Disclaimer: The characters featured here do not belong to me. The Tomorrow People are the property of Roger Damon Price, Thames/Tetra Television, ITV and Nickelodeon. Used here without permission, but not for profit.
Notes: When you see /words between slanted lines/ indicate places where telepathy is being used
Going Under
I. Sweet SurrenderLisa thinks that if someone had told her a year ago that she would be here, having sex with Megabyte Damon, she would have laughed in their faces.
If they'd dared to suggest that Megabyte (the one who glared at her and yelled and refused to even let her close enough to touch him when she was the one frightened and scared and hurting and just needing to get away-away-away) would be the catalyst to turn her back around and bring her back home, she would have inquired about what sort of wonderful drugs they were taking.
Yet, here she is a tangle of limbs and half-dressed sweaty bodies pressed against one another on the floor of her office having one of the hottest, sexiest moments of her life. She doesn't really care about the carpet burn that will inevitably come later or the fact that she might thinks that her foot might be crinkling a report that's due right after lunch. Maybe it's because it is her office, and on the other side of the door are at least twenty people who didn't leave the building for lunch and there is something thrilling about the moment and the possibility of getting caught.
Maybe it's just because it's Megabyte. Because the boy she left behind then is not the man she knows now (and yes she reflects and realizes that she's not the same girl that ran away from her boys and her fear but somehow that's not quite the same as realizing how much he's changed). The Boy on The Beach Hated her (he was hurting and she was leaving and everything was falling apart) and there had been no logic, no reason and no hope of forgiveness in those blue eyes back then. The Boy on The Beach was simply that, a boy, and she was a girl (didn't know what she wanted, didn't want to face the future all she knew is that she was scared-scared-scared) and things had been different then.
And maybe it doesn't matter because when she bites the material of his shirt collar to avoid crying out, she knows that This is right and This is good and This is how it should be.
II. The Life I Left Behind Me
Lisa knows that she only noticed him that first time because she still noticed red heads. Not because she had "a thing" for them as her roommate Paul loved to insist, but because hair as red as she remembered was hard to miss. Out in the crowded streets (where bodies bumped and hit and pushed one another aside like so many random molecules in a box) she took to looking for her boys in those first few days. She was scared (wanted hoped needed) that they would follow her, so looking over her shoulder became second nature. But one brown head was not so different from another and chasing down (running from) brown haired strangers got to be more than she could bear.
Lisa started to just watch for red heads. She knew that if one of her boys were there the others wouldn't be too far behind.
They never followed and she stopped looking over her shoulder even when she moved halfway across the country and back again (hiding in plain sight less than one hundred miles from the place where all the mayhem first started).
But she still noticed red heads.
She didn't think it was him, not sitting so quietly on the park bench, a paperback book in his hand and a half-eaten sandwich on one side and a pretty blonde on the other. The blonde fed the ducks and he read his book and the only thing that told Lisa that the two people on the bench were together was the moment when he raised his head and the blonde threw her head back in laughter at whatever he said.
Lisa remembered smiling (because although she hadn't found It she still believed in It and it was a pretty picture of the happy couple on the park bench on a beautiful spring day) and then going to a different bench for her lunch break. This one still had ducks and geese, and Gunter (who really wasn't so bad once you learned to tune out his endless jabbering about what was wrong with the latest Hollywood blockbuster and how he could have done it better) who worked down the hall, always had a smile for her and saved her a cream stick when the office had donuts delivered.
The second time it was impossible to not know who it was.
She liked the park, likes it still even with its pond and ducks and playground filled with laughing, screaming children and joggers and dog walkers and retirees playing checkers and chess (even though they don't always make it there for lunch anymore) and this was her Park Wednesday because mid-week was the best day to go and get out of the madness that passed itself off as a magazine publishing office.
She almost didn't look up when she heard the soft, "Excuse me, can I share your bench?"
Almost didn't turn to see who owned the attractive voice that went with the shadow that fell across her newspaper, but then a nagging voice (that sounded quite similar to Paul in a tear about her love life or lack of) told her to at least give into a bit of curiosity.
