Title: The January Man
Author: Courtney
Email: courtneystovall@yahoo.com
Rating: R
Category: Kyle/Tess
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Distribution: Want it? Okay, just email me and tell me where it is. And please include *all* of these headers with the story. Thanks!
Author's Note: This is the first story in a twelve part series called "A Year in the Life". Each story follows a month in the lives of Kyle and Tess.
Thanks: A HUGE thank you to Miri, Pilar and Sue, beta goddesses, all. They make me sound so much better than I really am so thanks ladies!
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January 1st. The first day of a New Year. A new beginning; a fresh start. Isn't that what the New Year is supposed to symbolize? Maybe for some it actually did mean that, but not for Tess Harding.
She stood in line at the grocery store and looked over the items in her cart. Chicken, spaghetti, broccoli . . . the basics. Then her eyes fell on the huge bottle of Tabasco sauce she purchased at least once a week. Necessity, for certain. And finally, the box of Hamburger Helper. She shook her head at herself for that last one. It was no doubt the leftover influence of living with two confirmed bachelors like Kyle and Jim Valenti for so many years.
Of course, that was all in the past now. Roswell hadn't been her home for several years. She now lived in Atlanta. She had an apartment and a cat and a life that didn't seem like a monster-of-the-week episode of The X-Files every single day. She had a good job working as a manager of a major department store. Life wasn't exciting, it wasn't crazed and bizarre and constantly throwing her for a loop . . . it was just normal. And that was just the way she wanted it.
Sometimes she missed her old life. It was normal to miss something that you'd been a part of for so many years, right? She missed living with the Valenti men and being around so many people who knew her secrets, whom she could confide in . . . that was probably the hardest thing for her here in Atlanta. She felt like she had no one to talk to.
Sure, she could always call one of her old friends if she really needed to talk, but she hated to disrupt their lives unless it was really important. She felt like she'd done enough disrupting when she originally came to Roswell as a teenager.
Luckily, things had still worked out for everyone. Max and Liz had gotten married a year after high school ended. They were trying to wait until they graduated from college, but they couldn't hold out that long. It had been a nice ceremony with all of the 'gang' in attendance. And it hadn't really hurt to see him marry someone else. In the beginning, when she could see that Max was rejecting her for Liz, it had hurt Tess so much. He was supposed to love *her*. He was supposed to belong to *her*. What did Liz Parker have that she didn't? In the end, she had figured it out. Liz had his heart . . . and that would never change.
So, letting him go hadn't turned out to be quite so difficult as she would have imagined. She knew that she'd never be what Liz was to Max and, the more she saw how he felt about this human girl, the more she longed for someone that would feel that way about her. Not just someone who was tied to her by a destiny he couldn't even remember.
She'd thought for a while that Kyle might be that someone. They had always flirted when they lived together; even Buddha couldn't keep Kyle Valenti from turning on the charm. And she was the first to admit that she had returned his double entendres and sideways glances whole-heartedly. He was cute, he obviously liked her, and every other member of the 'fab four' had found themselves a human to call their own. Why not Tess, too?
But, in the end, things hadn't turned out as she might have once hoped. Nothing ever really happened with she and Kyle. He was always more than a little freaked out about the whole alien thing anyway. Plus his dad marrying Amy DeLuca halfway through their senior year . . . well, it hadn't made things better for him. They'd all been uprooted that year to a house that Amy and Jim decided to buy together. Suddenly, Kyle and Tess now had a third quasi-sibling under their roof . . . Maria. And something about the arrangement just never did quite mesh for Kyle. As soon as high school had ended, he'd taken the first opportunity he had to get out of town. Football had provided him with a scholarship offer in Wisconsin and Kyle had leapt at the chance.
She'd only seen him twice since then. Once had been at Max and Liz's wedding. The other was just after Amy delivered her second child; Kyle's little sister Gretchen. He hadn't exactly been happy during that visit and she could definitely tell. He still didn't like the idea of his dad being married again with children other than him.
The fight had come on the last night of Kyle's visit. He and his father had gotten into it about something; she really wasn't sure what had started the whole mess. All that she could say for sure was that the argument had gotten ugly and a lot of things had been said between the two men; a lot of things that she knew they both regretted when it was all over. But neither of them would ever say it. They were both too stubborn to admit that they had been wrong. Kyle had left that night for the last time, and neither she nor his father had seen him since.
