- - -


“So you’re hiding here…”


Maria. His heart skipped a beat. Too close. Too beautiful. Too fragile.


“Yeah.” His expression was grim, his jaw was clenching.


“Wanna dance?” She wasn’t thinking, she couldn’t think clearly. All she knew was that he was there now, near her and soon it would be too late.


“I don’t dance.”


“Yeah, yeah, sure.” She grabbed his hands and placed them over her hips. He gulped. There was no way he was taking them away. Her hands found their way around his neck. She started moving slowly.


“I’ll crunch your toes.”


“It’s okay. I don’t care.” The words were simple but the meaning was too deep. Their voices said it all. This had nothing to do with dancing or toes...


“So… The house is all yours tomorrow. Will you throw a thank-god-Maria-left party?”


“I’ll start looking for a new place actually.”


“You're moving?”


“Yeah, don’t wanna be third wheel in a newly wedded couple’s house. Too weird.”


“I guess. Why are you staying in Roswell? There's nothing keeping you here…”


“It’s complicated.”


“Yeah, what isn't?”


“Yeah…” He was looking away, over her shoulder, anywhere but her eyes.


Maria gathered all her courage, it was now or never. “You can come to LA, you know. I have an extra room and I can rent it to you if you cook.” “Say yes, say you’ll come, don’t make me leave you…” her heart begged through her eyes.


When he met her eyes she saw that cruel look she always hated. “What would Tom think?” Sarcasm dripped from his voice. Tom could be as good as he wished, hell, he could be a f-ucking angel for all he cared, that didn’t make Michael comfortable with the idea of him touching Maria.


“Oh, that! Since mom is gone, it is safe to tell you now.” Anything to keep him in her sight… She looked in his eyes with determination. She knew she was risking more than she had ever let herself, but couldn’t care at that moment. “He’s not my boyfriend.”


“What? You two broke up?” She could laugh at his expression if her heart wasn’t pounding in her chest.


“No, he’s my best friend, mom wasn’t gonna shut up till I brought someone, so he came.”


“Oh.”


“Anyway, he’s gay, so he wouldn’t give me a second glance.”


“I knew it!” It slipped before he could think. He couldn’t stop the smile creeping up his lips.


Maria laughed that wholehearted laugh he knew too well. “He's that obvious, huh?”


“No, I'm just a good observer.” He said smugly.


“So, you’ll come?” She cursed herself for being that obvious. She just couldn’t keep the hope out of her voice. It wasn’t right, laying her heart out like that.


She wanted him to come with her, to be near her. Not that she would have a relationship with him. He was impossible. THEY were impossible. But she just couldn’t leave him there. All alone… And now that he was moving, he wouldn’t even have Amy. She reminded herself that he did survive the last twenty-two years without her help but it didn’t calm her worries.


“I don’t know.” He sighed. Things were getting way too confusing for him. He was just a simple alien and his life was turning into The Young and The Restless. He needed serious help.


“Okay.” She gave up. “You think about it.”


He was torturing her, making her wait, holding her close but not really touching her, smiling one minute and closing up the next. Yeah, that sounded just like Michael! She hated him. She needed to calm down. She needed something sweet…


“I need chocolate! Let's find some chocolate…”

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