Author's Note : Hey,…. This one goes out to Marsis.
Thank you everyone that has read and reviewed my previous ff. You don't know how happy I am when I see readers adding me as their favourites too. Thank you. It gives me so much encouragement to write more.
Summary : A missing scene from Independence Day.
Disclaimer : I don't own Roswell.
Happy reading everyone!
xox
"What?" Maria burst out when she caught Michael looking at her again.
"What?"
"Oh no, Buddy! Don't play dumb with me."
"I didn't do anything." Michael replied and went back to picking his Tobasco smothered chocolate cake.
Maria was about to question him again when a customer called out to her. She actually growled at the alien before stomping off to attend to the other customer. It was a busy shift since it was Liz night off. So every time Maria wanted to shake Michael into telling her why he kept looking at her like he did, she was called away.
It was nearly closing time when she finally saw the chance to confront him. But he left the moment her back was turned. Since there were still a number of customers, she couldn't run after him.
It was late when the last customer finally left. Before locking the front door, she scanned out into the street. She was expecting Michael to be leaning against the wall of one of the buildings. The annoying alien was not out there. Shrugging her shoulders, she resumed her duties before locking up for the night. She needed to pick her Mom up from the shop.
"You alright, Sweetie?"
"Hmmm?" Maria smothered a yawn.
"Maria?"
"Yeah. I'm ok Mom. Just ..just tired." Maria turned from the window and smiled at Amy.
"You sure?" Amy took a hand from the wheel and reached over to place the back of her hand on her daughter's forehead.
"Yes, just tired and hungry. The pizza is calling me."
Amy nodded and ruffled her hair. They drove in companionable silence all the way home. Amy only spoke once they reached their driveway.
"Did you and Michael have a fight or something?"
"What? No. Why? We are ..are.. good." Maria didn't exactly have the right words do she just nodded.
"You sure? Coz he is sitting on our porch steps." Amy told the younger girl.
"What?"
Amy stopped the Jetta and they both got out as Michael came down the steps to meet them.
"Hey Ms DeLuca." He smiled his rare smile, reserved only for a handful of people.
"Michael. Is everything ok? How's your new place?"
"Yes. It's good. Thank you. I, I just need to talk to Maria."
"Ok. Why don't you guys talk inside? We are having pizza. You are welcome to join us." Amy called back as she entered the house.
Michael stepped up to Maria.
"Hey," he smirked.
"Hi."
"Can we talk?" He rubbed his eyebrow.
"Depends." Maria leaned against the car door.
"On?"
"Are you planning on staring at me the whole time?"
"No."
"Are you leaving?"
"No."
"On another quest and you need the Jetta?"
"No."
"You gonna dump me for the, I don't know, sixth? Seventh, time?"
"No. And I don't think I've dumped you that many times."
"Ok. Let's talk. But let's go inside. I'm hungry."
"I ate."
"No. You picked, played and made a mess of that Tobasco smothered chocolate cake. Come on Spaceboy let's eat. Then we talk."
"Maria."
"Michael, I'm tired. Whatever it is that you want to tell me, which would probably be some shocking revelation of some alien kind, I have a feeling that I need a chair near. Come on. Move that ass of yours."
He sighed and took the pizza off her hands.
xox
Michael helped to clean up after dinner while Maria showered and changed. Amy had some phone calls to make and she retreated to her room.
Michael was looking out of the window when he saw Maria's reflection in the glass. He didn't turn nor did she move from the doorway. He studied her reflection.
"You said you're not gonna do that." Maria broke the silence.
"I'm sorry. Can we sit?"
"Are you sure this isn't a goodbye or something?" Maria sat cross-legged on one end of the couch and pulled a pillow to cover her bare legs.
Michael had his hands over his face when she uttered her question. He immediately lowered his hands and turned towards her.
"What? No. I told you. I'm not leaving. I left but I came back. I couldn't leave."
"Then what?" When he just stared at her, she reached out and touched his arm. "Michael?"
Michael looked down at her small hand that covered his arm. He slowly moved so that he could hold her hand in his. His thumb began to gently caress her soft skin.
"Mi…"
"May I ask something of you?""
Maria peered towards her mother's room before scooting over nearer to him and whispered, "Mom said you could stay over anytime. But you can't sleep in my bed."
"No," Michael chuckled. "Not that."
"Okaaay." Maria tapped his knee when he kept quiet again. "You want to tell me any time soon?"
"I told about me having to be a stone wall….."
"How you drive me up the wall, you mean."
"Maria…"
"Sorry." She hid her smile. "Are you confuse, again?"
"Yeah. No. Er,.. yes..I mean, no no…I.."
"That's very convincing, Spaceboy." She winked at him.
"You are not helping, Blondie."
"And you are getting your ass kicked if you don't come right out and say whatever that you are trying to say, Buddy."
"Hold me?"
"What?"
"Hold me."
"As in touch you?"
"Yes..no..yes, I mean…Like you did that night, when you took me in from the rain. We didn't do anything, you just…"
"Come here."
Maria opened her arms and wrapped them around him. She felt him melt into her and heard him sigh. He tenderly wrapped his arms around her waist as they sat. She felt an odd sensation when he suddenly tensed against her but slowly relaxed. A flash of her Kermit patched shoe and her dog zoomed passed her. That was weird she thought to herself. A warm feeling spread through her body just as Michael released his hold on her.
"You ok?" Maria whispered as she pushed his hair back.
"Yes. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Maria?"
