Title: Riders on the Storm
Author: aliensister aka liddaanne
Disclaimer: I don't own the movie Roswell, it belongs to the people who created it … I am just borrowing so please, don't sue.
Pairings: Ava/Kyle
Rating: Adult(to be safe)
Summary: AU. Tess never hatched. The dupes never came to Roswell, so the Roswellian's never knew about the second set. After High school the pod squad broke up to go to college and live relatively normal lives but Kyle finds that no matter where he goes he runs into aliens.
AN: This is my entry for the Vilondra Project over at Roswell Heaven. It's my first Roswell piece in quite a while, so encouragement :P
Ava bopped her head to The Beatles cd that was playing over the store's music system, as she restacked the cds that had been misplaced during a busy week in the small vintage music store. The store was only located a block from the campus of the University of Michigan and attracted a lot business from the college kids, a lot trying them trying to be cool by being part of the scene and a few who actually we're interested in the music. Ava was one of the ones interested in the music and as the cd switched to The Doors, and with a quick glance around the store to make sure it was empty she raised her hand in the direction of the stereo and used her powers to turn the volume up.
Secure in the knowledge that the shop was empty, Ava closed her eyes and started to sway her hips to the soothing sounds of 'Riders on the storm.' She had always liked music, the first time she, Zan, Rath and Lonnie had ventured out of the sewers, she had been petrified, she had clutched at Zan's hand till her palm was slick with sweat. It had been so loud and bright compared to the darkness they had been born into, where the only noise had been the trains going over head. The stairway out of the subway had been next to Central Park, where a bunch of people had been jamming, strumming on guitars, banging on drums, and a bunch of other instruments she hadn't had a clue what they were, and they were all singing in harmony. Ava had stood there entranced at the sight and Zan had smiled at her, only moving her along when Rath and Lonnie started to complain about being hungry.
As they had gotten older and Ava had ventured out on her own she would go and sit in the park during the jam sessions, just thriving as the music brought a light to her life, something that she had never experienced before, not even in her first lifetime. Music wasn't cruel, didn't let her love it, all the while looking out for something better. Music didn't laugh when she got scared in the middle of the night or when she had nightmares. Music never got angry with her when she fucked up and so it became her solace, her hiding place when things in the crib got too hectic. When Lonnie and Rath would root like animals in the lounge room and Zan would run off, looking for his soul mate, someone who wasn't her.
Her hands were raised above her head, her whole body swaying as she slithered her way to the ground and then slowly back up again. She tunnelled her fingers through her almost waist length blonde hair, with its pink and black streaks, pushing it back off her face as she lost herself in the heady rhythm of the song. Ava didn't drink or she didn't do drugs but when she listened to music, her whole body throbbed and pulsed and she was sure that was what being high was like, like an out of body experience.
So lost in the music, Ava didn't hear the door to the upstairs studio open, nor the footfalls on the steps leading down into the store. In fact it wasn't until she heard the muttered oath that she realised she wasn't alone. She didn't bother to look up as her face turned a bright shade of pink and she hurried to hide behind the cash register and trying to ignore the sure footsteps behind her.
Kyle leaned against the front of the glass counter that housed the belt buckles and studded bracelets, and smiled, trying to get Ava to look at him. He was sure he had never seen something so erotic as Ava dancing, like the music was the only thing that existed in the universe. His grandfather had always said, well before he was put in the home for talking about aliens, that 'Dancing was created by women to torture men!' and seeing Ava writhe to the melody, her lips singing the words silently as moved, completely oblivious to his presence, Kyle had to admit his grandfather was spot on.
Kyle had been trying to get Ava's attention for the last month, coming into the shop two nights a week under the guise of hanging with Alex and some of the other hardcore musicians that jammed with the owner of the store in the small sound studio above. He was only just learning to play the guitar, so most nights he just watched and listened, in awe of the way they flowed together like they had been playing with each other for years as opposed to the last six months.
