NEEDS
FRIDAY
"Max! Isabel! Come here, please!" Ten seconds later, they were in the kitchen with Mrs Evans.
"Mom, I was about to go out, so could you hurry?" said Max.
"Max!" That was Isabel, she didn't like the way he talked to their mother, and she didn't like the fact that he was always talking about his relationship with Liz. All day, it was like 'I'm going to be late for our date' or 'I can't live without Liz so I'm going to go, otherwise I won't survive on Earth'. Isabel needed him after Alex's death and Tess' departure but he spent his days and a great part of his nights with her.
"It will take 2minutes. I just wanted you to know that we are going to the Ortecho's on Monday--" said a lively Diane.
"What do you mean 'we'?" snapped Isabel.
"Isabel !" said Max, ironic.
"'We' means the four of us. You should be happy, Iz because Luke will be there..." Isabel blushed when she realized that her mother knew. She knew that Isabel had a serious crush on him. He was Lucy and John's son, who were her parents' friends. The last time she saw him, she was 10 while he was 14. They spent two weeks together playing all day at her's. She had wanted to tell him who-- or what she really was but Max didn't trust him at all, neither did Michael.
At her mother's words, Max's face straightened. He didn't want Is to be hurt once again. Besides, she was still shocked by what has happened lately. Even if she acted like she was the strongest woman in the world, he knew she was very fragile deep inside.
MONDAY
In the plane, Max and Isabel were sitting near the window. Their parents and them were separated by the alley. Diane and Phillip were reading and sometimes they talked, Max who was the one next to the the window watched the blue sky and the clouds, probably thinking of Liz.
As for Isabel, she had just fallen asleep. Then, she started having dreams which looked like flashbacks. First, she saw Whitaker talking about Vilandra in the warehouse and being killed. Then, she saw Nikolas hurting the royal four, the motionless body of Grant and finally, she saw Alex. He said 'Nobody can be happy with you, you kill everyone, Vilandra'. She suddenly jumped on her seat, she was sweating and shaking.
"Isabel, what's going on? Are you okay?" asked her worried father.
"Yeah... hm, that was just a nightmare. I'm fine"
Her parents went back to their reading while Max was still staring at her. She noticed him. "What?" she asked with her Ice Queen tone.
"What was that?" he asked, confused.
"I told you, a nightmare" she tried to act normal but she was still shaky.
"And you are going to tell me that the Big Bad Wolf was running after you, aren't you? We both know it's false so what did you see?" All he got was a long silence.
"Iz, if you don't tell me, you won't be able to get rid of that thoughts. I just want to help you so--"
"I don't need your help!" she yelled. She paused, trying to calm down. " You are never there when I need you, you're always with her "
"What are you talking about? I've always been there. I'm always asking you to talk to me but you tell me where to go" he exclaimed.
"Sure. I remember you supporting me when I wanted to go to San Francisco." she dropped.
"You're still mad at me for that. I thought we went trough this!"
She ignored him. "Listen, I'm sick of you, when you'll want to talk, you'll talk. But I want you to know that you can't deal with your problems alone."
She hardly controlled her. At that very moment, she wanted to cry all her heart out in Max's arms and tell him all her thoughts and fears but she wasn't strong enough to do so. During the rest of the flight and the way to the Ortechos', Isabel remained quiet.
They finally arrived. Diane, Phillip and Max took the bags, went to the door and rang while Isabel stood where the Taxi left them. "You're not coming, honey?" asked Diane.
"I'm coming in a few minutes... I feel sick a little. I'm gonna stay outside to breathe"
After a few moments, they came in, the door closed behind them. Isabel was standing outside, alone. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them quickly as she saw someone heading to her.
"Isabel?" the voice said. She looked round and recognized him.
"Luke?" She was well surprised to see how he changed. He was taller and stronger than she had imagined.
"God, Izzy, you're... gorgeous!" he said, staring at her. That made her feel uncomfortable. He realized that so he detached his eyes from her body.
"Anyway, what are you doing outside?" he asked as he led her inside the house.
