She awoke to a pounding on the door.

Jill sat up with a start, not realizing that she was still in Alex's arms.

"Wha? What?" Alex exclaimed in a groggy voice, having been asleep- or as close to sleep as ghosts could get.

"The door. Somebody's pounding on the door." Jill grabbed her robe and started to go down the stairs. "Whoever it is, I'll just tell them to go away." She ran her hand through her hair. "I know I look terrible…"

"Jill, you were mugged last night."

"An alien should always look her best." Jill said, taking the stairs two at a time, wanting to get rid of the incessant knocking as soon as possible.

She opened the door. "Hi….I'm sorry, but I…"

Her mouth snapped shut when she recognized the two faces. The two very familiar faces.

"Mom…Dad…" She said once she regained her voice.. "I didn't know that you were coming.."

"I didn't either." Her dad replied. "But after your grandfather called and said that you were mugged, your Mom had our flight booked, and your siblings dropped over at the Guerins before I even knew what was happening."

"It isn't the first time I've been way ahead of you dear." Her mother teased. "Jill, your eye! Oh baby…"

"Mom, it's nothing more than what Casey has had a million times since Kindergarten. I'll be fine."

"I'll heal it for you.." Her Mom reached out her hand to heal the black eye, but Jill jerked her hand away. "I'll be fine. I have powers myself, and it would look very suspicious if my eye healed miraculously overnight."

"True." Her mother said, stepping inside the house. "I know. I just want to wrap you up in cotton and keep you safe.."

"Isabel, how many times have I told you that's too expensive." Kyle cracked a joke as he followed his wife and daughter inside the house.

"You haven't changed it much…" Isabel muttered as she looked around. "Hardly any at all…"

"Scooter" Kyle said, using Jill's childhood nickname, "I don't think this old house is good for your mother. Why don't I take you two out for some lunch, and we can talk?"

"Lunch?" Jill said confused.

"It's 1:30." Isabel said looking at her with concern. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"For the last time, I'm fine." Jill said, running upstairs to get dressed.

***

Alex didn't notice when Jill rushed upstairs to get dressed. He didn't notice anything.

He'd know that voice anywhere. The tones, the pitch, it was unmistakable.

Isabel.

Isabel was in this house.
Not paying attention to the conversation that was going on, he rushed downstairs.

It was Isabel.

And she was still beautiful.

Age had changed her only a little. Her face looked older, not wrinkled, but the bits of immaturity and innocence that had been there were erased. Her hair was short, only coming to the length of her chin. It was still golden, and it shone in the early afternoon sun. Alex found it hard to believe that almost a quarter of a century had passed since he last saw her.

For a second, she looked up, and he swore that she saw him. But she looked immediately to the man at her side, her hand reaching out for his, and grasping it in an act of support.

What man was lucky enough to have Isabel by his side?

Alex looked at the man. He seemed familiar. His hair was dark, without a trace of grey. Isabel probably used her powers to keep the man young and preserved, just like she was. His face was well defined, and he actually looked a lot like Jim Valenti had years ago. The eyes….the eyes were a penetrating blue, a relentless blue that someone could get lost in.

And then it hit him.

Kyle.

The man at Isabel's side, holding her hand, wearing a matching gold wedding band, was Kyle Valenti. Kyle was the one that got to kiss her lips. Kyle was the one that got to hear her laugh. Kyle was her husband.

What were they visiting Jill for?

What connection did Isabel and Kyle have to Jill?

Isabel reached out to touch Jill's black eye.

"Mom…it's nothing more than what Casey has had a million times since Kindergarten."

Mom.

Alex's head whirled, and he retreated to the safety of his room…of the closet.

It all made sense now.

He had been so blind. How could he not see it?
Jill Diane Valenti.

Valenti. Kyle's last name. She said the Sheriff was her cousin- but she must have meant the current Sheriff, the one who had come last night.

Diane. Isabel's mother was named Diane.

She could sing. Despite his many failings, and his lack of artistic talent, Kyle could sing.

Jill had Kyle's eyes…the ones that drew you in and trapped you…so that you didn't know which way to go, or what to do…because you were in that person's power..

She even acted like Isabel.

The stargazing book. The one that he gave Isabel so long ago.