Lisa looked up (wished she hadn't was glad she did) and even with the sunlight glinting over his shoulder and shining brightly on closely cut red hair she knew those eyes.
The world stopped spinning (spun a little faster all out of control and the past came back to pummel her drowning her in pains and sorrows and hopes and fears that she thought long buried and forgotten) and time hung suspended.
He took a sharp breath. Let it out slowly. Said (breathed) her name, "Lisa."
"Megabyte," she acknowledged calmly (her heart pounding so hard could he hear it could the whole park hear it, her hands shaking blood pounding behind her ears, is this what the zebra felt when the lion came)
He sat, indicated her newspaper. "You done with the international section?"
III. Right in Front of Me
Megabyte knows that she still finds it hard to believe that he wasn't angry with her anymore. Too much time had passed (wounds healed and scabs didn't need to be picked at), he grew up (more or less there was still some debate on that point) and he thought that perhaps being in her shoes he might well have done the same (his father protected him, protected them all, Lisa's protection was just a little different).
He knew then that it would have been a bad idea to bring up the past. There were things said and done (hurtful words, hateful words had he really been that young and callous and cruel and selfish) that couldn't be so easily forgotten but at the very least should not be dwelled upon. And truthfully he was happy to see her, alive and well because no matter where she was or how much she ignored them she was still one of them (because at first there were four and when he thinks of the beginning there will always be four).
He read the newspaper, she read Reading Lolita in Tehran, they ate and fed the leftover breadcrumbs to the ducks and they went their separate ways.
To say that he was surprised to see her there the next day would have been an understatement.
Thus became their ritual, meeting for lunch in the park at what became their bench. They never talked about the past or her leaving; they never talked about the future or her possible return. They talked of his job (because it paid the bills but it was boring and how many times had his father made it plain that he was so disappointed that Megabyte wasn't doing more with a degree from MIT) and her career (because she was damn good at what she did and she would be senior editor someday if she kept on at what she was doing) and thousands of mundane, silly things that one would expect two people just getting to know each other (all over again) to talk about.
Lisa kept her shields up and Megabyte didn't try to cross that line. They had a comfort zone and for all intents and purposes they were just two regular people having lunch in the park. Lunches became dinners and dinners sometimes became weekends and weeknights out to sporting events (which he didn't really didn't get into all that much but went because she asked him) and academic speeches and cultural events (which she appreciated, but not nearly as much as he did but he didn't feel guilty for turning up the charm to get her to accompany him) and through it all they never breached The Wall (because she still wasn't ready to come back to them yet and he didn't dare do anything to push her away).
Some things are inevitable.
IV. Into the Fire
Paul teases her mercilessly about Megabyte each time he comes to the apartment. Of course, Paul also thinks that Megabyte is "a hottie," and reminds Lisa with every opportunity that if she isn't going to snatch up such a "yummy morsel," then he might have to see if he can convince Megabyte to try driving stick for a while.
Fortunately, Paul never says these things when Megabyte is present (not at all, very little, more and more he is a welcome comfortable sight shoeless on her sofa or sitting in her lounge chair).
Megabyte likes to cook. This revelation comes as a surprise to Lisa. Frequently their evenings together are spent with him in her kitchen (because she still isn't brave enough to venture out of her circle of comfort and entering his apartment would mean entering his world and that might mean touching upon that old world and she knew that she wasn't ready for that yet), barefoot and in an apron (or sometimes forgoing the apron and still not managing to get his clothes covered in food bits) making some wonderfully complicated meal look easy. He smiles and laughs when she compliments him and he never misses an opportunity to tease her about her mad burning toast and biscuits skills (and she only half-wishes she never told him that story but the way his eyes crinkle and twinkle when he laughs makes the humiliation worth it).
Sometimes he invites her to help (add the salt, stir the sauce, pour in that cup) but she would really just rather watch him cook. He looks more comfortable in her kitchen than she ever has been (comfortable in her space) like another fixture, like he belongs there and she wonders when the sight of him started to make her feel out of sorts (her breath catches when he meets her eyes and she's pretty certain that she doesn't suffer from any medical conditions that make her heart skip like that), but in a good way.
