Chapter Five (Late night questions)

Michael tossed and turned in the sleeping bag, for some reason he couldn't sleep so he decided to go and get a drink. As he headed for the kitchen he could hear someone rustling around in there and as he inched closer he could see Maria, standing at the bench in the same slip he had seen her in that first morning. He could feel himself getting aroused at the site of her and quietly groaned. He made a move to head back to Max's room when Maria spoke.

"I know you're there so you might as well come in." She smiled when she saw Michael enter then made a mental note to buy herself a robe of some sort.

Michael walked over to the fridge, opened it and took out a bottle of water. He unscrewed the cap and took a huge gulp. He wiped at his chin where some water had spilled and rested his body on the bench next to her. Maria watched mesmerized at the way he licked his lips and shivered when his arm came in contact with hers. She moved over to the sink and placed her glass in it. "Why did you kiss me?" she asked after a moment of silence.

He didn't know what to say, how to answer, so he asked her something back, hoping to throw her off track. "Why did you kiss me back?" Maria shrugged and the two stood there once again surrounded in silence. The only sound in the kitchen was a low humming coming from the fridge. Michael licked his suddenly dry lips and scratched the back of his head. It was now or never. "Do you maybe, want to go out with me tomorrow night?"

"As in a date?" Maria asked, a hint of a smile forming on her face. "Sure, I'd really like that."

Michael nodded and with a smile, turned to head back to Max's room when he thought better of it and whipped around.  Placing his hand on Maria's waist, he pulled her body to his. He kissed her hard and fast then pulled away slightly before Maria even knew what was happening. His lips were still touching hers as he spoke in a whisper. "I'll pick you up at 7."

Maria nodded, a little bewildered, and watched as Michael walked off with a little spring in his step. She stood there and thought about what had just happened then grinned. She had a date with Michael Guerin. With that one thought in her head, she walked back to her room with a smile on her face.

*~*~*~*

The next night, Maria was sitting at her dressing table putting the finishing touches of her make-up on. She had 20 minutes until Michael arrived and she was running late. "Isabel, we have to hurry," she said as she picked up the curling iron.

Isabel grabbed the iron off her and waved her fingers. "My way will be a lot faster." Maria smiled in thanks and Isabel started to run her fingers through Maria's slightly damp hair.

"Hey Isabel your mom—Oh my god," Alex said, completely frozen by the door. Did he just see what he thought he did; did Isabel just make Maria's hair curly by touching it.

Both girls turned to look at Alex in shock. Maria jumped out of her seat and ran over to the hyperventilating Alex. "Alex calm down, just come and sit down," she said, leading him towards the bed. "Alex, are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" he almost yelled. "Am I okay? No, I am not okay. I just saw my girlfriend make your hair curly using her what? Powers? Jesus, what are you?" he asked, facing Isabel who was looking scared. "I want the truth and I want it now."

Isabel glanced at Maria who nodded before taking a seat next to Alex on the bed. She tried not to let the fact that he moved out of the way a bit affect her but it did. She looked at the ground sadly and just knew that he would no longer want to be with her once she had told him. "Alex I'm…" she took a deep breath. "I'm an alien. Me, Max and Michael were all in the '47 crash. I know it's hard to believe but it's true. We hibernated in these pods for 50 years and came out in 1989 looking like six-year-olds. What you just saw was me using one of my many powers."

Before Alex could say anything, Max interrupted them. "Maria, Michael is here."

Maria looked between the two on the bed. "Isabel, are you going to be okay here?"

Isabel nodded then gave Maria a hug. "I'll be fine, and I want details of your date when you get back." Maria laughed and headed out the door while Isabel faced Alex who had suddenly gone pale.

*~*~*~*

Michael's breath caught in his throat when he saw Maria walk down the hall. She was wearing a tight crème sleeveless turtleneck shirt with tight bootleg black pants. Her hair was up in pins with a few tendrils framing her face. "You look beautiful," he said taking her hand.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she said as she shut the front door. He was wearing a black dress shirt with black slacks. It really looked like he had made the effort to dress up and Maria was speechless, the only thing he had not done was comb his hair, but Maria could live with it. She loved the way his soft spikes felt when she ran her hands through his hair.

Michael led them over to the jeep that Max had let him borrow for the night. "So where are we going?" Maria asked once she was settled in.

Smiling, Michael turned on the ignition. "It's a surprise."

*~*~*~*

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Alex suddenly asked. Okay so he could handle that his girlfriend was a creature from outer space, but he couldn't handle being lied to.

Isabel sighed and tried to push back her tears. "I was scared," she admitted. "I thought that if I told you, you'd reject me and look at me differently, and I was right."

Shaking his head, Alex took a hold of one of her hands. "Isabel no, look, you may be a little different from other teenage girls but to me you are the same Isabel Evans that I have had a crush on for—for god only knows how long."