"I was just... breathing" They all were in the living room chatting and laughing. Isabel went to greet Grant and Lucy and Luke did the same with the Evanses. Between two hugs, she noticed a tension as Max shook Luke's hand. Later, Luke led Max and Isabel to their room. They shared the same room. After their little fight that wasn't such a good idea.
After having had dinner and having talked, everybody went to bed except Iz and Luke. They were sitting on the couch without saying a word. Luke broke the silence. "How's your boyfriend? Don't lie, I know you have one!"
Isabel looked down and finally said "He's dead". He giggled "No, seriously" he insisted.
"I'm serious" She looked sad, then he understood.
"Oh, Iz I'm sorry...I-I didn't know--"
"No problem, Luke" He remained speechless. None of them spoke. He broke the silence once again.
"Are you still in love with me?" he said smily.
Isabel open the mouth in shock, still she was smiling. "What??" she almost yelled.
"You know what I'm talking about, don't pretend you don't!"
"Luke Ortecho, how dare how?". She took a cushion and kicked his head. Both surprised by what she had just done, they remained motionless until he did the same with another cushion. That was the beginning of a cushion war with giggles and yells which ended up with Isabel on top of Luke. Then, realizing the embarrasment of the position, she shouted "I'm exhausted, good night!".
She went upstairs and entered her-- their room. Max was sleeping, smiling, probably dreaming of Liz. Isabel went to bed, she fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes. Flashbacks. She saw Whitaker, Nikolas, Grant and Alex who said the same sentence. It was exactly the same dream she had in the plane. She suddenly woke up, sweating, shaking. She was now sitting on her bed, knees under the chin, her body going back and forth. Max woke up as he heard her breathe loudly. He sat on her bed and put protectively his arms around her.
"Shh... Izzy, you'll be fine...shh" he murmured in her ear. After a few moment, he said "Now, tell me what's happened". She was breathing heavily.
Between two breathes, she said "Hm... that was that stupid nightmare... again" .She paused. "Go back to sleep, I'm okay". She expected him to do so but he didn't.
He didn't move and said "I won't go back to sleep until you tell me what's bothering you"
"I hope you're not tired" she said sarcastically
That was too much, he lost control. "It's enough! Look at you, you're as strong as porcelain and you keep everything inside but that's not the way to solve problems!" He paused trying to calm down "Come on, you used to tell me everything and now, we are strangers."
"Things changed" she said staring Max in the eyes. He went back to bed, then she did the same.
In the morning, Jonh, Lucy, Phillip and Diane were having breakfast. They were talking about their life in general. Lucy said "Your children are beautiful, you know"
"I didn't make them!" joked Diane.
"Max looks very happy but Isabel has... something in her eyes..." Lucy added
"Yeah, hmm, her boyfriend died about a month ago and... it seems she can't deal with it" said Diane.
"Oh, God, that must be terrible. Is that why she and Max fight?" asked John
"You noticed that too? " asked Phillip
" I heard them argue about something last night... Still, they used to be so close before, didn't they?" asked John.
"Yeah, I don't know what's happening to them... anyway, we let them deal with it." ended Diane
They spent the day walking on the breakwater of Seattle. On the way back home, Luke said discreetly "Tonight, I'm taking you to a friend of mine's party. You look horrible, that's will be beneficial to you"
"Nothing is better than an alcohol/sex-centered party to make ideas clear, right?"She answered ironic."But we're leaving tomorrow morning..." she added.
"Come on, Iz, where's your sense of party?" She thought a few moments and finally nodded. Isabel thought a party would be great to get rid of her problems and act like a normal teenager. She needed it.
Isabel was choosing her clothes for the party while Max was sitting on his bed. "You're not going to go to that party, are you?" Max asked
"Yes I am whether you want to or not" she answered
"You don't even know that guy!"
"I know him, he's ok!" She started to get angry
"You can't get too close. If you do, you'll want to tell him the truth, again!"
