Maggie laid on the old green couch in the room at Buck's. Her breath was coming in short little rasps and it was nearly 4:00 in the morning, but she still couldn't seem to fall asleep. She sighed softly as she listened to the 3 guys in the room snore loudly. She had gone back to Buck's with them after the Curtis' had went to bed but she hadn't spoken a word to Val. Pete and Bennie had no idea what was going on between the two and filled the silence with random arguments about this and that. But Maggie was grateful.
She couldn't get her mind off of Val. She was still trying to piece together what he had meant. Was it really that wrong? Was liking him really that wrong? She flipped over on the couch and buried her head in the cushion for a moment, growling to herself in anger. If only she could just relax and get her mind off of everything else she would be able to fall sleep. The sun would be coming up soon which meant Val, Bennie, and Pete would be getting up around nine. Which left her 5 hours of sleep if she could fall asleep. But sleep didn't seem to be coming to her which left her to toss and turn.
She let out a little whimper and turned to look up at the water stained ceiling. She could feel her heart beating in her chest and she couldn't believe it wasn't broken. She had been through so much in the past 3 days now that she was surprised she even still had a heart. Let alone a beating one. She shot up without thinking. She was still thinking about Val and every time she even thought about the kiss she would get little tingles all over her body. Oh how she wished she could jump into that bed right now and snuggle right up to him.
She didn't even know where these feelings had come from. She was guessing that they had already been there for a while but had just decided to rear its ugly head yesterday. She quickly cursed her feelings for making her look like an idiot before she climbed over Bennie on the floor and walked out of the room. Her feet made little padding sounds on the old wooden floor as she headed down the stairs and out into the dew covered grass. She shivered when her bare feet started to get covered with water but she walked on. She just couldn't stand to be couped up inside that room with 3 snoring boys right now. She didn't have the nerves to do it or the patience.
She sighed heavily and plopped down in the wet grass, immediately starting to shiver as her pajama pants started to soak. She didn't care if she caught a cold she just wanted some alone time to think. She curled herself up, bringing her legs to her chest and then resting her chin in between her knees. Her mind was running at about a thousand miles per second and she couldn't seem to slow it down. Memories, thoughts, heartache. It was all mixed into one and she couldn't seem to sort out one from the other. It was all a big jumble in her mind.
"What're you doing out here?" Maggie's heart skipped a beat as soon as the tired voice reached her ears. She whipped her head around to see Val shirtless and rubbing his tired eyes with calloused hands. She opened her mouth to retort but the words didn't seem to come out. She closed it, only to open it a few seconds later.
"I could ask you the same thing." she blurted out without thinking. She closed her mouth quickly, reddening when she realized her voice had come out high pitched and nervous. She turned back around, facing the rising sun again.
Why couldn't she get a few moments of peace? A few moments for thinking?
Before Maggie knew it Val had sat down next to her, his long legs stretching out and his hands coming to rest on his knees. She tried not to pay attention to the muscles rippling in his arms and torso, but it was a little hard.
What was he doing here anyway? He had ended things before they had even started. Her ached from even thinking about it and she willed the thought away.
"Did you get any sleep at all?" he asked a few minutes later, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them.
"No." Maggie admitted, her voice small. She could see Val nod his head out of the corner of her eye, but chose to ignore it.
"Me neither." he admitted also. It was her turn to nod this time, even though her heart was beating at about a thousand miles per hour.
"Why not?" she managed to ask as she picked at the grass in front of her.
"I think you know the answer to that question." was his quick reply. Maggie's head snapped up and her hand stopped in mid picking motion. Her mouth hung slightly agape as she looked up at him from her slumped form. He looked down at her, his eyes unwavering. It was almost like he was taunting her, daring her to say something. She shivered and looked away quickly. She almost made the mistake of starting to hope that he would take everything back, but she stopped herself before she could even get started.
"I better get in and take a shower. The rest of the guys will be waking up soon." her voice was some what cold as she said it, but she felt like she was floating above her body. She still didn't know what to think. Didn't know what to do. She could talk to him about it and ask him what was going on. But that would be risking her own feelings. Which she had already done too much by now. She unraveled herself from her ball and stood up, her pants sticking to the back of her legs. She headed in without a word and without a sound, leaving Val there by himself on the grass.
She was tempted to cry and she was tempted to run back to him and kiss the hell out of him, but she did neither. Instead she kept on her way, taking her steps one by one until she got to the staircase, in which case she took it two by two. (hehe)
"Why the hell are you all wet?" Maggie groaned loudly and stepped up the last step before looking up. Dallas was the last thing she needed right now.
"None of your business, Winston." Maggie snapped back, rubbing her temples with her finger tips.
"Bitchy much?" he retorted, taking a step towards her.
"Yes!" she hissed out while trying to pass him. He stepped in front of her of course and she was actually tempted to throw him down the stairs.
But she didn't.
Where was all this hostility coming from, lately?
"Move, Winston!" she growled, or somewhat growled, half of it would be considered a whimper.
"What's wrong?" Dally asked suddenly, going from mean to serious in seconds. Maggie sighed heavily and shoved his chest, trying to get him to move, but it was no use.
"Please move, Dally. I can't handle this right now!" she pleaded finally, hoping being nice to him would get him to move.