Maybe he thought that she would take Jim's side. After all, he'd been like a father to her for all of those years. She still spent holidays with the Valentis and she was always welcomed into their home just the same as Kyle or Maria. But, the truth was, she wasn't so sure that she *would* have sided against Kyle. Maybe it was just the leftover feelings from high school, or maybe it was because of all the times he'd been there for her, but she couldn't imagine siding against him if it meant never seeing him again. Of course, that was probably just because it had been ten years and he still had yet to resurface. The truth was, if she saw him now, she probably wouldn't even know what to say.
"Ma'am? You okay?" the voice of the cashier interrupted her thoughts. Tess looked up in surprise, then smiled and nodded, realizing she was holding up the line. She began taking the items out of her cart and putting them onto the black conveyor belt in front of her.
She'd been so wrapped up in her thoughts that it was like the world around her had disappeared for a moment. It had been a long time since Tess had let herself think about Kyle. His leaving had hurt a lot of people . . . including her. Though she still missed the boy she had grown to love in her youth, she wasn't sure that person was one she'd ever be able to have back. When he walked away from everyone that cold day in December when they were just eighteen, he had not only turned his back on his father. He had turned his back on all of them, and she wasn't sure that she could ever quite forgive him for that.
With a sigh, Tess tried to put Kyle Valenti out of her mind and concentrate on something else. After all, there was plenty to think about besides him. She had made a whole other life for herself in the decade since he'd been gone. She had to have *something* better to think about, right? But, as the cashier handed her a receipt and she collected her grocery bags, Tess began to wonder if that was actually true. Did she have a life? At least, a life worth thinking about? The more that she considered it, the more she began to realize that she actually *never* considered it.
Her life just seemed to happen around her. It wasn't anything to get excited about. She didn't have a husband, like Liz Parker-Evans. Or a live-in boyfriend like Maria still had with Michael after all these years. She didn't even have an exciting job like Isabel, the fancy New York model who came to town once in a while to visit her less than exciting old friend. Even Alex Whitman was married and had kids, or at least that was what Liz said. She'd never actually met Alex's wife or even seen him since high school. Still, they'd all moved on with their lives and had something to show for it. And what did she have? Not much to speak of as far as she was concerned.
Actually, that wasn't entirely true. She had a job she liked. And she had friends, though none that were very close because there was always that fear that they'd discover the truth about her and she'd have to leave this home she'd created for herself here. There was always her cat, Frisco; she had him.
So, she had a nine to five job that didn't suck more than it did, a small group of people she could grab coffee or dinner with but couldn't really *talk* to about anything and a Siamese cat that spent more time shedding on her furniture than anything else. Perhaps her life wasn't quite as full as it could have been. Perhaps, she needed something more . . .
What happened next could have been coincidence, but it would later seem to Tess like bad karma gone completely mad. She was sitting at a red light, patiently waiting for a left turn signal as she mentally contemplated the state of her life at the beginning of yet another year when it happened. Someone ran into her car. It wasn't a very hard hit, just enough to jog her from her thoughts and bring her irritation to a boil.
"What the hell?" she said out loud just after the impact had thrown her forward in her seat slightly. "Dammit! When are people in this city going to learn to drive?!" she raged to no one as she turned to see what idiot had hit her. She could see a man in the other car, but he hadn't gotten out yet and he seemed to be bent down searching for something, hopefully his insurance information, so she couldn't get a good view of him. With a heavy sigh, she opened her car door and got out.
The owner of the navy blue hatchback that had rear-ended her Saab was still sorting through roadmaps in search of his insurance card when she tapped impatiently at his window. "Look buddy, I don't have all day here," she called less than politely to the driver. "If you'd watch where you're going for a change maybe you wouldn't have to spend time looking for--" Her rant quickly ended as the driver turned his face towards her. She was sure that her heart must have stopped as she saw an all-too-familiar face staring back at her.
"Tess?" the man said in astonishment as he recognized her as well. He opened his door and got out, a smile now lighting his lips. "Tess, is it really you? Oh my God, I can't believe it. It's been . . . God, how long has it been anyway?"
"Ten years, Kyle," she replied coldly. "It's been ten years."
"What's wrong, Tess?" he asked as he reached out a hand towards the girl he used to know so well.
