Disclaimer: I don't own anything Roswell, except for a few episodes that I've taped from TV. Please don't sue!

Summary: When Maria DeLuca and Michael Guerin find each other, will they hit it off? And will they be able to overcome the one thing that he can't change?

Includes: All Roswell characters are included in this story: Alex, Isabel, Max, Michael, Liz, and Maria. Maybe others too, but I'm not sure as of yet. It's mostly a M/M fiction, but it will contains others as well.

Authors Note: A couple of things actually. All good news, I hope. First, this obviously isn't the end of the fiction after all. Read along and you'll see why. Second, I changed the title because this seemed so much more fitting. I'll go back and change the other pages later. Again, you'll see why after reading this. Or at least, I hope you will. I know that updates have been few and far between, but I hope this was well worth the wait for you. I like this chapter, actually. I hope you do too! So let me know what you think.

:

Unbroken

Chapter 15

She wasn't going to lie. Maria was nervous; nervous beyond belief as she crossed the room and neared closer to him with each passing second. Questions traveled at a records pace through her mind. Would he want to talk to her? Would he be open to hearing what she had to say? Did he still care about her after what she had done? How would he react? And eventually, would he forgive her?

"Michael, can I talk to you outside?" he didn't have to look up at her. Michael's eyes had been locked on her since she had emerged from the backroom. He had hoped, deep within his mind, that she'd come to him; that she'd want to talk to him. Part of him was happy that his wish had come true. Another part of him was angry that she just couldn't accept him for him. He couldn't change the fact that he was an alien. Believe me, he couldn't. He would have done that by now. The last thing he wanted was to be looked upon, by the one girl that he cared most about in this world, as a creature; something that wasn't even human.

The truth was, he was human. Part of him, anyway. He felt just like she did. Michael just happened to be better at masking his emotions than many of the others. He hadn't succeeded the night she walked out on him, however. He was too ashamed to admit that she had broken his heart. The first time he had truly given his heart away was the first he had ever had it stepped on. Talk about your irony. And who said it was a bad thing to keep yourself protected from that?

Realizing that he hadn't answered her yet, Michael nodded and followed her through the swinging doors. Maria was just happy he had given her the chance. She didn't deserve it, that was for sure. Granted her so-called betrayal wasn't technically a betrayal, but it had of hurt him. They were close. Extremely close. She would have been hurt too had the situation been reversed.

She motioned for one of the tables outside and he sat down, placing his hand together and laying them on the table. His facial expression was blank, emotionless. And Maria didn't know exactly how to take that.

"Michael, I'm sorry." she blurted out quickly, her nerves getting the best of her. She couldn't stand it. His gaze burned holes into her, making her feel even more guilty than she already did. "I'm so sorry." she couldn't stop the tears as they spilled out over her eyes. "I don't know what else to say to you except that. I don't deserve a second chance. I don't deserve anything from you. I hurt you. I can see that, and I'm sorry." she was shocked when he reached over and took her hands in his own.

"Maria, I didn't expect you to take this well. No one ever does, but I wanted you to know. I needed you too. Liz knows about Max. It was only fair that you knew about me too." he explained, and a small glimmer of hope began to shine in Maria's eyes. Maybe he would forgive her after all. "But," her face dropped, his own brooding expression giving her no insight to his next words. "you did hurt me that night, Ria." he paused at the intake of a breath. "I never needed anyone. I never depended on anyone. I liked it that way. I didn't expect things from them and they didn't expect things from me. It was … " he searched for the word. "safe that way."

Her face contorted in confusion, even though she was beginning to pick up on his words. "Safe?" her questioning voice lingered in his ears. "You liked that? Being safe? Why, Michael? What has being safe ever brought you?" she knew his answer even before he spoke it, and she immediately regretted voicing her concern.

"It never brought me this." he dropped her hands and motioned between him and Maria. She caught onto his words quickly. "In being safe, I never gave my heart to anyone. To tell you the truth, there was never really anyone I so much as thought about before you. It just wasn't in my mind frame. And then you came along. I didn't expect it, Maria. I almost wished it hadn't happened --"

His words stung her deeply and she hurriedly interrupted him. "I understand. I was just some moment of weakness, right?" her sting quickly turned into the type of anger that only Maria could have possessed. "Is that it, Michael? You never really felt anything for me at all? All the times we were together were to what? Feed your own desires?" she stopped herself from slapping him across the cheek. She had wanted to talk to him. She should have prepared herself a little better for his words.

"I should have known." she continued on, outraged even more. The thoughts that were swimming in her heard only served as to add fuel to the fire that flickered inside of her. "I should have known that you could never really care about someone. They told me how you were, Michael. Why didn't I listen?"

Before she could berate herself any longer, Michael interrupted it her. "You are the one that ran away, Maria. Not me. You. You left me that night. You couldn't handle it." he stood from his seat and began to pace, unaware of the crowd he was beginning to draw from inside the café. "I wanted to be with you, Maria. Heart and Soul. Every part of me only wanted to be with you, but you left. I hated keeping that piece of information from you, Maria. God I hated it so much." his emotions were now raging in full force and Maria sat back, taking it all in as he continued to rant. This was the first time she had never seen these kinds of emotions emanating from him. Sure, when they kissed, there was passion, but this was different. This was so much different. "I wanted to tell you, you know. I wanted to tell you everything, but I was so scared. I was so scared this was going to happen. When I finally thought that we were strong enough to handle it, I told you. And guess what. We weren't."

Michael began to walk away, but Maria's desperate plea stopped him. "Please, Michael. Wait. I'm sorry. I told you that. I know that I shouldn't have been so weird about all of this, but let's face the facts. Who wouldn't be a little weirded out? You had to have known that I'd come back to you. After I had time to think and sort all of this out, you had to have known that."

Michael didn't turn around. "I didn't know that, Maria." he tone ran flat. "You gave me no indication of that. I thought it was over. I thought you wanted nothing to do with me. I prepared myself for a life without you. It would be much like the life I had before you."

"What? Angry and alone?" she neared him cautiously.

"No," Michael turned ever so slowly to meet her. "unbroken." he then walked away, leaving her with her thoughts.

Liz, witnessing the whole thing, immediately rushed to consul Maria. Her arms flew around the petite girls frame as her back shook from her sobs. She had lost him. And she didn't even get a chance to tell him. She never got to tell him that she was just like him; always facing the world with a wall around her heart. She protected herself for the same exact reasons. She had had too much pain in her life already. After her father left her, she didn't want to get hurt again.

But Michael was the first guy that she ever truly saw. She saw all that she saw in herself and it was refreshing to know that there was someone else out that there just like her. And so she decided to open herself up to him. She didn't regret a single moment of it. With him, Maria was the happiest she had ever been in her life. She had always told herself that Roswell was going to bring her true happiness, and it did, if only for a little while.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Liz' coaxing voice brought Maria out of her thoughts.

"Was this how Max reacted to you, Liz?" she questioned, looking up at her best friend, her red and puffy eyes noticing the shake in Liz' head. "He forgave you instantly?" a bittersweet smile pursed her lips. "That's how much he cared about you?"

"Michael cares about you too, Maria." Liz scolded. She knew that for a fact. So did Maria. Michael had just admitted that. Liz couldn't let them give up on their love. She wasn't going to let Michael miss out on the best thing that could have ever happened to him. "Don't give up. He'll see that." Maria nodded as Liz guided her back inside, the crowd now gone since the excitement was over. "It's not over yet, Maria. I promise." Liz smiled down at her friend and for a split second saw a smile on Maria's face as well.