Lisa has never been the one for complicated, complex long-term commitment in relationships. She gave herself (all of her, heart and soul, most of her, maybe not as much as she believed) to her career. No room for romance (complicated and disappointing) or relationships beyond the casual (have a need, fix a need and move on, no strings attached) because that involved making too many compromises (getting too close and letting someone in, opening that door where they might see her past and know what she really is, the scared little girl is still there somewhere). Yet, sometimes with Megabyte, when he looks at her a certain way (that way that makes her heart do a little leap, and makes parts far south of her brain tighten and clench with heat) she finds herself wondering "what if."
The fact that the "what if," doesn't scare her and that she's wondering "what if" about Megabyte is what she thinks should scare her. Instead, she has to tighten her shields, or leave the room or do something else to get him to stop looking at her that way (like she's a woman, like he's a man, like maybe they are just a few steps beyond platonic friends) or else she knows that she might just get the answer to that what if.
And truthfully, she's not sure if she's ready for the answer yet. There are still things left unsaid (The Boy on The Beach Hates me, Hate with a capital H because it really was that powerful), and history left unresolved (hasn't forgotten Adam, his eyes, his arms, his lips, his warmth, her first, she thought her last and forever but even that's murky now) and the big Wall between Then and Now.
Four months on and there is something (tense and heavy, charged and heady) in the air as they clean up after dinner. There is a documentary on naval warfare on Discovery channel that he wants to watch this evening and she has an entire agenda to prepare for tomorrow's staff meeting and both are less complicated than standing in the kitchen, loading the dishwasher and feeling light-headed and tingly each time his arm or his body brushes up against hers (and truthfully she doesn't have to stand that close to him, the kitchen isn't that small).
She's surprised (and she's not) when he moves in such a way to trap her between his body and the kitchen sink. He's standing behind her and if she waits a minute, he'll finish with the dish he's rinsing and move to the dishwasher (pretend it never happened, go on wondering for the next millennia) and so, before she loses her nerve she turns (because it's all in her head and he can't want to be with her as much as she is starting to realize she wants to be with him).
And she is completely aware of him on every level and so many levels that she never was before. The warmth of his body (firm, muscular), the smell of him, not just his cologne (sharp and spicy mixed lightly with the ocean), the fading blueness of his eyes (had they always been that blue, like the ocean, like the sky on a cloudless day) as blue is eaten away by black of widening pupils.
/Lisa./ He doesn't say it, he thinks it, he crosses that line that she's been avoiding crossing (the one that lets her pretend that he's normal and she's normal and all that other stuff just isn't there at all). Only she can't find it in her to be angry (hesitant and a little scared) because it's not just her name. There's so much more to it than the word, there are emotions and feelings, and desires and wants so great, so strong that she is almost drowning in them and for one heady moment she's not sure how much of it is his hunger and how much of it is hers.
It doesn't really matter because in the span of that single heartbeat, there are no more words, telepathic or otherwise. There are just hands and lips, mouths devouring and fingers desperately trying to get closer, closer to touch and find any part of hair and skin. She doesn't know how they get to the bedroom (sneaking suspicion that they are teleported there and not by her), only that they get there and that clothes are shed and shred, driven by need (and more than that, so much more) to be together.
Megabyte is not shielding (he is a completely open book to her), she knows him, knows him more deeply and intimately than she could have ever imagined knowing him before. She knows without a doubt that The Boy on The Beach is gone, that it's the man who's body she's moving against who matters now; it's the man who wants to have her, possess her, mark her, (love her) and it hasn't been her imagination at all (never really thought that it was).