How could he be so stupid?

How could he be so blind?

How could he have allowed this to happen? He was supposed to be smart, but maybe all the years alone in the house had caused cobwebs to form in his brain.

The truth was disgustingly clear.

Kyle married Isabel.

Jill was their daughter.

And despite all the laws of physics and time, he had started to fall in love with her.

***

Alex was silent. She couldn't figure it out. Alex had been anything BUT silent since she met him.

Had it only been a few days? It seemed like she had known Alex forever, like he was a part of her. Jill couldn't wait to just talk to her mother. If anybody could understand, it would be her mother. Her mother who understood what it was like to be different. Her mother who knew what love was like.

It wasn't that she didn't love her Dad- she did. Her Dad was a great friend, and he spoiled her and her siblings beyond belief. But her Dad was….well…goofy.

He couldn't understand girl talk.

Jill dug in her purse and pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen. "You don't have to be silent, you know" she wrote.

"I know. I just don't feel like talking." Alex said, looking out the window.

"Did I do anything wrong?" Jill said, fearing that Alex regretted the kiss…

"NO" Alex shouted. "I just need to think, ok?"

"FINE!" Jill said out loud.

"Jill?" Her parents exclaimed simultaneously.

Jill groaned. It would be so much easier for everybody if Alex wasn't a ghost. "Yeah. I was just thinking about…stuff."

Her parents exchanged a glance, a glance in which they really exchanged a thousand words.

Jill wanted to sink down on the floorboards of the car. Casey was good at making up spur of the moment lies. Her father always claimed that it was a De Luca trait.


***


They pulled up in front of the Crashdown. Everyone felt uneasy.

Kyle thought about how much this place had once meant to them….back before everything went bad. The Crashdown had been their meeting place, their hangout…their safe place. And now, years later, he was scared to go in a restaurant where he ate at least once a week for the first nineteen years of his life.

Isabel was remembering faces. Faces that she would never see again. Faces she wanted to see dearly, faces that she never wanted to see again. Alex- her first love, the guy that taught her to open up, and not be afraid of her human side. In a way, she owed him everything. Without his influence, she never would gotten know Kyle, and fall in love with him…she never would have had children. And Tess…who she had trusted. Tess screwed them all up so much…and Max. She missed her brother everyday. He died too young.

Alex felt terrible. The Crashdown…it had been home. How many hours had he spent goofing around with Liz and Maria, watching them work or get into trouble? The Crashdown was part of his past- a reminder of what he couldn't have…what he once had. His friends had all grown up…and married…moved on without him. How awkward would this be- as if things could get worse after that horrific car ride. He was in love with the daughter of the woman who had once been her girlfriend.

Jill was sulking. Alex was acting weird, her parents just showed up…it was as if her life was stuck on fast forward…who knew what was coming around the corner? She had a feeling that things would not be all smooth sailing from here on in…

She was right.

Jill sat down at the table, across from her parents.

How crazy was it for actual aliens to eat at an alien themed restaurant?

"Do you know what you want?" Kyle asked Isabel.

"I haven't even looked at the menu."

"How many years did we all eat here?"

"I haven't been here in ages! The menu could have changed."

"The Crashdown?" Kyle asked incredulously.

"Nothing is permanent, Kyle."

"Oh, now who's quoting Buddha?"

Isabel just laughed. "How did I ever get stuck with you?"

"You were attracted to my tight, firm, butt."

"DAD!" Jill squeaked. "Could you be anymore embarrassing?"

"Do you want me to try?"

"NO!" Jill squeaked.

Isabel patted her husband's shoulder. "Why don't you go over and talk to Jeff? Didn't Liz give you some message to tell him?"

Kyle got the underlying message that Isabel was trying to communicate- "Get Lost".

Alex sighed with relief, and made his way over to the jukebox in the corner. This was a new addition, but maybe he could put on some music to free his troubled mind.

"So, what's going on with you?" Isabel was never one to beat around the bush. She wanted direct answers, and she went for them.
Jill sighed. "Nothing much. I'm just adjusting…it hasn't even been a week yet- It's just different being on my own.." As she talked, Jill traced an invisible pattern on the table top.

