Chapter Nineteen – Disclosure

Liz charged down the stairs into the CrashDown café and skidded to a halt and looked anxiously around for Maria. She scanned the crowded café, and while she saw a lot of familiar faces, she didn't see the gamine features of her best friend anywhere.

"Lost?" a voice said beside her. Liz turned and saw Kyle standing beside her, an expectant look upon his face.

"Have you seen Maria?" she asked, still looking around, frantically.

"Yeah, she took off out of here on two wheels just as I was pulling in. Why what's wrong?" he replied.

"Come on, we have to hurry," Liz said. She grabbed his hand and began to pull him towards the front door of the café, shooting a smile and a wave at her father.

"You two kids don't be too late, okay?" her dad called from his post at the register.

"We won't dad," Liz said. "We're meeting Maria, Alex, and a few other kids. See you later. Don't wait up," she added over her shoulder as the door closed behind her, it's silver bell tinkling in their wake.

"Do you mind telling me what's going on here?" Kyle demanded, stopping on the sidewalk.

"Come on," Liz said, frantically, tugging on the sleeve of his jacket. "I'll explain on the way. We don't have much time."

Kyle looked down to Liz's face and saw the anguish in his eyes. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with of late. Instinct told him to get the hell out of there, as quickly as possible, but his heart told him he was right where he belonged. Much as it pained him to admit it that is.

"Okay," he said in resignation. "Let's go, only tell me, where are we going? Though I suppose as long as it's not Mars, I'm good."

Liz gave a small giggle, despite the seriousness of the situation and followed Kyle to his car. Once inside, she gave him a brief overview of what had happened, and asked him to take her to Michael's new apartment.

"What was he doing out on your patio, anyhow?" demanded Kyle.

"I don't know," admitted Liz. "But I'm glad he was. I mean if there are more of them out there, and some of them aren't friendly, I guess I'm glad that he was out there."

"Great, it wasn't enough to be dreaming that Alex dies, now we're in actual danger," said Kyle. "Excuse me if I'm not excited at the prospect of little green aliens trying to kill me. You know, I didn't sign on for any of this. I was only stopping by the CrashDown to see if you could help me find something at the library."

"Kyle Valenti at the library?" asked Liz. "I'm having a hard time seeing that."

"Maybe I'm trying to turn over a new leaf," Kyle said, his voice filled with mock defensiveness.

"More like trying to impress a girl," teased Liz.

"Yeah, about that," said Kyle, flushing a little. "I know we dated some last year and during the summer but I don't know, it just doesn't seem,"

"Quite right," Liz finished for him. "I was thinking the same thing. Something is kind of off about it."

"Exactly," said Kyle. "Liz, you're a great person, and I'd do just about anything for you, but I just don't think we're destined to be together."

"Wh-what did you say?" Liz said.

A concerned Kyle looked over at Liz, her features illuminated by the streetlights under which they passed.

"Please don't tell me you're having another one of those freaky déjà vu things," Kyle begged.

"No, not really, Liz hedged. "Something about the phrase destined to be together just rubbed me the wrong way. I just didn't like it very much."

The two drove along silently for several minutes, Kyle concentrating on the road as a way of avoiding the real issues at hand, and Liz staring out into the night, her mind a million miles away.

"Did you mean it?" she asked him suddenly.

"Did I mean what?" asked Kyle, still watching the road ahead.

"About doing just about anything for me," said Liz. "Did you mean it?"

"Yeah, I guess," said Kyle. "I mean, I'm not going to rob a bank for you or anything, but otherwise, yeah, sure."

"Would you sleep with me?"

"What?" Kyle shouted. His foot jammed on the brake and the car skidded to a halt. Kyle's hand reached out instinctively to stop Liz from hitting the windshield, and he twisted around in the drivers seat to stare at her.

"What did you just say? Cause I'm telling you Liz, as far as propositions go, that one kind of sucked."

"I – never mind," said Liz, shaking her head. "I don't know what I was saying. Just forget about it."

"Like hell I'll forget about it," said Kyle. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and switched off the ignition. "What's going on, Liz. We just got done having a discussion about how we don't belong together, and now you're asking me to sleep with you? Something isn't making any sense at all."

"That's just it, Kyle," Liz said crying softly. "Nothing has made sense for a long time now. Ever since the day I was shot in the CrashDown."

"Liz," Kyle said gently, beginning to fear for Liz's sanity. "You weren't shot in the CrashDown, remember? Maria was."

"I know," Liz almost wailed. "I was there, remember?"

"Then why are you saying you were shot, if you know it was Maria?" Kyle asked. He tried to keep his voice calm and even, hoping to placate Liz long enough for someone to come along and get him some help.

"Kyle, I'm not losing my mind," said Liz. "Stop looking like you expect me to go psycho on you."

"You already did that when you asked me to sleep with you?" said Kyle, laughing to hide his nervousness.

"Look this is your fault," said Liz. "You told me you didn't want to know about anymore of those déjà vu things, remember?"

"So you decided to shock the shit out of me instead? Nice plan, Liz."

Liz sat with her face in her hands, and her shoulders shaking violently. Kyle, always uncomfortable with sobbing females reached over and patted her clumsily on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Liz. I didn't mean to upset you. Don't worry, we'll figure this out, I know we will."

Liz took her hands away from her face and looked at Kyle, her face wreathed in smiles.

"You're not crying?" he asked.

"N-no," she choked out between giggles. "I'm not."

"You're laughing – at me, aren't you?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Kyle, but yes, I'm laughing at you," said Liz. "But I'm laughing at me, too, so don't feel bad. I just replayed that whole conversation in my mind. Oh Kyle, the way you reacted was priceless."

"Great, well if you're done laughing at my last great act of nobility in this lifetime or the next, can you please move on to the part about us sleeping together. Because now that I'm thinking about it, I'd be stupid not to take you up on it," said Kyle, relaxing a little now that he was fairly certain Liz wasn't losing her mind.

"It was just this whole thing that flashed through my mind when you said that bit about us not being destined to be together. I saw Max, and I, and this blond girl. Then I saw Max again, in a sombrero. Then Max was next to me in my room, but it wasn't Max, he was older, colder and harder. Then there was an Elvis wedding chapel and then I saw you and I in bed."

"Wedding chapel," said Kyle. "Vegas. Harvey Wallbanger, Tom Collins, Rob Roy."

"Brandy Alexander, Margarita Salt, Pina Colada and Shirley Temple," continued Liz. "Kyle, are we playing a drinking game?"

"You knew those names, Liz," Kyle said excitedly. "You didn't even think about it; you knew those names. Why? Why do we know this stuff?"

"I don't know," Liz admitted. "I really don't. Come on, let's get to Michael's and make sure he's okay. Maybe the others can help us make some sense of this."

"I doubt it, but okay," said Kyle.

He eased the car back out onto the road in the direction of Michael's apartment, and hopefully, some answers.