She couldn't believe what she had just heard."Excuse me? Are you saying that? The difference between you and me, Max is that when I was 10, I wanted to tell the truth to someone I liked but I didn't whereas when you were 16, you wanted to do so and you did! So I think you can't tell me anything about that. Now get out, I need to change my clothes"
The party took place in a big house. Music could be heard from the street. Luke and Isabel entered the house, Luke was waving the hand everywhere and guys were all staring Isabel. A drunk guy handed them two beers. She drank it, then, they danced. She wasn't drunk because she often drank at parties whereas Max had never did. However, Isabel wanted to have fun,she deserved it, so she drank 1, 2, 3 and 4 beers. It was 1:25 am and Isabel was totally drunk (as almost everyone were). Luke had only had 2 beers.
They were still dancing and Isabel yelled trough the music "I like the way the floor moves under my feet, how do they do that?" Luke burst out of laughing. She added "What? I'm serious!" Realizing she was smashed out, he stopped laughing and shouted
"Time to go home! You're leaving today, remember?"
Then she looked at him with puppy eyes and said in a low voice "Dont wanna go, please..." He reconsidered what he had just said but he didn't fail. He took her arm and led her outside. She stopped next to the car, stared him in the eyes, leaned over him and kissed him. She started pressing her lips on his, then she opened his mouth with her tongue as he did the same. In this moment, she was neither Vilandra, nor the boyfriends killer, nor the Ice Queen, nor the alien, she was just Isabel. He made her feel this way. They broke the kiss.
"Wow!" was the only sound he could make.
"I don't feel my feet anymore" she exclaimed That's when he remembered the party and the beers. She had an unhuman power on him.
They went back home at 2:15 in the morning. Everybody slept except Max who was waiting for his sister. Luke entered their room supporting Isabel. She could barely walk. Max jumped out of his bed.
"What's happened to her?" he shouted
"Chill, it's not a big deal" he answered as he laid her on her bed. "She's a little drunk actually. She only took four beers and she can't walk anymore--"
"How could you let her do that?" snapped Max
"She's a big girl, she know what she's doing. Plus, she needed to have fun!"
"What do you know about her? You've only seen her twice and you pretend you know her better than I do?"
"She's not going well, fun can't hurt her. Anyway, it's just beers, not a federal crime. Good night"
He left. Max was worried and furious. He was worried because Isabel could have died and because he didn't know why she had done such a stupid thing. He was furious beause he had let her go and Luke had not even prevent her from drinking but he didn't know what she is.
It was 9:15. Everybody was having breakfast. Neither Max nor Luke spoke. "Someone should wake Isabel up. We're leaving soon" announced Phillip.
"That's not a good idea" Everybody turned to Max as to ask 'why?'. He pursued "Tell them Luke!" Usually, Max never acted like that but this time, Isabel's life was involved.
"She kind of... drank last night so, she may not be very healthy today..."confessed Luke
"You could have take care of her, she's 18, not 22 like you!" exclaimed Lucy
"No, Lucy, it's not a big deal but I knew Isabel drank sometimes at parties but I didn't know she could get drunk, it's not... her" said Diane. One minute later, she joined them. She looked exhausted and she had bags under the eyes. Her mother said "Honey, we'll talk about it later. Hurry up and get ready!"
At 10:15, every bags were in the Taxi who waited. Between 'see you later', 'hope you'll be back soon' or 'that was great', Isabel and Luke were sharing their last moments together.
"The party was cool, thank you. I needed that" Isabel said.
"I really want to see you soon, Isabel. I love to be with you, I really do" dropped Luke.
"Anytime" she finally said staring into his deep eyes. Then, they kissed quickly but they all saw them.
In the plane, after a long silence Isabel said "You know Max, you may not think this way, but Luke helped me to forget Alex. I know that two days are short to forget but... with him, I'm a normal teenager, you know, I feel free. With him, there is no more Vilandra, no more skins, no more war, no more Alex. He's the most normal guy and that's what I needed. He was a kind of break in the alien things. Now, you can stop worrying for me"
She ended in an assured tone "I'm definitely fine".
