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CHAPTER FOUR:

Alex sat on one of the rocks overlooking a small canyon that ran parallel to the mining camp. It was about a half a mile away from the cabin, and gave him a perfect view of the desert around him. But the view was not what was on his mind has he sat out there for several hours, thinking about what Isabel had told him.

As the sun started to set, Alex heard footsteps approaching him from behind. He thought at first that it might be Liz, or even Ava, coming out to check on him. But somehow, he knew it would be Isabel.

"Alex," said Isabel's voice from behind him.

He was right.

"We need to talk about this," said Isabel.

Alex stood up from the rock, turned around, and looked at her. Isabel could tell that he had been crying, but didn't say anything about it for fear of hurting Alex's pride. He looked at her with a gentle expression, and even smiled a little at her.

"I'm sorry," said Isabel. "I know you must be angry and hurt..."

"Isabel," said Alex. "You don't have anything to be sorry about. I was dead, or at least you thought I was. You had every right to seek out happiness, to find someone to be with. How could I be angry with you for that?"

"But I know it hurt you," said Isabel. "I'm right about that."

"Yeah," said Alex. "It did. But that wasn't your fault either. I presumed way too much. I didn't even think about the fact that your life...everyone's life has progressed forward. I'm the one stuck in the past, seven months in the past to be exact. I was hurt because my unwarranted hopes were..."

"Alex, your hopes weren't unwarranted," said Isabel. "Its perfectly natural for you to want your life back. And I promise you, I will do anything I have to in order for you to reclaim your life in Roswell."

"And us," said Alex. "What about that? Of course, I may be presumming too much again. I mean, I...we never really officially became..."

"But we were going there," said Isabel. "We would have probably been there if this hadn't happened."

Alex turned around, and stared back at the desert beyond the rocks. "Life sucks sometimes," said Alex. "Opportunities are stripped away from us, and we seem powerless to prevent it."

"I know," said Isabel. "I felt that way when you died. Like...the greatest opportunity for happiness that I had encountered was gone forever, taken from me."

"Other opportunities come along, though," said Alex, turning back to look at Isabel. "Your...fiancee. What's his name?"

"Jesse," said Isabel.

"How old is this guy?" asked Alex. "If he's works in your Dad's firm..."

"Twenty-six," said Isabel.

"Your parents are going to have a cow," said Alex, with a slight chuckle.

"No one knows," said Isabel. "Except you, and now Liz and Ava. I told them why you ran off. Liz encouraged me to follow you out here to talk."

"Does he know your secret?" asked Alex.

"No," said Isabel. "I don't know if I'm going to tell him or not, though."

Alex let out another chuckle.

"What?" asked Isabel.

"It just seems so funny," said Alex. "Me, talking with you, nonchalantly, about the fact you are engaged to another man. Its...kind of....hard to maintain the control to do it."

"Control?" asked Isabel.

"Over my feelings," said Alex.

"Alex," said Isabel. "I want you to be honest with me. I want you to tell me how you are feeling, what you are feeling."

Alex turned around once again. He just stood silently, looking out at the desert as the sun continued to recede lower into the horizon. Isabel came up behind him, and placed a hand on his cheek. She gently nudged his head to look at her, causing the rest of his body to follow suit.

"Talk to me," said Isabel.

He left out a deep breath. "I know this is where I am supposed to be gracious, to be...chilvarous, and bow out. Let you marry your fiancee, get on with your new life that I can't be a part of anymore in the way I could have before. My head tells me to do that."

"But what about your heart?" asked Isabel.

"My heart," said Alex. "Its telling me to fight for you with everything I have. To win you over to me, to get you to dump this Jesse guy and come back to me. To tell you that no one can love you as much as I do. But I don't even know if I have the right to put up a fight for you!"

"This is not exactly a situation covered on Oprah, I'll grant you," said Isabel, trying to lighten the mood slightly. "Dead lover returns to life."

"Yeah," said Alex. "But, I guess the answer lies with you, Isabel. I know this is hard on you. But...its your choice, Isabel. You're going to have to choose between me and Jesse."

"Oh,God, Alex," said Isabel. "This is so mind bogginly difficult for me."

"Isabel, one thing," said Alex. "Don't choose me if its just to placate my feelings, or because you feel like you owe me something. Choose the person who you love and want to be with, who you feel you could make a life with."

Alex wiped a tear away from Isabel's cheek with his thumb. "I am so sorry, Isabel. That I've brought this kind of complication, this quandrum, into your life."

"Don't say that!" said Isabel. "You make it sound like you are apologizing for being alive."

"I'm not, its just.....Isabel, please, just think about it," said Alex. "Meanwhile, we had better get back."

They walked back to the cabin together, completely silent during the trip. When they got there, Liz said that she and Ava had arranged a meal for them. Isabel said she wasn't hungry, and chose to sit outside the cabin on a chair. Alex went inside to get something to eat.

After a little while, Ava came out of the cabin. She walked over to Isabel, and sat on the ground beside her.

"So," said Ava. "Two guys to choose from. Some girls have all the luck."

"Hmmph," said Isabel. "This is far from luck. Having to choose between them....its just so....I don't know what it is."

"Look, Isabel," said Ava. "I know this may seem like I'm buttin into someone else's mess, but I've kind of developed a sort of proprietary interest in Alex. Nothin romantic, or anything. I mean, he's a nice guy, but not my type. But, healing someone, helping them reconstruct their mind after its been turned to mush. It gives you a sort of...protective instinct over them. Look, girl, he could have either died, or never woken up because his mind was too lost to find its way back to reality. I was able to reach him, but I couldn't pull him back on my own. I needed his help, his concentration. I needed him to focus on one thing as his center, his point of reference. This one thing would give him the strength, the motivation to fight his way back to reality. He chose you as his center. His memories of you. His love for you."

Isabel looked at her. "He mentioned something about that," she said.

"Girl, if you ask me, you have got to be pretty lucky to have someone love you that much," said Ava. "I mean, I loved my Zahn, but your Alex...his soul is in love with you. If you ask me, aint nobody going to love you more, or love you better, than Alex. Now, you just got to decide who you love."

Ava got up, and went back into the cabin. Isabel remained in the chair, sifting through her thoughts and feelings.

End of Chapter Four. Chapter Five coming soon.

Let me first say thank you for the feedback I have received so far. I recognize a couple of your names as those people who reviewed the last story again. I am glad that this story is being enjoyed so far as much as "We Belong Together" was. At this point in our story, Isabel has some soul searching to do, and the rest of the gang have to find out that Alex is alive. To see what happens next, don't miss the next installment. In the meantime, please do keep that feedback coming by posting reviews. Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.