"Hmmm?"
"Why didn't you insist that I tell you anything about that night?"
"Michael, you coming to me, must have been very difficult for you. The fact that you decided to come to me, was enough to show that you trust me. Whether you like it or not, our friendship is based on trust and respect, Michael. I trust you to open up to me when you are ready. I can't and won't force you into doing something that you are not ready for. Just like you respecting my wish to stay a … to not want to go all the way when we make out."
"But weren't you curious?"
"About going all the way?"
"No." He actually laughed when he saw her expression. "About why I came to you that night."
"Understatement." She nodded and slapped his thigh. "You don't know how I worried I was. Especially when Isabel came looking for you at the diner the next day after you ran out from my room. Then Max came in and said the Sheriff had taken you in." She suddenly grabbed his shirt and pulled him close.
"You do that kind of thing again and I swear I'll kick your ass back to your home planet, wherever that is. No need to wait for any spaceship."
"I won't. " He made a move to leave. "Night Maria."
"Wait a minute!" Maria pulled his hand, motioning him to sit down again. "My turn."
"You want me to hold you?" Anyone else would have thought that that was an innocent question. But Maria saw the little smirk he was trying to hide.
"Ahh! Give it up, Spaceboy. The human in you over shadows your," she glanced at her mother's door, "other side. I saw that smirk! You have a weird sense of humour. For a erm. ..you know?" She lightly smacked the side of his head when he shrugged ignorance. "You know what I'm talking about. You are lot of things, Michael. But, dumb? Not one bit."
"I may not be dumb but I can't read minds. Especially yours."
"You better mean that in a nice way, Pal." She gave him a menacing look. He knew that it was all bluster.
"There's nothing that's not nice about you, Maria." He gently traced her jaw and captured her chin. "What is it you want to know?"
"Why were you in the diner today?"
"Coz I was hungry?"
"If you were hungry you would have eaten half of what's on the menu. You were just sitting there staring at me. Why?"
"I miss you."
Maria was speechless. She expected a whole lot of other answers but not that. "Michael…"
"I've been missing you since that day when your Mom bailed me. After your Mom took us out for lunch and then you guys drove me home, I have not been able to see you till today. I did a lot of things since that afternoon, including hitching a ride out of Roswell. But I came back." He scratched his eyebrow. "You know that thing we said about something out there better than Roswell?"
"Yeah. I remember that."
"Well, I found something that's good, really good here, in Roswell. It's someone that I never expected to connect with. And these few weeks, that I've been busy getting things together, I managed to neglect her. It was not my intention. You don't know how much I missed not being able to be around her, Maria. It's the one thing that has been keeping me together all this while."
"Her?" Maria's voice dropped into a soft whisper.
He took her hand in his and played with her fingers. "You. You Maria. You are that person. You are what is good in Roswell and I miss not having you around me."
Michael didn't see the tear that ran down her cheeks as he was busy looking down at their entwined hands.
"I told you I'm a loner, I can't get involve, I don't do intense.."
"I know," Michael looked up when he heard the break in her voice.
"Baby, don't cry." He gently wiped her tears away.
"I know," she continued, "Gotta be a stonewall, gotta stay a Czechoslovakian, not have any human emotions and Oh! How about maybe, you are high ranking Commander of some huge royal army and you gotta stay away from all chicks, human or otherwise?"
"Maria.."
"Opps! Sorry. You always did say I talk too much." With her free hand she quickly wiped away her tears before smacking his shoulder. "Please continue."
Michael rested his eyes on her to study each feature on her face. A sad and quiet smile was planted on his lips.
"What?"
"That's just it Maria. I miss hearing you talk. Miss you being around me. Miss you giving me the evil eye. I even miss you smacking me."
"Michael. I don't ever want to hurt you. Not after what Hank.."
"No. It's not like that. You can't hurt me that way. Your touch heals me. I've never had that before."
"But Michael, I'm the first girl that you ever know."
"Maria. All my life, I've done nothing but study the people around me coz of who I am. I've never wanted to be friends with any of them. But you gave me …" he paused and frowns.
"What? I gave you what?"
"Vibes." He shrugged. "Like these weird but good energy kind of vibes. And I was surprised that you would help me. Well, me and Max and Isabel, even when you found out that, we are you know? Took a lot of guts…"
"Listen to me Michael Guerin. Most of the time, my guts are in my throat! You have no idea how the three of you scared the hell out of me. Especially you!"
"Me?"
"Yes you Buddy! I don't even have to know that you are an," She wagged two fingers on her head like an antenna which made Michael slapped her thigh. "Owww! That hurts you, you..you…."
"Czechoslovakian?" When she nodded, he pulled her closer. "Do I still scare you?"
"Yeah." Maria pulled his chin to look at her when he suddenly looked sad. "Only now? You scare me when I think that you do not want to be my friend anymore."
"Is that all I am to you? A friend?"
"What are you saying?"
"I'll be your Spaceboy, if you'll be my Blondie."
"If I kiss you, will you say 'mud'?"
"Only if we get too intense and we need to stop."
"If? Spaceboy, I believe we were always intense."
"You can't blame me for having such a hot girlfriend."
"Oooh! How poetic!" She leaned to place a soft kiss on his chin before giving him a cheeky smirk, "So, you and me a couple now?"
"I'll let you have a hand at decorating my place if you don't touch my Metallica cds."
"You are the best boyfriend in the entire universe Spaceboy!"
THE END
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