"You hit my car, that's what's wrong," she snapped at him. He seemed surprised by her anger, but she wasn't sure why. What did he expect after all this time? Relief to see him? Happiness at his unexpected reappearance? Perhaps that's what she should have felt, but she just couldn't bring herself to feel those things. All she could feel was the hurt, the same hurt that had stabbed at her heart when he had walked away that night. It was the only emotion he seemed to evoke in her anymore.
"I'm sorry," he replied and her mind couldn't process whether he was apologizing for the car or her broken heart. It didn't matter much, though. Neither could be repaired by his words.
"You'll have to fix it," she said haughtily. Though there was nothing but a tiny scratch on her bumper, she wasn't about to let him off easily.
"Of course," he answered sincerely. Turning back to his car, he rummaged through the mess spilling from his glove box to his front seat until he finally came up with his insurance card. "I have another copy somewhere in that mess. You can keep this one," he told her.
"Fine," she said as she took the card and cast her eyes away from him.
"So, how have you been, Tess?" he asked then.
"Fine," she repeated.
"How weird is this, us running into each other this way?" he said as he tried to break the ice between them.
"It seems to me that you're the one running into people today," she replied icily. Kyle chuckled but Tess' expression remained the same.
"Do you live nearby?" he asked.
"A few blocks," she admitted.
"Amazing," he said. "I've been in the city since before Christmas and I'm just finding you."
"There are six million people in this city, Kyle. It's amazing that you found me at all," she said.
"Maybe . . . or maybe it's fate," he told her with a soft smile.
She rolled her eyes and replied, "Fate? So, does that mean that you're still on that Buddha trip?"
"Not really, I just try to keep an open mind," he said.
"Oh, an open mind, huh? Yeah, that's exactly how I'd describe the Kyle Valenti I know," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
His face fell then, as he finally saw that he wasn't going to push past her tough exterior to the Tess he used to know. "Do you really hate me that much, Tess?"
She looked back up at him then and stared for a moment. Then: "No, Kyle. I don't hate you. I've never hated you. You just . . . you disappointed me. And you hurt me. And I'm not sure I can ever forgive you for that. I'm sorry." She sighed then, and added, "I better go."
When she was halfway back to her car, she heard him call after her. "Will I see you again?" She just turned back and shrugged her shoulders. Then she got back into her car and drove away.
* * * * *
It had been a week since the New Year had begun. Seven days since her encounter with Kyle. And she hadn't heard a word. She still hadn't contacted his insurance company about the scratch on her car; she doubted that she ever would. Maybe that was the last she'd see of him. Maybe . . .
It felt weird, knowing he was living in the same city as her. Knowing that he'd been there for weeks without her knowledge. Maybe she'd passed him in traffic or been three rows away from him in the movies without even knowing. Actually, that probably hadn't happened because he seemed to hit people in traffic instead of passing them, and she almost never went to the movies.
What were the odds that he would run into *her* car, she wondered. Not to mention the fact that she had been lost in thought about him when it happened. But then she could attribute that to some sort of premonition that she just hadn't quite read clearly enough. Some part of her had known that she was about to cross paths with Kyle; the rest of her just didn't want to believe it.
He wouldn't call . . . would he? He knew she was in town now; he might try to call. But it had been a week and he hadn't called yet. Besides, he didn't have her phone number. It wasn't listed . . . but there were probably ways he could get it. If he called her work they might give him her number. Then again, how would he know where she worked? She was starting to sound crazy, even to herself. Damn Kyle for coming back into her life and screwing it all up. Just when things were finally normal, he had to go and make them . . . well, abnormal. Just perfect.
She was sitting at her kitchen table, her fork hovering aimlessly over an untouched plate of grilled chicken and asparagus. She couldn't eat; her head was too filled with crazy thoughts about the Kyle situation to concentrate on food. She got up from the table and stuck the plate into the microwave. Maybe she'd regain her appetite later.
This wasn't the first dinner he'd managed to ruin in the last seven days. She had been thinking about him all week. She kept wondering if she should call his father; tell him where his long lost son was. She was sure that Sheriff Valenti would jump at the chance to reunite with Kyle. He couldn't still be angry about that fight they'd had . . . could he? Walking across the kitchen, Tess headed for the phone. But just as she was about to lift the receiver, there was a knock at her front door.