He doesn't ask for her to open up, but she does anyway, for the first time in years she lets go of her shields and lets all the fear, all the worry come bubbling out to the surface. She takes him inside of her mind even as he slides home inside of her body. Suddenly they are no longer Lisa and Megabyte but rather LisaandMegabyte (MegabyteandLisa), one mind, one body (his feelings, her feelings, his body, her body). Not that she can consciously take this in or examine it, the desire is too strong, too great and it's all about bringing each other closer and higher, the rhythm and friction of their bodies taking them to the pinnacle to finish what they've been denying themselves for so long.
Then she's there and he's there and they tumble over the top and come crashing back down, Lisa and Megabyte once again (but not completely separate).
That night she doesn't sleep alone (when she does sleep) and in the morning, Paul simply gives her a big shit-eating grin and stage whispers, "It's about damn time."
Megabyte smiles (the cat that ate the canary grin, so much The Boy on The Beach and yet not) and Lisa wishes that she didn't have to go to work so she can find out if the light blush covering his face covers his whole body.
/I've turned you into a scarlet woman/ he teases as he steals (can't take what's given freely) a kiss before teleporting away with an unspoken promise to see her later.
She realizes a week later that Megabyte has been freely talking to her telepathically and teleporting around her when Paul's not around to witness it. What surprises her is that she realizes that she's okay with that. Because he is what he is (what she is) and she can't change that.
Lisa may not spend the night at his place, and their nights together are often limited by Paul's work schedule, but something is changed between them and they've gone from platonic friends to This, and although she's hard pressed to define This, she likes it and doesn't want to go back to That.
They don't talk about the big white elephant in the corner.
V. Drawn into the Rhythm
It's the little things that tell Megabyte the winds are changing. Those rare and infrequent occasions when she suggests that he cook dinner at his place (and sometimes she might even stay with him until the morning instead of gathering up her clothes and heading back to her place); the way she will pick up a photo CD and insert it into his laptop and ask questions about them (the new ones because their numbers seem to be growing each day; not Adam and Kevin because he still knows that they aren't over that last hurdle yet) and begins to inquire of when the last time he's been to the island or the ship is.
They know about her and ask about her (so hard to keep anything a complete and total secret when you're telepathic and there are so many interconnected all the time) and he tells her this. He doesn't mention Adam or Kevin, just the generic "they," (she assumes he means Ami and Jade because the he's not as close to the younger ones and the newer ones simply don't get how complicated things are between he and Lisa and Adam and Kevin; for the most part Lisa is right in her assumption) because they still haven't even gotten to a point of being able to say "Tomorrow People," even when they're together in a twist of bodies and tangle of sheets and their shields are down and everything is laid bare for both of them.
Lisa's taking baby steps and he's not pushing (surprising himself really with how much patience and understanding he's shown this whole time), but he watches for the signs that she is ready to come home, to come back to them and not just be with him.
Megabyte knows that she is almost there the day he finds her cleaning out his dresser to make a "girlfriend drawer" (to go with the toothbrush that he'd noticed now has a permanent home in his bathroom and the aqua terry bathrobe that hangs on the back of his bathroom door).
Lisa is mortified that she said the words aloud; Megabyte is amused and flattered. He's almost disappointed that once he's finished showing her precisely how much he wants her to make herself at home, it's too late for the dinner he had planned and they end up ordering take out. Almost because really, it's hard to be too disappointed when his girlfriend (and his heart does a little jump each time he says it because words don't define how long and how much he's wanted to label This relationship between them and finally he can) is wandering around his apartment half-dressed.
VI. Cast Me Gently Into Morning"You should bring her to Kevin's birthday party," Jade suggests one day as she bounces Megabyte's thirteen month old goddaughter on her knee. For her part, Caitlin gurgles and reaches for Jade's flowing blonde tresses. The kid has always had a thing for wanting to tug on and eat Aunt Jade's hair.
"Because surrounding her with Tomorrow People, ninety percent of whom she doesn't know, is a wonderfully good idea, honey." Kevin reaches out, attempts to pat Jade on the knee and instead ends up offering his hand to Caitlin as the next best plaything. Despite that, he still manages to put Megabyte's king in check.