Ava hadn't even been working the first night he came over with Alex, he had just been so bored and missing home and Alex had invited him to sit in on the session. Which was also how Alex was combating home sickness and of course missing Isabel, who was going to school in San Francisco. He had had a good time and it had beat sitting in his dorm room, alone and getting depressed but it had been the sight that greeted him on the second night that made him become a die hard attendee.
Ann Arbor had been taken over by a vicious summer storm; it was hot as hell, the humidity so high that if it weren't for the thunder, booming in his ears and the rain soaking him to the bone he would have thought he was back in the desert. Very few people had been out on the streets, most being smart enough to stay at home, but Alex needed to work through some angst after talking to Isabel on the phone, despite just getting back from visiting her in Roswell. Even Kyle the high school playboy couldn't help but feel a little jealous of his best friend, for having someone to miss and someone miss him. Sure he missed the pod squad but not to the point where he pined for them. And so they had headed out to the music store, both only in jeans and t-shirts, despite them rain they had left their jackets at home, the heat just to overwhelming to bother.
They had only been across the road from the store when it happened; they had been running towards the shop, trying to get out of the rain as quickly as possible and not looking where they were going when Kyle had been run into or he had run into, no one was quite sure it had happened so fast. The next thing Kyle had known was that he was flat on his back in the middle of a puddle, not that he noticed because above him, straddling him was a goddess. His hands unconsciously gripped her hips as he tried to catch his breath, which seemed to be caught in his throat as he looked up into the wide, startled blue eyes staring into his own as her pink and blonde hair that had been turned into dreadlock looking thick strands by the rain created a curtain around them.
His chest had felt like it was going to pound out of his chest as her fingers had flexed from their position on his chest and she had licked her lips. He caught the groan in his throat but her beauty and proximity, along with her delicious sweet scent mixing in with the fresh rain, had other parts of his body arching up to be closer to her. The gorgeous blush that quickly spread along her cheeks told him that she felt it and he closed his eyes in embarrassment as she swiftly jumped up off him muttering an apology and turning tail and running into the shop. That hasty 'sorry' had been the only word she had said to him since, which was a shame for him cause he could think of quite a few words he'd like to hear her say.
"…Go out on a date with me," Kyle said leaning forward so Ava would have no choice but to look at him.
"What?" Ava spluttered, looking at him like he had grown another head even as her blush returned.
"Let me take you out…to make up for our odd meeting," He smiled, using all his Valenti charm that had worked so well in high school and for a minute he thought it worked as she looked at him with an shy almost smile but then it turned into a frown, and with a slump of her shoulders, she shook her head.
"I can't, Dave is goin' away for a couple a weeks and leavin' me in charge of the store…" Ava said quietly, her New York accent sounding so strange to him with her soft voice, picking up a rag and bottle of Windex from beside her, she walked around the counter to clean the display cases on the back wall; her way of dismissing Kyle, except he followed her.
"After Dave gets back then?" Kyle said hopefully as he leaned against the case she was cleaning only a breath away from her and she started to clean the glass with more vigour. Ava liked him, he was sweet but she didn't date and her only friend was her boss and even he didn't know who she really was and that was safest. For everyone.
"Come on Ava, I promise you'll enjoy it," Kyle murmured, as he tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear and she tried to ignore the butterflies that the action sent into frenzy in her insides. She couldn't say no. She didn't really want to but she couldn't say yes either. With a small sigh she glanced at him shyly, "We'll see," which seemed to be good enough for Kyle, who started to grin and nodded.
"I better let you get back to work," Kyle said smiling as he pointed with his thumb to the stairs. Ava nodded with a shy smile, watching as he started up the stairs glancing at her one last time before he disappeared. Catching sight of her reflection in the glass, Ava shook her head; she knew it was a bad idea, she was finally getting over Zan, just starting up her life, she was finally take a course at the community college thanks to Dave's insistence and she had her own place. Things were just starting to get good, she really didn't want to mess it up; with another sigh she went back to work.
TBC…seriously feedback would really help.