"Meredith," she muttered as she turned reluctantly from the phone to go answer the knock. Meredith Stephens lived across the hall. They'd both lived in the building for almost three years; both single, working women. Meredith had a five-year-old son, though, and she wasn't from 'a galaxy far, far away', but Tess could still relate to her on a lot of levels. She was probably the best friend that Tess had in Atlanta. And practically the only person who ever appeared at her door, especially at ten o'clock at night. Tess just figured that Scottie must be sleeping and Meredith was in the mood to talk. It wouldn't be the first time and, tonight, Tess was actually a little relieved by the possibility of the distraction.
"Hey Mer, what's going o--" She stopped when she saw that the person knocking was not her friend from across the hall. Not by a long shot. "What are you doing here? How'd you find me?" she asked as she stared back at Kyle Valenti.
"Don't close the door, Tess," he pleaded as soon as he saw her. "I came to talk."
"And what makes you think I want to talk to you?" she snapped. "Don't you get it, Kyle? I . . . don't . . . want . . . to . . . see . . . you! Got it? Am I making myself clear enough?" She pushed the door closed, but he managed to catch it before it shut and pushed it back open.
"Come on, Tess. Just give me a chance to explain," he said hopefully.
She grunted in frustration and turned away. "You really have a lot of nerve Kyle Valenti!" she fumed as she spun back around to face him. "You walk away from everyone and stay gone for *ten years* and then one day you just happen across me in traffic and think all will be forgotten and you can have another chance? Well, no, I'm sorry. It doesn't work that way. I can't just *forget*! I can't pretend like it never happened."
"I'm not asking you to, Tess," he replied. "I know that I hurt you by leaving. And I know that I was wrong. I mean, what happened between me and dad was . . . well, it wasn't about you. I shouldn't have shut you out along with the rest of them. It's just . . . I don't know how to explain it. I just had to get as far away from Roswell and the life I had there as I possibly could. And, unfortunately, you were a part of that life. But you were the one thing I regretted leaving. You are the one thing I have truly missed." He stopped, watching her as she watched him, hoping he'd see at least a little bit of understanding, something that would cause her to let him in instead of slamming the door in his face again.
"I'm stupid for letting you in," she said aloud as stood aside to let him enter her apartment.
He smiled slightly and replied, 'Thank you."
* * * * *
"Coffee?" she asked from the kitchen as Kyle took a seat in the living room on the sofa.
"No, thanks," he called back.
She shrugged and walked into the living room to sit on a high backed chair facing him. "So, you must have gone to a lot of trouble to find me," she said.
"Not really. I just called the DMV," he said.
"You wrote down my licenses plate number?" she asked incredulously.
"We *were* in an accident," he reminded her.
"Yeah, an accident that was your fault," she pointed out.
"True," he said with a nod. "I guess I just wrote it down on a whim. I didn't think you'd ever call about getting the car fixed and, at the very least, I wanted to be sure that I made things right with that."
"Completely unnecessary," she assured him.
"Well, like you said, it was my fault."
"It's funny, us meeting that way," she said then. "I mean, you said something that day about it but I didn't realize until later just how ironic it was."
"Yeah, pretty weird," he agreed.
"Okay, so . . . you didn't come all the way over here to discuss the little scratch on my bumper," she said. "Why don't you just get on with whatever it is you have to say so we can be done with this." She was obviously still very much on the defense and small talk wasn't going to make that go away. He decided the only thing left to do was tell the truth.
"I came to apologize," he said simply. "And not about the car. About the last ten years. About . . . well, everything. I should have kept in touch with you. It wasn't right and I'm sorry."
"Like I said before, Kyle, I'm just not sure I'm capable of forgiving you. It's been a long time," she said.
"I know that. I'm not sure I was expecting you to forgive me; maybe I was just hoping for it. But whatever happens, I knew I at least needed to say it."
"You still haven't explained to me why you left," she said.
"You know why; it was because of my dad."
"You mean to tell me that one little shouting match over the fact that your ego was bruised when your father got remarried and had another kid has kept you away from every person you've ever known for over a decade? If that's all there was to it, Kyle, then I'm sorry to say but you're really lame."
He sighed and shook his head. "I suppose there was more to it, but it's not worth rehashing. It's better left in the past."