Megabyte studies the board and knows that he should never have agreed to play Kevin when he's as distracted as he is. He lets his gaze slide over to Jade and Caitlin, (he can see Lisa with a baby on her knee, that terrifies him because he's pretty certain that the idea would send her running in the opposite direction). "I don't think that she's ready yet, Jade. We're still taking it slow."
Jade looks away from the baby long enough to raise both eyebrows at him, "Oh really?"
Megabyte rolls his eyes. Oddly comforting that some things really never change. "You know what I mean."
/She's not ready or you're not ready/ Kevin stays out of the conversation between Megabyte and Jade, and Megabyte is certain that what's being said now is going to be just between the two of them.
Although he can't really for the life of him imagine what he and Kevin need to talk about that Kevin would want to exclude Jade from. He plays along anyway. /What do you mean/
Kevin indicates the chessboard with a negligent wave of his hand and knowing Kevin well enough, he finishes the already lost game. Of course, he still doesn't get an answer out of Kevin until Jade heads back inside the house with a very wet and grumpy Caitlin in arms, complaining loudly the entire time that Kevin and Megabyte are doing absolutely nothing to uphold their end of the babysitting gig.
"Kevin," Megabyte prompts.
"I meant exactly what I said. Are you not ready or is she not ready?"
He hates getting questions like this from Kevin (and having these conversations) because when Kevin gets like this he's only asking questions that he thinks (knows) the answer to already. It's frustrating (enlightening) to deal with as Kevin tries to lead Megabyte down the path to understand his own psyche and sometimes Megabyte really just isn't in the mood for it.
"Kev, if you have a point, I really wish you would just spit it out."
So, Kevin does because he's nothing if not receptive (entirely too much) to the moods of his friends and fellow Tomorrow People. "You're in love with her."
Gut reaction is to object, but Megabyte stops himself. Because objecting would be a lie and he has had those thoughts (lots of them on many occasions, watching her sleep and never wanting to leave her side), he just tries to hold them at bay and he certainly avoids reflecting on them when with Lisa. There are still walls and hurdles and the L-word (sneaky little scary little happy little uplifting little four letter word) is not one that has passed between them yet. The feelings are there, of this Megabyte is certain (hard not to be when you make love and your mind is her mind and her mind is your mind), but saying it will cement it in reality and he's not sure that he and Lisa are there yet.
Megabyte can't object and lying to Kevin has never been something he could do. He settles for a miserable (defensive) sulking (frustrated), "So what?"
Kevin tilts his head, studying Megabyte as if he is some odd species of animal or insect that Kevin has never seen before. He purses his lips and Megabyte can almost see the wheels turning in his friend's head as Kevin tries to find the best (least offensive) way to put into words what Megabyte has a sinking suspicion is not going to be something that he wants to hear.
Finally, he settles for, "Have you talked about Adam?"
For a moment, Megabyte thinks that a gigantic fist is crushing his chest and he cannot breathe. He has an animalistic reaction, the basest of the base and he is torn between wanting to teleport from the spot and never return and wanting to lash out at Kevin for even suggesting what he is suggesting.
In the end, he does neither. He closes his eyes and forces himself to relax, forces himself to loosen the white-knuckled grip that he doesn't realize until that moment that he has on the table. His answer, when it comes, is harsh, ragged. "No."
Because Adam is one of those (huge) hurdles. There are more complications and questions with Adam than there are with Kevin. Adam and Lisa were a couple (lovers, call a spade a spade and be done with it) before she ran scared from them (from what it meant to be one of them). He can't compete with Adam (he's never tried; he's never had any reason to try) and it scares him that he may have to (Adam's married, Adam has a wife, Adam has a family); Adam loved her once and she loved him and he knows that there is nothing more powerful than that first love (the old love, the flame that burns and burns and burns).
"You should," Kevin says simply. "And I think that talking to Adam – about Lisa – wouldn't be such a terrible idea either."
Off the record, Megabyte thinks both are pretty terrible ideas.
VII. Long Awaited AnswerIn the end, he ends up talking to Adam before Lisa. He actually puts off both for as long as he can, ignoring Kevin whenever he thinks his friend is hinting in that direction (ignoring the white elephant as usual).
