Author's Email: PaceysLilMcPhee@aol.com
Author's Note: Here's another chapter. R/R please! The more reviews I get, the faster I get out these chapters.
Chapter 4
The seven reunited friends continued to sit in Liz's room. Kyle had suggested that they just throw ideas or facts out that might help others think of something that may in the end lead to their unraveling of the mystery return of Alex.
Alex threw out the next random thought. "Before I left for Sweden, I ran into Tess. I told her about Sweden and she encouraged me to go."
"That wasn't so sweet Alex, she wanted the information that she was ordered to get," Liz told him.
"Yeah," Alex said slowly, "But I also told her when I'd be back. She had said she had always been interested in Europe. So we exchanged emails and while I was in a Sweden we emailed back and forth, like I did with a few of you guys too."
"So? What does that have to do with anything?" Michael asked bluntly. Patience was not one of his strong points. Maria nudged him with her elbow and he glanced at her. They shared a look and then he slid his arm around her waist. Maria looked back to Alex as if to tell him to continue. So he did.
"Well she can't be back on Antar," Alex told them. They had explained to him earlier that after they found out that Tess had supposedly killed Alex, they had left her to stay on Earth while Tess used the granlith to return to Antar.
"We saw her leave, of course she's back on Antar. Or at the very least she's not on Earth," Kyle said.
Alex shook his head. "Before I left Sweden I emailed her to tell her when I was returning since I had decided to stay longer than I had first thought. Anyway, if she's not on Earth how could I get a reply message from her?" Alex pointed out.
Eyes went wide and a few jaws may have even dropped when they heard what Alex had said.
"Maybe it was someone else?" Liz said, trying to be practical.
Alex pondered the thought. "Maybe you're right, I mean, you six did see her leave. So there's no way."
The talk began to die down after awhile and when Liz glanced at the clock she knew why. It was extremely late. Not surprising seeing as though Alex had arrived when she and Maria were closing up the Crashdown.
"Why don't we all get some sleep and meet back tomorrow morning?" Liz suggested. Everyone agreed one way or the other. If they didn't verbally acknowledge their thoughts, the yawns spoke for themselves.
"You can stay here if you want Alex," Liz said, turning to him. "There's a sleeping bag in the closet."
"Thanks," Alex said, accepting the invitation. He couldn't very well go home to his house and family. He didn't want to give them a heart attack or send them into a mental institution or anything.
"I'm staying too," Maria announced. "I'll just borrow some clothes from you tomorrow girlfriend," she said to Liz. Liz nodded to confirm that it was okay with her.
The three podsters and Kyle stood up, preparing to leave.
"Why don't we meet at my place tomorrow because that way we know there won't be anyone around that we won't want," Kyle suggested to the others.
"That's a good idea, Kyle," Max agreed. "Let's all meet at Kyle's tomorrow. We need to get to the bottom of this. We don't know what might be connected to this."
The four filed out of Liz's room to head home. Just as Maria headed to the bathroom to change into a pair of Liz's pajamas that she was borrowing for the night, the door to Liz's room creaked open. Isabel poked her head in and looked to Alex.
"Can we talk? You know, just us," she said. He nodded and she pushed open the door farther as an invitation to follow her. "Let's talk down in the Crashdown." Liz watched them both leave out of the corner of her eye.
Once Alex and Isabel were down in the Crashdown, Alex took a seat at one of the stools at the bar. Isabel seemed unable to sit. She couldn't even stand still. She paced back and forth as Alex watched in a confused but amused manner.
Finally Isabel took a seat on the stool next to Alex.
"You wanted to talk?" Alex said, just to tell things started. Isabel hadn't said anything since they had both been up in Liz's room.
"Yeah. It's just…hard to talk to someone who, just a few days ago, I thought was dead and was never coming back," Isabel answered.
"Well, we could pretend that never happened. Just pretend it's just like it was before the day that you thought I died," Alex suggested.
Isabel's breath caught in her throat and she looked away from Alex. Instead she looked straight ahead behind the counter. "You don't know what things were like before you…well before you died?" Isabel said almost in the form of a question. She had wished since he had died that she could have another chance. Another chance to do things right with him but now that he was actually here she had no idea what she was going to do or say.
Alex shook his head. "I was in Sweden while…my impersonator was here in my place. Things weren't any different were they?" Alex questioned.
Isabel wasn't sure what her response should be. It's hard when the last time he had returned from Sweden he had been reluctant to get involved with her again. She decided to keep the answer safe.
"I guess you're right, they weren't too different," she responded. And it wasn't a lie. It wasn't too different. Before prom, long before prom, they had both had feelings for each other even if Alex was the only one who had made his feelings known. And nothing had really happened after prom. It had all ended before it had had a chance to begin.
"Well okay then," Alex said with a smile. Isabel smiled back.
"Well um, it's late, and I promised Max that I'd be right out. He went to drop Michael off at his apartment and then he's coming back for me. So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
Alex nodded. "Yeah, tomorrow."
"Okay then…well…I'll see you later," Isabel said, not moving from her seat at the bar counter. At first anyway. Then she jumped up and smiled at him again. "Bye."
"Bye," Alex said.
Isabel began walking towards the door. When she reached the door she turned back and walked back to Alex. She looked at his eyes and then pulled him into a hug. "I missed you," she whispered. Alex was surprised but hugged Isabel back and when they pulled away he noticed her cheeks were tracked with tears and more were threatening to fall from her eyes. He reached up with his thumb and wiped them away cautiously. They had never been a more intimate moment. Isabel began to lean forward, as did Alex, and their faces were just centimeters away from each other when Isabel took a step back.
"I hear Max. I'll see you tomorrow at Kyle's," she said hurriedly. She rushed out the door, leaving the bells attached to the Crashdown door chiming a soft tune. Alex sighed and seeing Isabel climbing into the Jeep before Max drove it off, he didn't go after her like he wanted to. Apparently Isabel was the same old Isabel Evans. He trudged back up the stairs to Liz's room. He wondered on the way up if he still wanted to keep pursuing Isabel. He realized it probably was freaky to her, and to everyone else, that he just showed up after they had assumed he had already returned and was dead. He decided that he couldn't give up; it was obvious after the situation that had just occurred in the Crashdown between himself and Isabel that she had realized something about him while he was in Sweden. He also wondered what had happened between the fake 'Alex' and Isabel. Because he wasn't quite sure if he bought Isabel's story that nothing different had happened between them. She sure wasn't acting that way. And he didn't know if what had happened between them was good or bad. But he figured he was going to find out eventually.