Kyle let himself into his room or well Tess's room, as it was now know as. It was dark, the curtains still drawn even though it was three in the afternoon. Some crappy chick tearjerker music played in the background while soft sobs came from the bed where Tess laid hidden by covers. This had been going on too long, it was time to put a stop to it and he was just the man to do it. What was it about the male aliens that made all females that ever went near them end up crying. If Maria wasn't crying about something that Michael had done, then Liz was crying about something Max did and now Tess was crying over Max as well. What was so great about Max Evans anyway? Kyle couldn't understand, Evans wasn't anything special, ok so he was tall, dark and mysterious but how could anyone get past those ears?
"Go away Kyle!" Tess sniffed from the bed
"I don't think so!" Kyle said turning the CD player off and opening the curtains and a window letting some fresh air in the room. "Hey, you're not a pile of dust. And here I was thinking that you had been turned into a vampire, what with all this hiding in the dark you've been doing for the last week." Kyle joked. He pulled the covers back to revel Tess. Her pjs were crumpled; her hair knotted and unkempt and her eyes were filled with the pain of heartbreak, sore and puffy from crying.
"Vampire? I think you watch too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer!" Tess said
"What can I say? Buffy is hot!" Kyle grinned
"Kyle, I am really not in the mood, I just want to be alone!"
"Sorry. Can't let that happen! Its time for you to leave this room even if its just to get something to eat and shower because I hate to say this but you look like hell and you are starting to smell!"
"Thanks Kyle that's just what I want to hear!" Tess said rolling her eyes in disgust
"Tess, I am sorry for what you went through but its time you get the hell out of this room. I am not going to let you drown yourself in self-pity. No way no how!"
"Well I hate to tell you this Kyle, but if I want to drown in self-pity then that's what I am going to do! You can't tell me what to do! You are not the boss of me!"
"Right so we are going to do this the hard way!" Kyle said determined to get Tess back to her normal self even if it killed him
"We're not doing it anyway so you might as well go and watch football or something!"
"The hard way it is then!" Kyle said pulling Tess off the bed and lifting her off her feet
"Kyle!" Tess screamed, "Put me down! This isn't funny!"
"I know!"
"Kyle, you are such a insensitive jerk! Put me down!" Tess demanded kicking her feet
"You're going to thank me!" Kyle stated hoping that he was right, remembering that he had to be cruel to be kind to snap Tess out of this phrase she was going through.
"I am going to kill you! Put me down right now otherwise I am going to use my powers on you." Tess threatened
"Promises, promises!" Kyle muttered knowing that it was an idle threat, one that Tess liked to use every time she didn't get her own way. Kyle kicked open the door to the bathroom and walked towards the shower. He opened the door placing Tess under the showerhead.
"Kyle Valenti, I swear that I am going to…" her eyes were wide as Kyle's hand rested on the tap head.
"What? What are you going to do?" Kyle asked, enjoying it more then he should be.
"Kyle, I will…" Tess let out a scream as cold water sprayed all over her causing her hair and clothes to mould against her "Kyle!" she shrieked in outrage
Kyle grinned, "I am going to leave you to get washed up!" he paused by the bathroom door "Unless of course you want me to wash your back?" he ducked out of the way of the soap that Tess threw at him "I take that as a no then!"
Tess rolled her eyes and waited until Kyle had left before stripping out of her wet pjs. She hated to admit it but Kyle was right. She had had a week of self-pity, torturing herself with 'what ifs' and what could have been. A week without Max, without his touch, without the sound of his voice, without his laugh, without his smile, without his eyes and everything else that was Max like. A week without it and she was still alive, she was still breathing. It was strange to think that even though she loved him she could live without him. But then again she didn't love Max that it made her want to die, what type of love was that anyway? Romeo and Juliet, a great love story but not the type of love that Tess wanted. No she would leave the star-crossed lovers thing to Max and Liz. It stung to think that right at this moment Max could be with Liz, touching her, kissing her, loving her that he might be doing all the things they did together but this time with Liz. It more then stung, its burned but it didn't matter, she had made her choice when she opened that door and walked out of it.
But it didn't matter; what she felt for Max would never change. She would always love him, loving him made her want to live, made her feel alive. This last week she had cried enough to last her a lifetime as she grieved for what she had given up but she still had her memories and nobody could ever take those away from her.