"So, you're still hiding from me, then?" she accused.
"I'm not hiding. I'm just choosing to keep unpleasant parts of the past where they belong; in the past. Nothing either of us say can change what happened so there's no use reopening old wounds." She wasn't sure why, but something in Kyle's voice then told her that there was a lot more to what had happened back then than she had ever realized. But she could also tell that he wasn't going to talk about it right then, so she let it go.
"Have you gotten in touch with him?" she asked.
"Who?"
"Your father," Tess clarified.
"No. We don't have anything to say to each other," he told her bluntly.
"So, you're interested in making amends with me, but not with anyone else?"
"It's not like that," he said. "It's just . . . complicated. I had a hard enough time facing you; I'm not ready to face my dad yet."
"Fair enough. So, what exactly were you hoping would happen here today?" she wanted to know.
He shrugged. "I guess that we could talk; maybe get past our differences. Like I said, I miss you, Tess."
"Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you, too," she admitted.
"So . . . does that mean that maybe we can talk a little? Try to work things out?" he asked hopefully.
She just looked at him for a second, knowing that her answer had already been decided when she first saw him at her front door, but wanting him to think that she'd needed some convincing to allow him back into her life. Finally, with a short nod, she answered yes. He smiled at the response.
He looked different. She noted this for the first time as she sat across from him in her living room. That day on the road she'd been too surprised to see him to notice much about his appearance. And then at the door she had been concentrating too hard on being angry to think about much else. But now, just looking at him at last, she could see the past ten years on his face.
He had changed; gotten older, more distinguished in some ways, just more tired looking in others. His hair was starting to gray just a tiny bit around his temples; a trait no doubt inherited from his mother since Sheriff Valenti's hair was still as dark as ever even in his sixties. Kyle's face seemed to look more and more like Jim's as he got older. His father was really starting to show through in him; too bad the elder Valenti couldn't appreciate this change as she could. He was still as handsome as ever, she noted. Kyle had always been a very attractive young man. Now, as he edged closer and closer to thirty, she could see that the years hadn't changed him as much as she initially thought.
"You look really great, Tess," he said into the silence, his thought process seeming to mirror her own.
"I look old," she corrected. "I thought blondes weren't supposed to go gray as early as brunettes, but I found two gray hairs last week." She laughed a little, trying to ease the sudden tension that surrounded her.
"You're more beautiful than ever," he assured her.
"Thank you," she replied softly, hoping that the dim evening light would disguise the blush she felt creep into her cheeks at his words. "You look good, too," she said. "I was just thinking that you had hardly changed a bit."
"That's hard to believe," he replied with a chuckle. "I mean, the last time I saw you I was eighteen years old. I can barely even remember myself at eighteen."
"I remember you," she answered with a soft smile.
"I remember you, too, Tess," he assured her.
"God, this is weird," she said with a laugh to try and hide her nervousness. She thought that she had outgrown her nervousness with Kyle when she was sixteen. Even after all of the years that had passed, she never expected that it would return. But here she was, feeling like a high school student all over again.
He got up then and she rose from her seat giving him a questioning look. "I should probably go," he explained. "It's getting late and I'm sure you need to get to sleep."
"Oh . . . yeah, I guess you're right. I do have to work tomorrow." She found herself feeling disappointed that he was going. After she'd been so adamant that he not even come in, now she desperately didn't want him to go.
He was on her doorstep and she was standing at the door, watching him walk away again. She was about to speak when he did it for her. "Can we get together some time? Maybe have lunch or something?" he asked hopefully.
She tried not to smile as she nodded and replied, "Yeah sure, that might be okay."
"Are you free tomorrow?" he asked.
"I could probably get away for a while. There's a restaurant in the mall. Why don't we meet there at, say, one o'clock?"
He nodded back and said, "Sounds good, see you then."
"Good night, Kyle," she said as she started to shut the door as he walked away.
"Good night, Tess," she heard him reply just before the door closed.
* * * * *
"What am I getting myself into?" Tess asked the white and brown cat as he purred happily in her lap. "I mean, Kyle Valenti? Didn't I say that I would never forgive him for walking away like that? And now here I am, doing just what I said I wouldn't. Damn him for making me break my rules," she muttered. Frisco ignored his master and continued to sleep.
