He Called Her Tessa
by
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Roswell and all associations do not belong to me!
Author's Note: This is my first try at Roswell fanfic, so if you criticize, please be polite. All feedback can be sent to teneljade@netzero.net, and thank you!
Rating: PG-13 this chapter.
Chapter Five
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Isabel didn't know exactly what she'd expected, but it wasn't this. It wasn't this weak, sickly, pale girl in the white nightgown who shook like a leaf and clung to Kyle for dear life. She hung back a little, willing herself to be strong, for Tess's sake. You have no idea what she just went through! She admonished herself. You should be trying to help her, not trying to work up the courage to even look at her!
So she smiled. "Hi, Tess!" Tess smiled back, and the strength in her gaze gave Isabel back her courage. Kyle sat Tess down gently on the couch, propping her up with pillows. Isabel, Liz and Maria descended upon her, and she smiled and laughed, joking and just talking with her girlfriends.
At about ten o'clock, Sheriff Valenti shooed out the remainder of the crowd, several of them having gone home earlier to appease their parents. "C'mon, the girl needs her rest," he coaxed. No one put up a fight, though there were a few token complaints, mainly from Isabel.
"She's been in a coma for nineteen days, we were really worried about her, and now I can only talk to her for three hours?"
The sheriff nodded, then took her hand and led her out the door. Tess called behind them. "Bye, guys! See you tomorrow!"
Isabel frowned at the sheriff, but went willingly enough. "Bye, Tess!" She called, waving over Sheriff Valenti's shoulder. Then she walked out the door after Max, and they left in the Jeep.
When Jim returned to the room, Tess had collapsed on the pillows, looking exhausted. Her eyes were drooping, and her mouth was hanging open a little, sucking air heartily. She tried to reach for her water bottle, and then, frustrated, let her arm thump back down on the couch when she failed. Kyle held the bottle to her lips.
When she'd had enough to drink, she looked at him, beseechingly. "Why can't I move myself?" She sounded all the world like a lost little girl at the moment, and Kyle felt a strong pang of empathy for her.
"Lying in a bed for all that time weakened your muscles. They'll come back to you, the more you use them, the faster they come."
Tess pouted, a little dramatically and a little seriously. "But I want to walk! And I want to feed myself, for God's sake!"
Kyle sat down on the couch next to her, and put an arm behind her on the back of the couch. "I know, Tessa. But be patient, that was a big ordeal you went through. And you'll be back to as good as new in a month or so."
Suddenly Tess burst into tears. Kyle didn't know what had happened. "Tess! What is it? Did I say something?"
Tess shook her head a little, still sobbing. "No. It's just that... it just hit me... how close to dying... I came."
Kyle pulled her close to his chest, hugging her tightly. A few tears came to his eyes too, as he contemplated the fate that could have befallen Tess. His lovely Tessa. His beautiful, vibrant, fresh, girl. The seventeen-year-old who had seen more than most people ever did. And still, this fate had almost taken her. He held her tighter.
When he released her, the tears were still trickling down her face, but no longer were her eyes so sad. "Sorry," She mumbled.
"Don't be. If it helped, or even if you just needed to cry, it's a good thing."
Tess nodded a little, and with obvious strain, reached her arms up. "Take me to bed?" She asked, a little of the old spark slowly coming back.
Kyle grinned. "Anything for milady," He responded. He took her arms and positioned them around his neck, then lifted her body from the couch and headed down the hall. Jim Valenti let them go without complaint or comment, after all, he was used to this.
*****
Kyle laid Tess down on the bed, and gently pushed her head to one side. He picked up the hairbrush, and began to lovingly comb it out. Tess winced every once in a while, and he would instantly stop, kiss her head, and apologize. Tess tried to tell him that it wasn't necessary, that brushing hair pulled pretty much no matter what you did, but Kyle would have none of it. He was determined to be the first hair-brusher who never pulled a strand.
This finished, he helped pulled up the covers, and tucked them around her neck, gently making sure that she was comfortable. He then kissed her forehead and headed to the beanbags.