FRIDAY
"Max! Isabel! Come here, please!" Ten seconds later, they were in the kitchen with Mrs Evans.
"Mom, I was about to go out, so could you hurry?" said Max.
"Max!" That was Isabel, she didn't like the way he talked to their mother, and she didn't like the fact that he was always talking about his relationship with Liz. All day, it was like 'I'm going to be late for our date' or 'I can't live without Liz so I'm going to go, otherwise I won't survive on Earth'. Isabel needed him after Alex's death and Tess' departure but he spent his days and a great part of his nights with her.
"It will take 2minutes. I just wanted you to know that we are going to the Ortecho's on Monday--" said a lively Diane.
"What do you mean 'we'?" snapped Isabel.
"Isabel !" said Max, ironic.
"'We' means the four of us. You should be happy, Iz because Luke will be there..." Isabel blushed when she realized that her mother knew. She knew that Isabel had a serious crush on him. He was Lucy and John's son, who were her parents' friends. The last time she saw him, she was 10 while he was 14. They spent two weeks together playing all day at her's. She had wanted to tell him who-- or what she really was but Max didn't trust him at all, neither did Michael.
At her mother's words, Max's face straightened. He didn't want Is to be hurt once again. Besides, she was still shocked by what has happened lately. Even if she acted like she was the strongest woman in the world, he knew she was very fragile deep inside.
MONDAY
In the plane, Max and Isabel were sitting near the window. Their parents and them were separated by the alley. Diane and Phillip were reading and sometimes they talked, Max who was the one next to the the window watched the blue sky and the clouds, probably thinking of Liz.
As for Isabel, she had just fallen asleep. Then, she started having dreams which looked like flashbacks. First, she saw Whitaker talking about Vilandra in the warehouse and being killed. Then, she saw Nikolas hurting the royal four, the motionless body of Grant and finally, she saw Alex. He said 'Nobody can be happy with you, you kill everyone, Vilandra'. She suddenly jumped on her seat, she was sweating and shaking.
"Isabel, what's going on? Are you okay?" asked her worried father.
"Yeah... hm, that was just a nightmare. I'm fine"
Her parents went back to their reading while Max was still staring at her. She noticed him. "What?" she asked with her Ice Queen tone.
"What was that?" he asked, confused.
"I told you, a nightmare" she tried to act normal but she was still shaky.
"And you are going to tell me that the Big Bad Wolf was running after you, aren't you? We both know it's false so what did you see?" All he got was a long silence.
"Iz, if you don't tell me, you won't be able to get rid of that thoughts. I just want to help you so--"
"I don't need your help!" she yelled. She paused, trying to calm down. " You are never there when I need you, you're always with her "
"What are you talking about? I've always been there. I'm always asking you to talk to me but you tell me where to go" he exclaimed.
"Sure. I remember you supporting me when I wanted to go to San Francisco." she dropped.
"You're still mad at me for that. I thought we went trough this!"
She ignored him. "Listen, I'm sick of you, when you'll want to talk, you'll talk. But I want you to know that you can't deal with your problems alone."
She hardly controlled her. At that very moment, she wanted to cry all her heart out in Max's arms and tell him all her thoughts and fears but she wasn't strong enough to do so. During the rest of the flight and the way to the Ortechos', Isabel remained quiet.
They finally arrived. Diane, Phillip and Max took the bags, went to the door and rang while Isabel stood where the Taxi left them. "You're not coming, honey?" asked Diane.
"I'm coming in a few minutes... I feel sick a little. I'm gonna stay outside to breathe"
After a few moments, they came in, the door closed behind them. Isabel was standing outside, alone. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them quickly as she saw someone heading to her.
"Isabel?" the voice said. She looked round and recognized him.
"Luke?" She was well surprised to see how he changed. He was taller and stronger than she had imagined.
"God, Izzy, you're... gorgeous!" he said, staring at her. That made her feel uncomfortable. He realized that so he detached his eyes from her body.
"Anyway, what are you doing outside?" he asked as he led her inside the house.