"I should call Jim and Amy. Or Isabel. Or Max. I can't just keep this to myself. But I can't go to Jim without Kyle's okay; that just wouldn't be right. And Isabel and Max won't really care about this. They were never as close to him as I was. Maybe I should just wait and see what happens. Maybe it'll all work itself out that way anyway."
She sighed sleepily and rose from the couch, picking Frisco up with her and carrying him back to her bedroom. She had a big day the next day and she definitely needed some sleep. Pulling back the covers, she slid beneath them and closed her eyes. Frisco climbed over her to curl up in his usual spot in the crook of her knees. In no time at all, they were both fast asleep.
* * * * *
She spotted him immediately as she entered the restaurant. He was sitting in a booth along the left side on the side that faced the door. As soon as she walked in, he smiled and gave a short wave even as she headed in his direction. He rose to greet her.
"Hey, you made it," he said happily as she approached the table.
"You thought I'd stand you up?" she asked with a grin.
"The thought had crossed my mind," he admitted with a chuckle. "So, have a seat, please," he said as he gestured towards the other side of the booth. She sat down and he sat back down across from her. "I'm glad you didn't stand me up," he told her honestly.
She smiled and replied, "Me too."
"So . . ."
"So," she repeated. "Have you been waiting long?"
"No, just a few minutes. I would have ordered drinks but I didn't know what you'd like so . . ."
"Oh, that's okay. I'm just going to have sweet tea anyway. I have to get back to work in a while," she explained.
"Sweet tea," he chuckled. "And just how long have you been living in the south?"
"Long enough," she told him with a grin. "Apparently you haven't been living anywhere very close by if you don't appreciate the finer qualities of sweet tea."
"No, not very close. I've been all over, but for the last couple of years I've lived in Oregon."
"Wow, long way off," Tess commented. "What made you choose Oregon?"
"My job; I work for the forestry service. I've been there almost eight years now. It's not a bad job; I get to move around a lot, see the country."
"So, that's what you're doing in Atlanta, then?" she asked.
"Something like that," he replied.
"About six more months," he told her. "I'm supposed to leave in mid-June."
"Quite a while," she said. He nodded.
"You haven't told me what you do yet," he reminded her.
"Oh, well it's not very exciting, I'm afraid. I manage one of the department stores here. That's partly why I asked you to meet me at this restaurant. I'm in the mall everyday anyway so it was close."
"Do you like it? Your job, I mean."
"Uh, yeah, sure. It's not bad. I mean, I make pretty good money, I get to work in the mall, what else could I ask for?" she said with a grin.
"What is it with chicks and malls?" he kidded.
"It's probably a hormonal thing. And girls don't like to be called chicks," she smirked.
"Sorry, I'll try to be a little more PC from now on," he quipped with a smirk of his own. "So, anyone special in your life these days, Ms. Harding?"
"Only Frisco," she told him.
"Frisco? Should I be jealous?" he asked jokingly.
"Only if you want me to scratch behind your ears and let you sleep on my feet," she teased, then explained, "Frisco is my cat. He's a Siamese."
"Aha, a pet," Kyle said. "How come I didn't see him yesterday?"
"He's not real big on new people. He was probably hanging out under the bed until you left." She replied.
"Hmm, well we can't all be social butterflies. So, Frisco, huh?"
"Yeah, Maria gave him to me for Christmas a few years back. She and Michael live in San Francisco and they bought him there, thus the name Frisco."
"Cute," Kyle said. Tess just shrugged.
"What about you? Any other mammals in your life worth talking about? Or are you more of a reptile kinda guy?" Then she smiled devilishly and added, "Oh wait, you never were one for green skin, were you?"
"Funny, really funny," he said as he shook his head at her comment. "And the answer to your question is no, no one special. Animal, vegetable or mineral," he winked.
"Gosh, that makes us both pathetic then, doesn't it?" Tess said with a half-grin.
"Speak for yourself, missy. I'm an eligible bachelor," he corrected.
"Who is having lunch with a girl he tried to kill just a week ago and is now thoroughly engrossed in a conversation about house pets. Fascinating stuff," she teased.
"Tried to kill, that's going a bit overboard, don't you think?"
"Well, it's a slight exaggeration of the truth perhaps," she admitted.
"You know Tess, I haven't--" he began but the return of their waiter interrupted him.