"Why are you sleeping over there?" Tess asked. He looked surprised, but explained willingly.
"You aren't strong enough to move if I hurt you during the night, by accident. I don't want to risk that."
Tess nodded her head sideways, motioning for him to join her in the bed. "There's plenty of room. And there's nothing wrong with my voice." She coughed, and reached for her water bottle, this time much closer to her and she was just barely capable of reaching it.
"Except on the rare occasion when I need something to drink because my throat is dry from 19 days of nothing to drink." She smiled gently. "C'mon," She coaxed. "I promise, it's more fun than sleeping on two beanbag chairs."
Kyle grinned, and walked over to her side. "All right, if you insist." He pulled the covers back, flinching a little when she shivered. He climbed carefully over the top of her, and snuggled against her back, wrapping his arms around her waist. She sighed, and pushed herself closer. Kyle covered them both with blankets and sheets and quilt, and laid his head on the pillow. He was asleep in seconds.
Tess, however tired she was, was awake, pouring over things in her head. She looked up when a soft knock came on the door, and a puzzled expression lit across her face. "Come in," She called softly, trying not to wake Kyle, who she knew was asleep from his regular breathing and light snores.
The door opened, and Sheriff Valenti came in, hesitantly. He noticed that Kyle lay behind her on the bed, and smiled. "Didn't take long for that particular habit to crop up again, huh?" He asked in a low voice.
Tess shook her head a little, a similar smile on her face. This man had contributed in far more ways than he knew, she thought. He'd made excuses for Kyle's absences from school, allowed his house to be overrun with teenagers 24/7, and never lost his temper at the same time. She owed him a lot.
He looked a little uncomfortable, his smile fading. "I guess... I guess you don't know this... but when you were in the.... trance... I came in every night and tucked you and Kyle in." He looked at the perfectly tucked bed. "But I think Kyle has that covered tonight."
Tess reached down and mussed up the covers a little. She called to the sheriff where he stood in the door, almost gone from the room. "Sheriff?"
He turned. "Yeah?"
"I think I found some sheets that aren't tucked in." She smiled. "Can you help?"
The sheriff smiled back, clearly aware of what she'd orchestrated, and by the looks of it, grateful. "Sure."
He came to the side of her bed, and carefully pushed the sheets back into position. Then he leaned over and smoothed their hair from their faces, Kyle's first, then Tess's. Then he bent down and kissed their foreheads. This time, Tess, then Kyle. "'Night," He murmured.
Tess felt a sweeping sensation coursing through he body. Love. This was what it felt like, then. Sure, she felt a certain kind of tingly, nervous love with Kyle, that was strong, stronger than strong, and she wouldn't give it up for anything, but the kind of love she felt from the sheriff's innocent actions was different.
She knew he would love her for what she was, forgiving her faults until the day she died, and the sensation of being on the receiving end of a love so extreme was freeing.
*****
As the days went by, Tess grew stronger. In a week, she could wobble down the hall to bathroom, and use it by herself, but still needed Kyle to bring her back. In ten days, she made it both ways by herself. The other alien teens helped her exercise her powers, and all of the teens helped her in any way they could.
After two weeks, with Tess able to pretty much navigate herself around the home, though not much farther, Kyle went back to school. Many people inquired about his absence, and he repeated the lie his father had told for him. "I got sick, and then, just when I was getting better, I got sick again!" He would laugh and groan and punch his jock buddies on the arm to make them understand that this was something to be laughed about, and generally put up a face, but he would leave very quickly after school, fielding the questions about this with answers as vague as possible.
By the time Kyle arrived home, Tess had usually made herself breakfast, gone to the bathroom twice, and done her schoolwork. Catching up was a full-time job after the nineteen days in a coma, followed by an additional week in pretty much the same physical condition, only conscious.
She would be tired by then, and have collapsed on the couch with a book or TV program, usually something sappy and soap-opera-ish, which Kyle found amusing, since Tess would tolerate none of that 'crap', he believed she referred to it as, in real life. Except from him. He got a small exemption. Key word: Small.