"I was just... breathing" They all were in the living room chatting and laughing. Isabel went to greet Grant and Lucy and Luke did the same with the Evanses. Between two hugs, she noticed a tension as Max shook Luke's hand. Later, Luke led Max and Isabel to their room. They shared the same room. After their little fight that wasn't such a good idea.
After having had dinner and having talked, everybody went to bed except Iz and Luke. They were sitting on the couch without saying a word. Luke broke the silence. "How's your boyfriend? Don't lie, I know you have one!"
Isabel looked down and finally said "He's dead". He giggled "No, seriously" he insisted.
"I'm serious" She looked sad, then he understood.
"Oh, Iz I'm sorry...I-I didn't know--"
"No problem, Luke" He remained speechless. None of them spoke. He broke the silence once again.
"Are you still in love with me?" he said smily.
Isabel open the mouth in shock, still she was smiling. "What??" she almost yelled.
"You know what I'm talking about, don't pretend you don't!"
"Luke Ortecho, how dare how?". She took a cushion and kicked his head. Both surprised by what she had just done, they remained motionless until he did the same with another cushion. That was the beginning of a cushion war with giggles and yells which ended up with Isabel on top of Luke. Then, realizing the embarrasment of the position, she shouted "I'm exhausted, good night!".
She went upstairs and entered her-- their room. Max was sleeping, smiling, probably dreaming of Liz. Isabel went to bed, she fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes. Flashbacks. She saw Whitaker, Nikolas, Grant and Alex who said the same sentence. It was exactly the same dream she had in the plane. She suddenly woke up, sweating, shaking. She was now sitting on her bed, knees under the chin, her body going back and forth. Max woke up as he heard her breathe loudly. He sat on her bed and put protectively his arms around her.
"Shh... Izzy, you'll be fine...shh" he murmured in her ear. After a few moment, he said "Now, tell me what's happened". She was breathing heavily.
Between two breathes, she said "Hm... that was that stupid nightmare... again" .She paused. "Go back to sleep, I'm okay". She expected him to do so but he didn't.
He didn't move and said "I won't go back to sleep until you tell me what's bothering you"
"I hope you're not tired" she said sarcastically
That was too much, he lost control. "It's enough! Look at you, you're as strong as porcelain and you keep everything inside but that's not the way to solve problems!" He paused trying to calm down "Come on, you used to tell me everything and now, we are strangers."
"Things changed" she said staring Max in the eyes. He went back to bed, then she did the same.
In the morning, Jonh, Lucy, Phillip and Diane were having breakfast. They were talking about their life in general. Lucy said "Your children are beautiful, you know"
"I didn't make them!" joked Diane.
"Max looks very happy but Isabel has... something in her eyes..." Lucy added
"Yeah, hmm, her boyfriend died about a month ago and... it seems she can't deal with it" said Diane.
"Oh, God, that must be terrible. Is that why she and Max fight?" asked John
"You noticed that too? " asked Phillip
" I heard them argue about something last night... Still, they used to be so close before, didn't they?" asked John.
"Yeah, I don't know what's happening to them... anyway, we let them deal with it." ended Diane
They spent the day walking on the breakwater of Seattle. On the way back home, Luke said discreetly "Tonight, I'm taking you to a friend of mine's party. You look horrible, that's will be beneficial to you"
"Nothing is better than an alcohol/sex-centered party to make ideas clear, right?"She answered ironic."But we're leaving tomorrow morning..." she added.
"Come on, Iz, where's your sense of party?" She thought a few moments and finally nodded. Isabel thought a party would be great to get rid of her problems and act like a normal teenager. She needed it.
Isabel was choosing her clothes for the party while Max was sitting on his bed. "You're not going to go to that party, are you?" Max asked
"Yes I am whether you want to or not" she answered
"You don't even know that guy!"
"I know him, he's ok!" She started to get angry
"You can't get too close. If you do, you'll want to tell him the truth, again!"
