Special thanks to the reviewers of the previous chapter: SaveKenny, juliecollard87, Storyteller906 , maipigen and lkaplon. I love getting feedback:)
Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell, or anything related to it..
Pairing: Liz/Kyle in this chap.
Author's note: I like Kyle as a character, not with Liz though..
"Liz!" Liz heard her boyfriend calling out to her and stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Liz!" Kyle said again rushing to her. "I've been calling you for two days. Why aren't you answering my calls?"
"Um.." Liz thought for a minute. The truth was she had completely forgotten about Kyle. Her mind was so busy with Maria that it didn't occur to her to call Kyle back or at least send him a text.
Kyle's face dropped while waiting for an answer from Liz. He hadn't heard from her since the day of the shooting, and it seemed like she didn't have a valid reason to ignore him for that long.
"I was mostly at the hospital." Liz quickly blurted out. "You know, I was at the hospital waiting for Maria to wake up. I couldn't call you, I'm sorry."
Kyle's expression softened at an apologizing Liz. "No problem." He said putting his hand around her shoulders. "You can make it up tonight."
"Tonight?" Liz asked with a surprised expression. She had a promise to Maria to go directly to the hospital after school and she truly didn't feel like hanging out with the jock.
"Don't tell me you forgot to pick your costume up." Kyle shook her head disappointedly. "I know you were upset over Maria but..."
"Of course I have it." Liz piped in, faking an enthusiastic smile. "How could I forget the Crashfest?"
"Oh." Kyle smiled happily. "I thought you were gonna blow me off. Alright then, I'll see you tonight."
Liz stared at him tiredly. She didn't want to go to that stupid festival, but she had seen the look on Kyle's face when he thought she had forgotten their date. She felt a pang of guilt, she was completely ignoring him lately. "I'm looking forward to it." She said, holding his hand. "Pick me up at eight?"
"Sure." Kyle gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I gotta go now. See you at eight."
"Bye!" Liz shouted after him. As she walked to the class, she frowned. Now that she didn't have time to find a decent costume to herself, she had to wear Maria's tacky one.
x x x x x
"I need to tell them." Max mumbled to himself as he made his way towards the table Michael and Isabel were sitting at.
"Hi." Isabel said taking a bite from her apple. As soon as he sat down, she asked. "You're coming to the Crashfest, right?"
"Maybe." Max replied. "Why?"
"Michael says he won't come. Please tell him to come. I know he doesn't have better things to do."
"Hey, I'm sitting here." Michael said slightly annoyed. "Look Izzy, that festival is stupid. I don't wanna waste my time."
"But you have nothing else to do." Isabel whined. "You have to come with us Michael. We can dress up and..."
"You can dress up." Max interrupted. "If we come, we won't wear costumes. Right Michael?"
"Yeah." Michael said drawing off a little bit. "If we come.."
x x x x x
"Maria, hey!" Liz hurriedly walked into the hospital room.
Maria's eyes lightened when she saw her friend. She was freaking out since the nurse noticed the glowing hand print which wasn't going away. She needed to tell someone before she exploded. "Liz, thank God." She breathed out. "I really need to show you someth.."
"Maria." Liz cut her words without listening. "I need your costume asap. Kyle had asked me to the Crashfest a couple of weeks ago and I completely forgot. I know I promised you to stay but I've been giving him the cold shoulder since the shooting so I couldn't say no.."
Maria looked at her babbling friend sadly. She couldn't ruin her night. She would show it to her tomorrow. "Sure chica." She answered. "Just call my mom, she's home right now and she'll give it to you."
"Thanks Maria!" Liz squealed. "You're the best."
"Have fun!" Maria said trying to give her a sincere smile before she left the room.
After she closed the door, Maria took a deep breath trying to hold back the tears caused by fear and frustration. She slowly took off her top and examined the hand print closely for a while. It seemed a little faded and she hoped it would go away soon. She had no idea what that was, but it was scaring her too much and she needed to show it to Liz sooner or later. Liz knew about those things better than her.
As soon as she put back on her top, Alex appeared at the door.
"Hi." Maria said not bothering to smile.
"Are you okay?" Alex approached the bed with a concerned look in his eyes. "You look down. What happened? Where's Liz?"
"Kyle's taking her to the Crashfest." Maria replied. "I'm fine Alex, I just want to get out of here. I missed home."
"Aw." Alex said in a slightly mocking voice. "Don't worry, you only have to put up with this for a couple more days."
"I know." Maria sighed pushing her thoughts about the hand print aside. "Anyway, since Liz abandoned me tonight you can start entertaining me..."
x x x x x
"You look hot!" Kyle exclaimed as soon as Liz opened the door. "This is really different for you, but you look hot!"