When he's with Lisa, the elephant is pretty easy to ignore. Megabyte loses himself in time spent with her and she outshines any elephant any day of the week. It's when they aren't together (those times that are few and far between) that it nags at him, worrying him and distracting him. It's the case of a bad itch that is only going to get worse until you scratch it (and really he's worried that it might get worse even if he does scratch it).
But opportunity presents itself the day he agrees to help Adam with a bookcase he is building. Handy with power tools is one thing that Megabyte is not, and he certainly lacks Adam's carpentry skills, but he can drill holes and drive screws where told and all-in-all it's not usually a bad way to do some "male bonding" with Adam.
Except that today when he looks at Adam, all he sees is Lisa (Adam and Lisa, Lisa and Adam, wrapped so tightly around one another on a blanket on the beach that it looks like they might never untangle and all he can do is tease them about getting a room), and he knows that This Is Not Good.
"All right, Megabyte." Adam turns off the saw and takes off his safety goggles. The older man watches him (with that thoughtful knowing look that Adam always gets when he's about to rake you over the coals). "Spit it out."
"What?" Which is a dumb response, an incredibly stupid response, but it's the only thing Megabyte can come up with on such short notice.
"Whatever it is that has you so distracted."
"I'm not distracted."
Adam waves at the wood before Megabyte, "You've been holding the same piece of wood, with the same hole drilled into it, for the last fifteen minutes. I'd say you're distracted."
Megabyte looks down at the offensive (traitorous) material in his hands. He sighs and sets it aside. "I think I need to talk to you."
Adam waits. He's good at waiting, that's what really grates. Adam can wait indefinitely like he has all the time in the world. Megabyte has never been good at waiting or playing it close to the chest (he's not Adam, he's anti-Adam) and he remembers how much he doesn't want to have this conversation, but how much he has to.
"About Lisa."
He doesn't know what he expects, but it isn't the long-suffering sigh that escapes from Adam as he drops to the workbench and shakes his head. "That appears to be this week's recurring theme."
"Huh?" Again, not eloquent, but the response doesn't make sense to Megabyte and it's the only response he can muster.
"Never mind," a wave of his hand and Adam pushes aside the comment. He stares at Megabyte, long and hard, his face completely unreadable and Megabyte wonders what his friend is thinking; he worries about what his friend will say. "Do you love her?"
Megabyte opens his mouth, closes it. Bites back the urge to tell Adam it's none of his business because really he needs to talk about this. They need to talk about this before Lisa comes back, before Adam sees Lisa again (Lisa sees Adam again), before it drives him crazy with not knowing and damages his relationship with Lisa (and Adam). Yet, it's no easier to say the words to Adam than it had been to Kevin, not when he hasn't said them to Lisa yet.
He settles for a mute nod.
"Then nothing else matters, Megabyte. You love her, and you do realize I knew that before I asked you the question right?" Adam pauses but he isn't really waiting for an answer. "You love her and from what you've said, I think it's pretty clear that she loves you. What else is there?"
"You loved her," Megabyte is pretty sure that he blurted the words out, but it doesn't feel like they came from his mouth. He doesn't remember speaking, and it bothers him how sometimes Adam can make him feel like an inept teenager all over again.
"Once," Adam nods. "But that was a long time ago, Megabyte. What Lisa and I had is over and done with and has been for a very long time. You might recall this little ceremony that I had about two years ago, you know the one where you were my best man? I married the woman that I love. She's my wife and the mother of my daughter and I've never had a moment of regret or second thoughts.
"I want Lisa back with us because she's a Tomorrow Person and she belongs with us. Because once upon a time we were friends and I'd like to think that we could be friends again someday. But everything else is water under the bridge."
In the end, he's glad that he talked to Adam because he can breathe again.
VIII. Heaven Bend to Take My HandMegabyte is more relaxed these days. Lisa doesn't mention that she noticed how distracted and keyed up he was for the past several weeks, and she's happy to see that whatever the problem was it has now resolved itself. It doesn't stop her from wondering, and she has to think that it had something to do with the others or else he would have shared it with her.