She had done the right thing, walking away that night. God it had been so hard. And when he told her that he loved her, it should of filled her with happiness instead it made her heavy with longing as she turned her back on him, each step away from him was harder then the last when all she wanted to do was run back to him and into his arms. But she hadn't. Instead she had run home, locking herself away from the world.
That was until today although without Kyle, Tess doubted that she would of left the room that had become her sanctuary.
The hot water soothed her as the sweet smell of her Vanilla shower gel clung to her, reviving her body and making her feel the best she had since that night.
When she finally felt clean, she got out of the shower and pulled a big fluff towel around her and walked to her room.
Ten minutes later Tess ran a comb through her damp hair as she walked into the living room dressed in Kyle's football jersey and a pair of jeans.
"Feel better?" Kyle asked as she sat down beside him.
"Yeah." Tess smiled
"Good cause you smell better and of course you look a hell of a lot better as well. As my football jersey moved permanently into your wardrobe?" Kyle asked raising an eyebrow
"I think it looks cute!" Tess said looking down at herself
"No doubt there! Its looks better on you then it did me!" Kyle said with a boyish grin.
"Thanks Kyle!" Tess said smiling warmly at him while wondering what would he ever do without him?
"Hey there's no need to thank me I didn't do anything!"
"You did more then you think Kyle so thanks!" Tess said leaning over and hugging him tightly.
"You wanna talk about it? Talking cleanses the soul!" Kyle stated
"Buddha?" Tess asked raising an eyebrow.
"Tess, you know that you can talk to me about anything right? I am always going to be here for you, whenever you need me!"
"Promise?" Tess asked
"Promise!"
"I don't know, I am just so confused but at the same time I am not, which makes me more confused. I just got all these questions running around my head over and over again and then these images. Images of them together. I just…" Tess sighed, pulling her hair up into a ponytail as she searched for the word "I just don't know who I am!"
"You're Tess Harding!" Kyle stated making Tess laugh
"Yeah but who is that? Who am I? Nasedo was always there telling me who I was. I was Ava, Queen of Antar, bride to Zan. I was Max's destiny. And then we got here and Max was already with Liz and I found myself stumbling with only Nasedo to hold me up. He still believed in destiny but I wasn't too sure. And then I was only it was just me, I started to wonder who I was but never got very far before Max walked back to my life and made me fall in love with him. I was all Nasedo told me I was and yet I still didn't know who I was. I felt…" she paused her voice turning as soft as a whisper as she continued sharing apart of herself with Kyle that he had kept hidden, pretending that it wasn't there "I felt lost but Max took that anyway, he made me feel whole and now I am just lost again!"
"Stay right there!" Kyle ordered getting off the couch quickly and disappearing into the kitchen.
"Kyle?" Tess frowning wondering what the hell he was doing.
"I know that me and dad aren't the easiest people to live with but we wanted to do something for you, to you know welcome you into the family." He pushed a small gift-wrapped box into her hands "Just so that you know that you're a important part of this family!"
"Kyle, you didn't have to do this!" Tess said as she looked up at him where he stood nervously watching her.
"Open it!"
"Ok, ok!" Tess said and tried to open it but it was wrapped up tight, she used her powers to loosen the tape a little.
"I wrapped it myself!" Kyle said proudly
"I can tell!" Tess said ripping the paper off. When she finally opened the box her mouthed dropped open slightly in shock. "Wow! Kyle! I can't take this. Its too much!" Tess ran her fingers over the gold locket.
"Wait until you see inside!" Kyle said his eyes gleaming
Tess opened the locket and laughed, on one side was a photo of Kyle and Jim, the other side was empty. She smiled up at him. She was part of a family. "Put it on me!" Tess ordered getting up and turning her back on Kyle so that he could put the necklace on her "Thank you!" she said turning around, she kissed his cheek before hugging him.
Kyle hugged her back, holding her tightly "No problem!"
"I better go and put the garbage out!" Tess stated blinking away her tears of happiness.
"I can do that!"
"Nah, I do it. You stay here and watch football whatever other sport is on!" Tess said feeling a little overwhelmed and seeing taking the garbage out as her perfect excuse to get everything together!