Picture
By Tracy (biancaheart@yahoo.com)
Rating: PG-13
Category: FF, K/I
Summary: The problems with the FBI are over. Isabel is free to return to her marriage- return to Jesse. But where does her heart lie?
Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell. Not doing this for money. Song by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow.
Living my life in a slow hell
Different girl every night at the hotel
I ain't seen the sunshine in three damn days
Been fueling up on cocaine and whiskey
Wish I had a good girl to miss me
Oh I wonder if I'll ever change my ways
Nothing was right.
Oh, he should be happy.
For the first time since high school, his life made a little bit of sense. Oh yeah….even in high school is life didn't make sense.
He was a free man.
No aliens chasing after him, no FBI trying to kill him or his friends. He could go home, go home like the rest of them and pick up life where he left off on graduation day. See his Dad, decide what do to do with his life. Be Kyle Valenti for a change. Kyle Valenti from Roswell.
Heck, he didn't have a clue who Kyle Valenti was anymore.
He stayed in a small, somewhat trashy hotel room in Boston. He'd stayed in worse. It wouldn't kill him.
He didn't care.
For all those years on the road, all those years when he kept on switching aliases so many times that he couldn't remember which name had been his in Tennessee and which name had been Max's in Ohio.
She was nearby.
With that shithead she called a husband.
And if he couldn't love her…
At least she'd be nearby.
I put your picture away
Sat down and cried today
I can't look at you
While I'm lying next to her
I put your picture away
Sat down and cried today
I can't look at you while I'm lying next to her
It had hurt to say goodbye. Hurt like hell. Saying goodbye to his wife. How many friggin people have their wives be aliens?
Friggin FBI.
When he moved to the apartment in Boston, their wedding picture was the first thing he put up. Isabel. Isabel's picture. She would know, she would know how much he missed her. How much he loved her. When she came home.
Days went by. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years.
Jesse Ramirez spent five years alone before he even thought about the possibility.
Isabel could be dead.
Isabel could be in love- with someone else.
Isabel could be captured.
It nearly drove him insane.
Mindy, a fellow lawyer at the firm helped him through those times. He could see it now, looking back at old pictures, how terrible he looked. She got him to eat, she got him out of the house, helped him with his cases…
And somehow, he fell in love.
She wasn't Isabel.
Never would be, never could be.
Mindy never pushed a relationship. For awhile they were just friends. And that was good.
And he realized that being friends wasn't good enough.
Life with Isabel was amazing. Isabel was amazing.
But life without Isabel was something he would have to do.
He had Isabel declared legally dead.
The night that he got the papers, he cried and cried, screamed and yelled at the top of his lungs.
The next morning, he took the wedding picture and put it in his desk, and locked the drawer.
Three months later, Mindy became Mindy Ramirez.
I called you last night in the hotel
Everyone knows but they won't tell
But their half-hearted smiles tell me something just ain't right
I've been waiting on you for a long time
Filling up on heartaches and cheap wine
I ain't heard from you in three damn nights
Boston.
She finally made it to Boston.
Jesse.
She'd get to see Jesse.
And hold him, and kiss him, and tell him…tell him about everything, how they won, about Max and Liz, about Maria's pregnancy, and Kyle's powers…
She talked to Kyle last night.
It seemed strange that he wasn't in the hotel room with her. They'd shared a room for so long that the place just seemed empty.
Leaving him yesterday had been tough.
He was her best friend. The guy that knew when to make her laugh, the guy that knew when to let her cry.
But Jesse.
She'd get to see Jesse again.
She was old enough…mature enough now, to leave behind her friends and family for the good of her marriage.
If only she had the courage.
Kyle had offered to stay with her in Boston, to go to the apartment with her. For support reasons- he said.
Three days ago, she dropped Kyle off at the airport.
Three days later, she still hadn't brought herself to go to Jesse's house.
"This is crazy, Isabel. Just go and run into your husband's arms." She told herself.
"But is that who you want to run to?" A little voice seemed to chirp in the back of her mind.
I put your picture away
I wonder where you've been
I can't look at you while I'm lying next to him
I put your picture away
I wonder where you've been
I can't look at you while I'm lying next to him
She knocked on the door. She was nervous, and began to shuffle her feet from side to side.
An eight year old boy stuck is head out the door. "Who in the heck are you?" He muttered, taking the headphones from his ears.
"I'm…I'm here to see Jesse Ramirez…is this?"
"DAD!" The boy called. "You got a client."
"Thanks Chad." She heard his voice call.
Jesse's face went white when he saw her at the door. "Isabel?"
I saw you yesterday with an old friend
It was the same old same how have you been
"And I told myself I wouldn't be a stalker. Oh, if Maria could see me now. Poodle-boy chia head stalker boy Valenti." Kyle muttered. "But what in the heck are they doing?"
Isabel and Jesse were sitting on a bench, talking to each other in low tones.
They weren't touching, they weren't holding each other, they weren't caressing.
"Is he a friggin idiot? What could be better than her?" Kyle felt jealousy surge through his veins.
"I gotta get out of here." He remarked to the dog beside him. The dog didn't pay attention to Kyle's impassioned words, and continued taking care of his business against the tree.