She thinks about that more and more often, about that being the only part of his life that she doesn't share. They are practically attached at the hip now and they've already discussed plans for her moving in with him when her lease is up in a few months (Paul's a great roommate but he's ready to move on and conveniently has a great job opportunity on the other side of the continent). It only makes sense, she spends more time at his place than she does at hers, and more than half her clothes are in his closet. Megabyte jokes that she's cramping his bachelor style, but then he pulls her in close and kisses her even those times when they aren't pressed together fucking like rabbits or making love (because really the two are totally different even in a monogamous relationship), she's aware of how much he cares about her (loves her).
There's only one hurdle left. They are curled up on the couch watching some police drama on television, when Lisa raises her head and makes her announcement. "I think I'm ready now."
"To meet the others," she adds an afterthought in case Megabyte doesn't quite pick up on her non sequitur. "To see Kevin and Adam again." (Kevin first, Adam last because she's not sure how Megabyte is going to feel about that meeting, and she's not sure how she feels about that meeting).
He's thoughtful for a moment. Lisa watches the little crease form between his brows as he thinks about and digests what she's said. He continues to hold her close, warm fingers lightly stroking the skin at the small of her back. /Are you sure/
Lisa nods. She's sure about this (nervous as hell and scared half to death), because it has to be done. /Positive/ she answers and it's the first time that she's spoken to him telepathically (first time in years she's let that part of her out of its box).
/You don't have to do this for me, Lis, you know that right? You already won me over./
/It's not entirely for you./ Which is the truth. Part of it is for him because if they want to be together, really together she has to be able to accept all of him and all of her and put the past behind them. The other part of it is for her because since he's come back into her life, she realizes that a bit of Lisa has been missing (she didn't miss it until he came along, and she never thought she would want it back), and she needs that to be whole again.
/Are you ready to see Adam/ The question is asked lightly, thrown out as though they are discussing the weather, but she knows him better. She knows that he sees the elephant, the same one that's been haunting her. He's calm and yet he's worried (The Boy on The Beach and yet not), but he knows she has to do what she has to do and he won't try to stop her.
She nods again/Yes. Because Adam's my past and you're my future. And I love you, Marmaduke Damon./ She says the words before she can scare herself, she says the words to make it reality (she loves him and he loves her).
Gentle fingers push hair away from her face and trail down her cheek, cerulean eyes so soft and deep and Lisa knows that she could lose herself in them forever. /I love you, too./
When he kisses her the elephant disappears.
IX. I've Got My Eyes Open to EverythingA year on and they still meet to have lunch at their park on their bench with their ducks. It's one of their cute little traditions and it still gives Lisa a thrill each time he smiles at her and hands her bag with his famous homemade chicken-salad in it. Even if she watched him make it the night before while she prepared the editorial review and he kept one eye on the Food Network (secret of secrets that's where he really learned his kitchen skills only she promised not to tell).
A year on and its like they've always been together (Megabyte and Lisa, Lisa and Megabyte) and like she never left the Tomorrow People. She's comfortable in her skin now, more comfortable than she ever was before and she knows that she has Megabyte to thank for that. He found her when she didn't know she was lost and although he insists he only wanted to read the international section, she knows better.
When he shows up, lunch in hand, and tells her that it's raining so they can't go to the park, she tries hard to feign disappointment. It's a little too hard to fake disappointment when he stalks across her office like the lion on the savannah approaching the zebra. Even harder when she's in his arms and they're kissing and trying to crawl into one another's skin and she knows that his hands have found their way to her skirt zipper.
/I locked your door behind me/ he tells her as they tumble to the floor in a tangle of limbs and want and need and lust (and love but right now the lust is so much stronger).
Later there will be carpet burn and a report that she will have to reprint, but that's Later and this is Now. And in the Now she is with Megabyte and This is what eluded her for so many years and This is right and This is good and This is how it is meant to be.
-- End --