"Sorry for the delay, what can I get the two of you to drink?" the man asked.
"Sweet tea for me," Tess answered.
"Just water," Kyle responded.
"We can probably order, if you're ready?" Tess asked as she looked across the table at her lunch companion.
"Oh, yeah, I guess I know what I want."
"I'll have the chef's salad, no onions and ranch dressing on the side," Tess told the man.
"I guess give me the mushroom and Swiss burger, medium well," Kyle said.
"Okay, I'll have those drinks right out," the waiter said with a smile, then he disappeared again.
Tess turned back to Kyle and said, "So, what were you saying before?"
"Huh? Oh, I can't even remember," he told her.
"Hmm. Well, anyway . . ."
"So, tell me more about this job of yours . . ." he said. And soon they were immersed in conversation again and it felt like no time had passed between them at all.
* * * * *
It had been four weeks since Kyle had rear-ended her on New Years day; three weeks since he'd shown up on her doorstep that night to beg forgiveness. And she'd seen him everyday since. He came to take her to lunch or asked her to meet him for dinner or a movie or he showed up with rented movies and a bottle or wine. It was crazy . . . and amazing. Suddenly her boring life wasn't quite so boring anymore. And, as much as she had told herself that boring was what she wanted, she didn't want this new life to end anytime soon.
She'd never really stopped having a 'thing' for Kyle Valenti. She could admit that, at least to herself. He'd always been a fantasy for her on some level; the one that got away. She was sure things would have been different if Amy and Maria hadn't moved in. That was when things had changed. Things with Kyle had been slowly moving forward until that point. But then they'd just come to a halt. Everything had. Everything had changed when Jim married Amy. Their entire household had never been the same since.
Things with Kyle were quickly becoming the way they had been back then. It was like he was her best friend . . . and just a little bit more. She could tell him anything without being embarrassed. She could talk to him and he always listened. She could drag him shopping or to sit with her while she got her hair cut or to the park to watch people walk by and he was happy to go; happy just to be with her. He wasn't her boyfriend. Sure, he held her hand sometimes and he kissed her on the cheek before he left but it wasn't what you'd call intimate. They were making slow steps, cautious steps. If they hadn't been then she probably would have already run away from this thing.
Kyle seemed to know what pace she was capable of and he never tried to push that. He respected her boundaries and stayed within them, even if he might have wanted to speed things along a little. The truth was, he wanted to be more than her friend. He *loved* being friends with Tess, but he wanted more. He wanted what he had let slip away all those years before. It was something he'd always regretted letting go of and he didn't plan to make the same mistake twice.
"So, what movie do you want to see today?" he asked her as they walked through the mall towards the theater. It was Saturday afternoon and they had pretty much decided to spend the day together. It was also the last day of January and the marking of one month since their reunion.
"Let's do something different today," she suggested.
"Like what?" he asked.
"I don't know, we could go back to my place, make some lunch, talk. Frisco misses you. And besides, I'm kind of tired. I could use a mid-afternoon nap."
Kyle shrugged and replied, "Okay, fine with me."
Twenty minutes later they walked into Tess' apartment. They were immediately greeted by Frisco, who brushed against Kyle's ankle and purred uncontrollably. "See, I told you he missed you," Tess said with a giggle.
"Hey there buddy," Kyle said to the cat as he leaned down to pick up the animal in his arms.
"It's so weird that he likes you so much," she commented as they both flopped down onto the couch and turned on the television. "It took him months to even come near *me*!"
"I guess I have an animal magnetism," Kyle grinned at her.
"Ha, ha. You're a funny guy, you know that," she said as she rolled her eyes and elbowed him gently. He just laughed back and grinned as she found an old movie on TV and stretched out on the sofa with her head in his lap.
"Hey Tess?" he said after a few minutes.
"Hmm?"
"A month ago, would you have ever thought we'd be like this again?" he asked.
"Honestly? No."
"Are you glad? Or do you regret me hitting your car?"
She smiled a smile that he couldn't see from his angle but he could hear it in her voice when she answered, "I'm glad. I missed you and your bad jokes."
"I missed you, too," he said softly as he reached up to brush her hair from her cheek. They watched the movie, eventually falling asleep together on the couch. And suddenly it seemed like they'd never been apart.
* * * * *
The End
February 21, 2001