Since you've been gone my world's been dark and grey
You reminded me of brighter days
It was a relief.
A relief to know that it…her marriage was over.
Which was…strange.
Jesse… she loved Jesse….
Or she had loved him.
Back in 2002, when things were simple- when she was his wife, when he was her husband or even before that…when he was just the cute lawyer at her Dad's law firm.
She'd kept a secret from Jesse.
A gigantic secret.
It hurt her heart to see that young boy there at the door. Jesse's son. With his wife.
She'd been replaced.
But why was that a relief?
Isabel reached for the phone. She could call Kyle. He'd know what to say…how to make her feel better.
He'd probably hop on the next plane and come straight to Boston.
She missed him so much.
The scent of his soap, of his aftershave. The way he always left socks lying around the hotel room. His breath that perpetually smelled of mint. His calm, reassuring voice…his strong arms…
The phone slipped out of Isabel's grip.
Grabbing her coat, she rushed out the door.
I hoped you were coming home to stay
I was headed to church
Isabel sat in the front pew, staring up at the cross.
Thinking.
"Can I help you?" The speaker was an elderly man with a bald head and a smile. "I'm Don Leroy, the pastor here."
Isabel dabbed at her eyes, at that annoying moisture growing in the corner of her eyes.
"I need help."
Don reached in his pocket and pulled out a pocket pack of tissues. "That's what we're here for."
I was off to drink you away
There she was.
Tears streaking down her face.
He wanted to run to her, to take her in his arms.
He wanted to pound the shit out of one Jesse Ramirez. Make him bleed for making Isabel cry.
Kyle started to move, but Isabel turned into a building.
A church.
He decided to go find a beer instead.
I thought about you for a long time
Can't seem to get you off my mind
I can't understand why we're living life this way
Talking with Don had really helped. She still felt weird about the disintegration of her marriage-it hurt that they weren't able to pull off a fairy tale ending and make the marriage work. That was her pride talking.
But something more was driving her. Her heart.
She was in love with Kyle Valenti.
Her best friend. The ex-football player that practiced Buddhism. The guy with a big heart, a heart that he revealed to only a few people. Her constant companion since they left Roswell.
One of the most handsome men she'd ever known. Beautiful brown hair. Amazing Blue eyes-blue like pools of water that she could swim in all day long. A chest that would make most women swoon. Lips…lips that seemed so moist and kissable…
A smile lit up her face.
She loved Kyle.
She wanted to marry him. She wanted to have children that looked like him. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
For maybe the first time, she understood what Max felt for Liz, and what Michael felt for Maria.
She pushed Kyle's name on her speed dial.
One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four rings.
Kyle's voice mail.
"Hi…you've reached me, if you have this number, you know who I am…"
She didn't leave a message.
I found your picture today
I swear I'll change my ways
I just called to say I want you to come back home
I found your picture today
I swear I'll change my ways
I just called to say I want you
To come back home
I just called to say I love you
Come back home
"Can I get you something to drink?" The waitress asked.
"No, thanks." Kyle smiled.
He was leaving Boston behind.
He had to let her go.
Kyle pulled out his wallet. When he got back to Roswell, he'd clean it out. Put all the stuff in storage. All his pictures.
Max and Liz. Maria and Liz posing in front of the Statue of Liberty. Michael frowning at the camera as Maria posed with a cheesy smile.
And Isabel.
She was sitting in the van, a book opened in her lap. Her hair was blonde, and long again. And beautiful. She was so beautiful.
"I love you." He said to the picture. "You know that? I never told you, did I? And the crazy thing is, you're married, but I can't stop. I think I'm gonna love you forever, Isabel, and I don't know what that means for me…I'm never gonna get over you…"
"I should hope not."
"Isabel!" Kyle exclaimed, trying to stand up. His seatbelt jerked him roughly into the seat. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm going home."
"Home?"
"To Roswell. I left someone behind there…"
"Oh."
"Don't you want to know who I left behind?" She said in a tiny voice. She couldn't stop smiling.
He loved her.
"Who?" Words…words were hard to say. His voice didn't want to work.
"You."
Silence.
After what seemed like forever, Kyle spoke…or rather squeaked. "Me?"
She nodded. Tears flowed freely down her face. "I love you, too."
Kyle smiled. Smiled so much that it almost hurt. He drew Isabel into his arms.
"I've missed you so much."
"I miss you too."
"I can't believe this, I mean, I never thought that. But what about Jesse?"
"He's at home. HIS home. With his children."
"Children?"
"He had the marriage dissolved. Said I was legally dead. No body, no contest."
"Oh." He paused. "Are you okay? That had to hurt and I don't want to be pushing or if you…"
Isabel pulled Kyle even closer.
"I swear Valenti, if you don't stop babbling and start kissing me…"
And he did.
"Marry me?" He said when they broke apart.
"Yes!"
A round of applause burst out in the cabin of the plane.
"Congratulations." The flight attendant said grouchily. "Now can I do the damn safety demonstration?"
After an hour in the air, Isabel looked up at Kyle, moving her head away from his comfortable shoulder.
"Kyle?"
"Yeah?" He waggled his eyebrows. "Wanna join the mile high club?"
"First, tell me what in the hell you were doing in Boston."