"Thanks." Liz said kindly, trying to hide her annoyance. So, Kyle obviously wanted her to dress differently because if it hadn't been for Maria, she would never be seen in that ugly green costume. "Shall we?" She stepped out.
"Yeah." Kyle followed her, after he got to check out her ass from the tight pants. "Let's go."
The car ride was pretty much silent. Kyle wanted to make small talk but Liz felt already bored, so she dodged his questions with short answers. After they got out, she let Kyle wrap his arm around her possessively, showing her off to everyone because she didn't want to be completely rude.
Kyle felt that she acted somewhat distant, but he didn't mind it much. She had rough couple of days and Kyle understood what she felt when her best friend was shot. Tonight all it mattered was that she was right beside him, in a sexy outfit. He pulled her closer, making sure everyone saw that she was his girl.
Liz saw familiar faces everywhere, almost everyone from school was there. She gave Max Evans a small smile when she saw her, he was with his sister Isabel and that Michael guy like always. Max didn't smile back though, his eyes were fixed on Kyle but he gave her a quick nod before turning to his sister.
"Having fun?" Kyle asked a couple of hours later. Liz couldn't tell him the truth, she couldn't tell him that the Crashfest was lame without Maria making funny comments and giving her a good laugh. Instead she nodded. "It was great. I'm glad we came."
"Me too." Kyle said checking the clock. "Wow, it's getting late. We should head back then? I don't wanna piss of your dad."
"You won't." Liz laughed before adding "If we leave now."
After Kyle walked her to the door, he stood expectantly for a "thanks for the great night" kiss. Liz wrapped her arms around him, and pretended that she wanted it more than anything when their lips met. She always felt something off in Kyle's kisses, but she was beginning to see that it was valid for their relationship too, or "casual dating" as Liz would like to call. She broke the kiss a while later, and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
"Goodnight Kyle, I'll see you at school."
"Night Liz." Kyle said grinning, still under the effect of the kiss.
Liz went directly to her room, took off the ridiculous garment and changed into her pajamas. She would normally call Maria and discuss the night if she wasn't at the hospital, but she was and Liz had to wait until tomorrow. For a quick while, she wondered what she would do if Maria never made it and silently thanked God for not taking her friend away.
x x x x x
"Is Liz dating Valenti?" Max immediately asked Isabel seeing Kyle clutching Liz tightly.
Michael's eyebrow raised as he smirked. It was obvious that he found Max's crush on Liz very amusing.
"Yeah." Isabel said knowing it would break her brother's heart but there was no point in lying. "It's something casual though."
Max's jaw clenched as he looked away. Michael huffed seeing the night was over for Max. They both hadn't wanted to come in the first place but Izzy had some good persuasion skills.
"Come on Maxwell." Michael said lazily. "Kyle will dump her eventually. Do you think they'll get married and have three kids?"
Max didn't answer but his face told everything. He didn't like seeing Kyle touching his Liz at all. Unfortunately Liz wasn't his, at least for now.
They spent some more time wandering around, and Isabel decided it was time to go home. Before they left, she scanned the crowd with her eyes and whispered. "Do you see all those people? They have no idea aliens are just among them and they will never know. Just like we will never fit in. We always have to be careful, keep it as a secret and I'm tired of even lying to my parents."
Michael put an assuring hand on Isabel's shoulder. "I know Iz, but it's the only way. As long as we have each other, we will make it."
Max just watched them silently. He was trying to fight the guilt he was feeling. Maybe he shouldn't have done something to expose themselves for Maria, as Isabel didn't get to tell truth even to their parents. But what was done was done and he hoped it would never be found out. He pushed the urge to confess what he did to Isabel and Michael inside, nobody needed to know it.
x x x x x
"Alex." Maria half-opened her eyes. "You're leaving?"
"Yeah." Alex nodded. "You've been asleep for half an hour so I'll just head home. Go back to sleep."
"Thanks for staying." She smiled. "See you tomorrow?"
"You can count on it." Alex answered. "Sweet dreams Maria."
"Bye Alex."
Maria quickly went back to sleep. She was immediately back to that familiar scene in her dream, a hand pressing to her stomach, the warmth she felt and that voice. Everything was so familiar, like a distant memory. Then a flood of images started but it was too fast. Maria could only catch the scene where two little boys and a girl stood in the middle of the desert. "Stay with me and close your eyes" the voice said, and it dawned on Maria that the warmth from the hand she was feeling pressed on her skin was what left behind the glowing hand print.