The other teens continued to visit, and the girls held extended gossip sessions in Tess and Kyle's room, during which he was banished from the room, and therefore, all of his things which were in it. Occasionally he found this frustrating, but most of the time, he would laugh at Isabel and Tess's nearly identical bossy manners, and leave the room to go lay on the couch and watch TV with whichever unlucky guys were being chauffeurs that day. This was also his time to do his own homework, provided the guys weren't too rambunctious.
After the group left, usually by dinnertime, occasionally earlier if Michael and Maria were getting really worked up, Kyle would put Tess back to bed, and force her to lay there and read a book or sleep, or simply stare into space. She would protest, saying that she wasn't tired, but more often than not, he would find her completely asleep when he came to check on her.
While Tess napped, Kyle would fix dinner. His culinary skills were somewhat lacking, but he usually managed to make something edible. The sheriff would arrive home sometime after six, usually around seven, occasionally later when work kept him. At eight, they ate dinner.
From nine until eleven, Kyle and Tess usually collapsed in front of the television, watching it if Sheriff Valenti was in the immediate vicinity, making out if he wasn't. Tess's alien senses helped to alert them, and they hadn't been caught yet. But that was just a matter of time, Kyle knew, a fact which he was not looking forward too, since their sleeping arrangement would more than likely be immediately dissolved when the sheriff caught a good whiff of their burgeoning romance.
That day had come exactly thirty days after Tess awakened.
*****
Kyle had come home to find the usual crowd of teenagers in his home. Tess, Isabel, Maria and Liz were holed up in their room, holding what Kyle was sure was another juicy gossip session.
Max was crashed on the couch in the living room, a fact which Kyle noted with a little relief. He had a big paper due in a couple of days, and if Alex and/or Michael had been there, he had been worried he wouldn't get any work done. But Max, he could handle Max.
Max gave him a nod, and flipped the TV channel. The screen filled with one of Tess's soaps, and Max quickly flipped it again. He went all the way through the choices twice, and came up with nothing. He sighed resignedly, and pulled a book out of his backpack. "Might as well get this done if I'm going to be forced be Isabel's personal chauffeur," He said.
Kyle flashed him a quick smile. "Mrs. Harrison's English class?" He asked. Max nodded, and groaned.
"I can't believe she gave out this big of an assignment right before Christmas break."
Kyle looked up, surprised. "It's that late already?"
Max looked up, pencil eraser in mouth, and nodded. "Yep. Christmas break starts the week after next."
Kyle looked at the date he'd printed neatly at the top of the paper, and did some mental calculations. Eighteen days until Christmas. Wow, that had snuck up on him. But I guess that's what happens when you spend a couple of months caring for a friend, he decided. He shrugged, and went back to his paper.
*****
After dinner, Kyle and Tess were curled around each other on the couch, wholly unaware of what was playing on the TV screen. He was sucking at her earlobe and kissing down the sides of her neck, stopping to kiss her on the lips in the middle. When he had kissed up and down both sides of her neck, he pulled down the neck of her shirt and started to kiss her collarbone.
Tess moaned a little, and pulled the shirt up... and off! Kyle was a little surprised, they'd never gone this far before, but he didn't miss a beat, lowering his head to kiss and lick her bare stomach skin. She arced her head back, bending her spine in a backwards C, and sighed with pleasure.
Heavy footsteps intruded on the picture. Kyle pulled away and Tess pulled her T-shirt back on, but neither had acted fast enough. Sheriff Valenti had seen too much.
Tess looked at her feet, while Kyle met his father's gaze head-on. There was a short battle of the wills while they attempted to assess each other, and then the sheriff cocked his head in the direction of the hall. Kyle arose wordlessly, and followed.
*****
Tess flipped off the television and eavesdropped shamelessly. This had to do with her, after all, so didn't she have some kind of right to know what was going on? She crept closer and closer, careful to keep her footsteps soft.