"I've always been able to tell when you're keeping a secret, Jillian. It didn't work when you were three, and it won't work now. Tell me."

Jill sighed. She wanted to talk to her mom so desperately, to tell her how she felt. The feelings, feelings unlike anything she'd felt before, were enveloping her and changing her. Jill wanted to tell her Mom about Alex, about how he made her feel, about him saving her life…but it all just seemed unreal. Jill was afraid to speak the words- could anyone believe that she was in love with a ghost? A ghost. Her mother was a wise woman, and even aliens have limits to what they will believe.

"Mom, how did you know you were in love?"

Isabel swallowed. A loaded question. Jill never took the easy way out, just like her father. She'd keep digging until she found the truth. She took a deep breath.

"Love is a very special feeling…"

"We had that talk with Brett." Jill sighed. "Mom…what was it like the first time you were in love? With Daddy? How did you know?"

"Your father was not my first love." Isabel said in a low voice.

"What? You were both so young…and you love…each other." Jill mumbled, suddenly feeling like a child expecting monsters to come out from underneath the bed.

"Jill.." Isabel said, reaching for her daughters hand. "I love your father, and you kids very much. But Kyle was not my first love. My first love…he died young. Too young. It was all part of a game, an elaborate game that we were all in involved in.. there is a price when you love someone, you don't know if they will be safe or not.."

Jill shook her head. "So how did you find Daddy?"

"I've known your father as long as I can remember. When you live in a small town, you're generally in the same classes and circles from the time you start school until you graduate. When we were younger, we never quite got along. But after…afterwards…your father was my lifeline. That whole year….was tough for everyone, Jill. We were both depressed, both lonely, and somehow we found each other. First, he was a friend, and then he got to be something more…I wasn't looking for love…especially that soon…" Isabel's eyes teared up. "I'd love to talk more honey..but I…I…I need to go to the restroom…We'll talk more later."

Jill was shaken. She'd always believed that first love was the purest love, the love that you couldn't let go of…she'd always thought of her parents as high school sweethearts that stuck together through thick and thin…and… her mother was almost crying…the only other time she'd seen her mother cry was when Uncle Max died…to see her cry now unnerved Jill greatly.

A scratch on the table, a jagged scratch, gained Jill's attention. Jill ran her finger over the scratch.

* "You look beautiful, Isabel." Alex said, escorting his date to the table.

"Alex! You said that already." Isabel said with a laugh.

"It's still true!" He said with a laugh. "I'm glad I decided to come."

"I can't thank you enough."

"Just being with You, Isabel, is enough." *


Jill pulled away, as if she were stung. The images whirled through her mind, spinning at light speed. And then everything made sense.

Alex…her Alex…Alex Whitman had died in 2001.

Her parents graduated from high school in 2002, left Roswell along with Liz, Uncle Max, Aunt Maria, and Uncle Michael. They'd never looked back.

Her parents lost a friend, a good friend in 2001.

That friend had been her mother's boyfriend.

Alex was that friend.

Alex had been her mother's boyfriend.

Her mother had loved Alex.

Alex called her mother beautiful.

Where did that leave her?

In love with a ghost that was still in love with her mother?

She needed to run.

She needed to get out of that room.

She needed to get away.

Jill went over to the counter, where her Dad was talking to an older man. "Daddy, I need to take a run." Her dad nodded, understanding Jill's need to release her troubles physically. Both Isabel and himself went on walks to clear their minds, and the trait had been passed down to Jill as well.

She hit the sidewalks of Roswell with pounding force.

She ran until she could run no more. She was a small distance outside of Roswell, but far enough away that she could be on her own. The town was off in the distance, and only the desert surrounded her.

"Do you mind? You could have given me a warning before you just ran off!" Alex shouted, grabbing her arm.

"I don't have to answer to you! Get your hands off me!" Jill yelled. "I just couldn't stand it in there..with her and you …and knowing that you were…"

"Calm down, Jill! I can't understand you!"

"You called her beautiful!"

"What?"

"I saw you."

"WHAT?"

"You called her beautiful, Alex. My mother. You loved my mother, and she loved you. I don't understand…I don't understand…"

"Jill…"

"I don't understand why the first time I fell in love is with a ghost who is still in love with my mother!" She spat.