Isabel smiled and looked at him. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before," she whispered.

Alex shook his head and brought one hand up to caress the side of her face. "Don't worry about it, just no more lies okay?"

Nodding, the two shared a light, gentle kiss. Isabel then pulled back with a hint of a smile on her face. "So I'm your girlfriend huh?"

*~*~*~*

Michael came to a stop at Kumar's Hill. At night the view was spectacular as you could see the landscape of Roswell and all it's lights. Using his powers, he walked over to a near by tree and made a few of the leaves glow, creating a romantic, dull light. He then walked over to the back of the Jeep and pulled out a blanket and a basket, walking back over to the tree with Maria in tow. He laid down the blanket and placed the basket on top.

"I know it's not much but--"

Maria cut him off with a chaste kiss. "It's perfect."

The two sat and dined on hamburgers and fires provided by the Crashdown. Maria smiled, knowing that Michael obviously didn't go on to many dates but loved that he tried for her. It was sweet and she couldn't have wanted more from a first date. When they had finished eating, Maria wiped at her mouth with her napkin. "You never did answer my question. Why did you kiss me?"

Michael smirked. "You never answered mine either."

"Fine," Maria said rolling her eyes. "If you answer mine then I'll answer yours. Deal?"

Michael nodded. "I kissed you because I wanted to. Because ever since that night at the Crash festival, when I laid my hand on your chest, I've… I've felt this sort of connection I guess you could say, and then when I was on top of you last night, the urge to kiss you was so great and I couldn't stop myself, I didn't want to stop myself."

"I felt the same," Maria admitted. "That night of the festival when you touched me, I felt that connection, that spark that there was something more between us, and I kissed you back because I wanted to. Because I wanted you."

She raised a hand and caressed the side of his face then brought his face to hers for a slow, languid kiss. When they pulled apart she looked into his eyes. "Thank you for tonight Michael, it was perfect."

Michael flushed bright red and shrugged. "Thanks for…you know, accepting."

She smiled then bit her lip, almost afraid to ask her next question. "Is this only going to be one night?"

Michael tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear then nuzzled her nose with his. "I hope not."

*~*~*~*

2 months later

Michael sat on the couch along with Max and Alex as they all watched Detroit play Chicago in hockey. Michael's view was suddenly blocked when his girlfriend of the past two months stood right in front of him.

"Michael, are you going to get off your butt and help or what?" Maria asked with her hands on her hips. "This is, after all, your apartment."

Shaking his head no, he watched as both Liz and Isabel walked out of his bathroom looking exhausted. Over the past two months things had changed considerably; they had found a bit more information about their home thanks to Maria going with him to Marathon. He smiled every time he thought about what they had shared in that hotel room, mental and physical. Then after another run in with Hank, he got emancipated, again with the help of his pixie girlfriend, and was now sitting in his almost clean, new apartment that the courts had found for him. The group had also grown closer over that time. Alex had grown closer to the guys and they were now all great friends and Isabel had also opened up to Liz. The three girls were almost inseparable.

Michael grabbed Maria around the waist and sat her down on his lap. "No one asked you to clean my apartment."

Poking him in the chest with her finger, Maria raised her eyebrows. "Look Guerin, if you want me to even consider coming over here anymore then you will live in a clean apartment. That also means keeping it clean, you got me?"

Michael groaned and Maria kissed his cheek then hopped off and grabbed Isabel's hand to drag her back off into the dreaded bathroom.

As she picked up the scrubbing brush, Isabel turned to Maria. "Three months ago did you ever think you'd be here?"

"What?" Maria asked. "Cleaning Michael's bathroom?"

Isabel laughed and shook her head. "No I mean here, as in being friends with me or having Michael as a boyfriend, I certainly never thought I'd be Alex Whitman's girlfriend or Maria Deluca's best friend that's for sure."

Maria thought about it then shook her head. "No, but I'm glad that we are here."

Isabel smiled then dunked her brush into the bucket of soapy water. "Me too."

Managing to tear herself away from Max, Liz entered the bathroom and grabbed a cloth. "I don't even want to know how the old tenants even thought about using a bathroom like this." Isabel and Maria nodded in agreement and the three girls got back to their cleaning, all wondering how they were going to get the boys back for not helping them.

THE END

AN: I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed the story. I can't believe it's finally over so thank you. I just want to thank Trude, treevamp, Panda, Sam, Katydidit and Dark-moon-Angel for your reviews on the last chapter and thanks to Em who reviewed on others. I also want to send out a special thanks to Neo who has reviewed since the beginning.

Oh and another note, my rant in the chapter before was in no way connected with any of you so don't worry. J I received an email/review from someone else whom I found offensive and had to say my peace.

Thank you for understanding and I hope that you continue to enjoy my future fictions. -Sarah