She couldn't believe what she had just heard."Excuse me? Are you saying that? The difference between you and me, Max is that when I was 10, I wanted to tell the truth to someone I liked but I didn't whereas when you were 16, you wanted to do so and you did! So I think you can't tell me anything about that. Now get out, I need to change my clothes"
The party took place in a big house. Music could be heard from the street. Luke and Isabel entered the house, Luke was waving the hand everywhere and guys were all staring Isabel. A drunk guy handed them two beers. She drank it, then, they danced. She wasn't drunk because she often drank at parties whereas Max had never did. However, Isabel wanted to have fun,she deserved it, so she drank 1, 2, 3 and 4 beers. It was 1:25 am and Isabel was totally drunk (as almost everyone were). Luke had only had 2 beers.
They were still dancing and Isabel yelled trough the music "I like the way the floor moves under my feet, how do they do that?" Luke burst out of laughing. She added "What? I'm serious!" Realizing she was smashed out, he stopped laughing and shouted
"Time to go home! You're leaving today, remember?"
Then she looked at him with puppy eyes and said in a low voice "Dont wanna go, please..." He reconsidered what he had just said but he didn't fail. He took her arm and led her outside. She stopped next to the car, stared him in the eyes, leaned over him and kissed him. She started pressing her lips on his, then she opened his mouth with her tongue as he did the same. In this moment, she was neither Vilandra, nor the boyfriends killer, nor the Ice Queen, nor the alien, she was just Isabel. He made her feel this way. They broke the kiss.
"Wow!" was the only sound he could make.
"I don't feel my feet anymore" she exclaimed That's when he remembered the party and the beers. She had an unhuman power on him.
They went back home at 2:15 in the morning. Everybody slept except Max who was waiting for his sister. Luke entered their room supporting Isabel. She could barely walk. Max jumped out of his bed.
"What's happened to her?" he shouted
"Chill, it's not a big deal" he answered as he laid her on her bed. "She's a little drunk actually. She only took four beers and she can't walk anymore--"
"How could you let her do that?" snapped Max
"She's a big girl, she know what she's doing. Plus, she needed to have fun!"
"What do you know about her? You've only seen her twice and you pretend you know her better than I do?"
"She's not going well, fun can't hurt her. Anyway, it's just beers, not a federal crime. Good night"
He left. Max was worried and furious. He was worried because Isabel could have died and because he didn't know why she had done such a stupid thing. He was furious beause he had let her go and Luke had not even prevent her from drinking but he didn't know what she is.
It was 9:15. Everybody was having breakfast. Neither Max nor Luke spoke. "Someone should wake Isabel up. We're leaving soon" announced Phillip.
"That's not a good idea" Everybody turned to Max as to ask 'why?'. He pursued "Tell them Luke!" Usually, Max never acted like that but this time, Isabel's life was involved.
"She kind of... drank last night so, she may not be very healthy today..."confessed Luke
"You could have take care of her, she's 18, not 22 like you!" exclaimed Lucy
"No, Lucy, it's not a big deal but I knew Isabel drank sometimes at parties but I didn't know she could get drunk, it's not... her" said Diane. One minute later, she joined them. She looked exhausted and she had bags under the eyes. Her mother said "Honey, we'll talk about it later. Hurry up and get ready!"
At 10:15, every bags were in the Taxi who waited. Between 'see you later', 'hope you'll be back soon' or 'that was great', Isabel and Luke were sharing their last moments together.
"The party was cool, thank you. I needed that" Isabel said.
"I really want to see you soon, Isabel. I love to be with you, I really do" dropped Luke.
"Anytime" she finally said staring into his deep eyes. Then, they kissed quickly but they all saw them.
In the plane, after a long silence Isabel said "You know Max, you may not think this way, but Luke helped me to forget Alex. I know that two days are short to forget but... with him, I'm a normal teenager, you know, I feel free. With him, there is no more Vilandra, no more skins, no more war, no more Alex. He's the most normal guy and that's what I needed. He was a kind of break in the alien things. Now, you can stop worrying for me"
She ended in an assured tone "I'm definitely fine".