Hey guys, sorry for not updating in a while.
-
Everyone stared at the door. Michael looked at Maria. Maria simply sat there, nursing her hurt cheek.
"Someone should go after her." Kyle said.
"Maybe we should just let her cool off for a little bit." Liz said.
"Not while psycho boy is out there." Michael said, heading for the door.
"Thanks, Michael." Max said, feeling stung. Michael looked at him.
"Get over it Maxwell. You know, Sierra was right, if you hadn't slept with Tess in the first place, this wouldn't have happened." Michael snapped.
"It's not like you were singing the 'stay away from Tess' tune when I told you. If I remember correctly, the only part you didn't like was the fact that she got pregnant."
"Well, perhaps you should've put a jimmy on your willie." Michael replied.
-
Sierra slowly walked through the part. She sighed as she sat down on a bench. She hadn't meant to hit Maria, it just happened. She was so angry and couldn't take anymore shouting. If it hadn't been Maria who got in her face, Sierra would've slapped anyone. She pressed her lips together softly.
"I wish there was something I could do." She whispered softly. "Something to fix everything."
-
Back at the Valenti house, everyone sat down, no one really speaking to anyone else. Jim had managed to convince Michael that Sierra would be all right and they should just all stay inside. Maria sighed, not being able to take the silence anymore. She got up and walked out. Michael stood and went after her. He found her standing a few feet away from the porch.
"You shouldn't' be going off alone." Michael said, walking up to her. Maria turned to him, giving him a face that screamed 'don't even start with me'. Michael sighed. "I'm sorry………About the stuff I said earlier." He said. Maria looked at him, her face softening a bit. "I mean, I guess you had a point, Sierra shouldn't have lied to you. I mean, it would be nice if she'd just tell us what the big secret is, with everything, you know?" Maria nodded softly. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So, do you really think I'm a jerk?" He asked with a smirk. Maria looked at him, rolling her eyes.
"Well, you sure have some jerk-like qualities." She said. Michael nodded.
"Guess so." He said.
"But, no, I don't think you're a jerk." She said. Michael smiled. Maria rolled her eyes again and shoved him playfully. Michael took her hand in his, both laughing a bit. They looked into each other's eyes, their laughter dying down. Ever so slowly, they closed the distance between them and met in a soft kiss. The kiss quickly intensified as their tongues slowly slid into one another's mouth. After a while, both quickly pulled back.
"I'm sorry." Michael said. "I shoul-"
"It's my fault, I-" Maria began, both babbling softly. They looked away. "…….I'm not really sorry." She whispered softly. She slowly looked at him. Michael looked at her as well.
"Me neither." He said. They desperately reached for each other and kissed passionately. "So…" Michael said between kisses. "Does this mean we're back together?" He asked, his mind going back to what happened at Christmas.
"Mmhmm." She murmured.
"Good, cause I missed you."
"I missed you too." She replied. Michael's lips left hers as he hungrily kissed her neck. "Michael," Maria said softly. "I really missed you." She said. Michael stopped and looked up at her. Their eyes locking, as if reading each other's thoughts.
"……We could go back to my place." He said. He stopped. "But we should probably wait for Sierra to get back…To make sure she's all right."
"Right." Maria said. "You're absolutely right." She said. She looked at him. "We should probably go back inside." She said. Michael nodded. The two slowly clasped hands and walked back to the house together. They walked in and sat on the couch together. Everyone picked up on their close proximity.
"Looks like they're back together." Isabel murmured to Kyle who was sitting beside her on the loveseat.
"Again." Kyle replied. About a half hour later, the door opened and Sierra slowly walked in, everyone's eyes were on her. Michael stood up and went to her.
"Where did you go?" He asked.
"I…….I just went for a walk." She said softly. "I'm sorry I yelled at everyone." She slowly looked over at Maria. She sighed and walked over, sitting down next to her. "I'm sorry I hit you." She said. "I just……..Got so upset and……." Her voice trailed off. Maria sighed and placed a hand on the girl's cheek.
"It's okay. I shouldn't have attacked you like that." She hugged Sierra.
"I promise, I'll tell you the truth………Just not right now, okay?" Sierra pleaded. Maria nodded.
"Okay." She said. She wished Sierra would just get it over with and spill the beans, but she didn't want to push the girl. Now that her anger from before had subsided, Maria again understood that Sierra had gone through hell, and was most likely still in the grips of it. The two of them pulled apart from the hug. Michael watched the two of them and gave an internal sigh of relief.
"Well, now that Sierra's back safe and sound, how about we all see about getting some shut eye?" Jim said, assuming the fatherly role amongst the group even though only one was his actual off spring. Kyle offered his room to the females. Isabel, Liz and Maria all agreed that since Sierra had suffered the damage to her back at the hands of Travis earlier, she would take Kyle's bed while they slept on the floor. Jim slept in his own room and Max, Michael and Kyle slept in the living room. Within an hour, everyone was sleeping peacefully, well, almost everyone. A quiet rustling awoke Sierra. She carefully opened one eye to see Maria slowly getting up and quietly open the door as she crept out into the living room. Sierra pulled off the covers and tip-toed to the door and looked out to see what was going on. Maria slowly past Max who was sleeping on the couch, and Kyle who was scrunched up on the loveseat. She finally came to Michael who was sprawled out, sitting on the easy chair, his head back, snoring softly. She smiled gently, remembering how cute he looked while he slept. She walked over to him and shook his shoulder gently. She got down close to his ear and gently blew in it, trying to wake him. Michael groaned and shook his head, waking up. He looked up.
"Mari-" He began. Maria covered his mouth.
"Shh." She whispered, putting the index finger of her other mouth against her lips in a "shh" motion. Michael blinked and sat up. He saw Kyle and Max were still sleeping. He looked at Maria, his confused expression still present.
"What's going on?" He whispered. Maria smiled. She leaned over and captured his lips in a tender kiss. Michael slowly reached up and buried one of his hands in her golden hair. Sierra's eyes widened slightly. Whoa…When did they get back together? She wondered. She continued watching as the kiss ended and some whispered words were exchanged between the two. Then, Maria took Michael's hand in hers as he stood up and the two quietly left the Valenti home. Sierra shut the door and stepped over Isabel and Liz, making her way to the window. She saw Michael and Maria walking together, hand in hand, in what looked like the direction of Michael's apartment. Sierra smirked gently to herself before crawling back into Kyle's bed.
-
Maria and Michael kissed hungrily as they backed into his apartment, hands roaming each other's body. Michael backed Maria towards his room where she gently fell backwards onto his bed, bringing him down on top of her. Their clothes were soon thrown onto the floor as they slowly rediscovered one another.