Kyle was arguing passionately for their right to share the bed even though they now had a romantic interest in each other. "Look, Dad, I'll be eighteen in a month and a half."
Tess could see the way he was probably running his hand through his dark hair, looking determinedly not quite at his dad. She smiled at the fact that she knew such intimate details in Kyle's life. Unimportant, sure, but that made them twice as valuable. Anyone could learn an important detail from Kyle's life, but only prolonged observation would reveal such things as where he looked when he argued.
She wondered what he'd noticed about her. Had he seen the way she put her hands on her hips when particularly determined? Had he watched her enough to notice that she feigned the brave front she put up?
She mentally scolded herself. Of course he did, she told herself. He only started this habit when he found you crying about something that makes no difference to you during the day.
The sheriff was arguing back nearly as stubbornly, but his argument didn't hold the same personal interest as Kyle's did. "Kyle, I'm the sheriff. It wouldn't be right for me to turn a blind eye to questionable sexual activity going on in my own house."
Tess raised an eyebrow. Kyle parried right back at his father. "How do you know what it is we do or plan to do?"
Tess smiled.
Then Sheriff Valenti caught him. "Are you saying you haven't had sex with Tess?"
Tess again could see Kyle in her mind. He would be blushing, looking at the floor. Probably running his hand through his hair again. Coughing a little. As if on cue, she heard the harsh sound of someone clearing their throat. The smile that had faded when the sheriff had asked so bluntly about his son's sexual habits came back full force.
Kyle eventually answered. "Uh... yeah... that's what I'm saying."
The sheriff seemed to be considering it. "I still don't know if I think it's a great idea to allow you to keep sharing that bed."
Kyle was getting fed up. "Aw, c'mon Dad! I'm hardly an innocent, as it is!"
"I figured as much. It'd be hard to look like you do, be on the football team and not have gotten laid a time or time by your senior year."
Tess flinched a little at the crude language. Especially because it was directed at Kyle. Her Kyle. And she didn't particularly enjoy thinking about him engaging in... certain acts... with other girls.
From the sound of his voice, Tess figured he was still blushing. Or blushing again. Either way.
"I...I suppose you could put it that way." His voice grew stronger. "And honestly, Dad, separating our sleeping arrangements won't keep us from having sex... if we want to."
The sheriff was silent for a long moment. Tess heard boots scuffing on the floor, and realized she should leave, but waited a moment longer anyway. The boots stopped in a second, and she thought the elder Valenti was probably facing the younger one.
She constructed the scene in her head. Kyle was sitting on the bed... their bed... looking up at his father, who would be standing in front of him, right hand clasped on the younger man's left shoulder. Looking down at him. Meeting his eyes.
Something changed hands, and Kyle's voice sounded embarrassed. "Thanks... I think."
The sheriff's voice sounded final, having given up on the argument. "Just remember that you're taking a risk none of the rest of us do."
Tess knew exactly what he meant. Conventional birth control couldn't be trusted. But that was all they had, so, if and when they made that decision, it would have to do.
The sheriff's boots were scuffing again, and Tess rushed back to the couch and turned the television back on, pretending to be interested. But Sheriff Valenti was merely passing through, out the back door and gone in record time. Kyle followed him more slowly, joining Tess on the couch and flicking off the TV.
She looked up at him. "What'd he say?" She asked, even though she already knew. If truth be told, she was a little curious about what the sheriff had given Kyle.
He pulled a box out of pocket. A box with a nice big Trojan symbol on it. Tess could feel the color rising in her cheeks a little, but she forced it back down. "A rather personal gift," She teased. "Are you going out with a cheerleader on the side, Mister Valenti?"
Kyle cringed. "Please, don't call me that. It makes me feel like my dad or something." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and looked her in the eye. "And no, I am not planning on getting a cheap lay by some cheerleader."
Tess snuggled a little closer, but her body was rigid, and she knew he would notice. Sure enough.
"Tess? Are you okay? You're kind of tense."
She pulled away a little. "Kyle, we need to talk."
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