"Problem, Winston?" a new voice rang out. Maggie groaned again and closed her eyes, silently wishing that this was not happening.
"I don't know, is there?" Dally retorted to Val. Maggie swore she could slice through the tension with a butter knife as Val got closer to Dal.
"There's no problem. Now the both of you can shut up and go on your separate ways." Maggie snapped stepping in between Val and Dal before they could go at it.
It didn't do any good.
She ended up sandwiched in between two, at least 6 foot tall, muscular guys, that were very angry. She could barely breathe and to top it off she was panicking.
"Would you guys please not do this?" Maggie pleaded, squirming as the two guys got even closer and her lung capacity became smaller.
"Do what?" Val asked innocently, not taking his eyes off of Dally as he said it.
"This!" Maggie snapped back with a growl. She stomped her foot childishly, not knowing what to do with herself right now. Not knowing what to do with anything going on in her life.
"Screw it!" she said finally, throwing her hands up and pushing the two guys away from her. She ran past Dal and closed the door to the room before anyone could follow her. She stomped over to her bag, grabbed some random clothes and stomped back to the bathroom before Val could come back into the room. She could feel the hot burn of tears as they sprung into her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She refused to let life get the best of her. She had been through much worse then this and she got through all of it. So she could get through this.
She turned the knobs on the shower before undressing and hopping in. The steam wrapped around her like a hot blanket and she welcomed it with open arms. It was almost like she was dreaming or asleep. She didn't have to think, her mind just went blank. She stood there, letting the water beat down on her back and relaxed, letting her mind wonder off and her muscles go weak. Oh how she wished she could stay there all day. But she knew she couldn't.
She wrapped herself up in a towel about 10 minutes later and stepped out. Water dripped off of her leg and she shivered as cold air met her on the other side of the shower certain. She rummaged through her clothes to see what she had grabbed and cursed when she found she had actually forgotten a pair of underwear.
There was only one choice.
She had to go out and get some.
She sighed heavily and wrapped her towel even tighter before opening the door a crack and taking a glance around the room. She found Bennie and Pete in the same places they had been and quickly hurried out the door and into the main bedroom. She shivered even more and goosebumps rose on her arms. She stepped over Bennie and headed towards the table where her bag sat. She tucked the corner of her towel under her arm so she could use her arms freely and then started rummaging through her back.
"Ah!" she whispered to herself as she snatched up the pair of underwear at the bottom of her bag. She smiled to herself before closing the flap on her bag and turning around.
Oh, shit, she thought as she stopped dead in her tracks. She gulped slowly, her cheeks flushing a deep shade of red, almost maroon.
Val was standing in front of her and she was only in a towel...with a pair of red underwear in her hand no less. She gulped again, trying to look like she wasn't in a really awkward situation.
Please don't let my towel fall, please don't let my towel fall...
She laughed nervously and looked up at Val, who now had on a pair of jeans and boots. He looked like he was in the process of getting dressed.
"How long have you been standing there?" she whispered to him, her face still maroon. He shrugged and she could tell he was trying to hide and smirk. She shook her head and started towards the bathroom again, stepping over Bennie. She glanced quickly at Val as she started to pass him, to find him watching her.
"You smell good." he said as he grabbed her arm and stopped her in her tracks.
She turned around to face him, her heart beating even faster then it had been a while ago. She gulped again and shrugged. "I did just get out of the shower." she answered. She shivered as his hand ran up her wet arm, tracing over her goosebumps. She turned around to face him, her his meeting the middle of his pecks. She slowly trailed them upwards until she met his eyes.
She realized, with must enthusiasm, that they looked like they had last night...right before he had kissed her.
His hand continued to trail upwards until it reached the nape of her neck and then from there he grabbed a handful of her hair gently. She could feel the water dripping from her hair and onto his hand and shivered again. He was so close...
She looked down, her hopes were starting to rise, the exact same thing she didn't want to happen was happening.
Her eyes went back up and met with his against her will, but she didn't look away again. They staid like that. His hand in her hair, their eyes locked. Maggie realized after a few minutes that to random on lookers, or Pete and Bennie for that matter, would think that something really strange was going on, which only made her blush deepen. She could feel Val's chest rumble as he laughed at her and she smiled up at him...but he wasn't smiling.
Maggie stopped smiling when she felt Val's hand tighten in her hair. She gave him a questioning look but was cut off when he pulled her to him. She fell against his hard chest and his lips crashed onto hers patiently. She whimpered, unprepared, but finally melted into it. Her wet hands trailed up his chest and wrapped them selves around his neck. She knew she shouldn't have but she couldn't stop herself. The feeling he gave her was just so great...
Val pulled away suddenly, making Maggie stumble forward.
"Let me guess." she interrupted him, breathless. "You shouldn't be doing this." she finished for him. He looked down at her with sad eyes and nodded. She nodded also, disappointed and almost in tears.
"I get." she said, even though she didn't. She didn't get it at all. Why was he doing this to her if he thought it was wrong all along? But he was still leading her on and still doing this to her.
She rushed back to the bathroom, after picking up the underwear she had dropped, and sat down on the toilet. She buried her head in her hands...and cried.
Maggie stood on the Shepard's front porch about 20 minutes later. She had stepped into close, brushed her hair and teeth, and applied make up, but she was sure, now, that all of her makeup had been washed away.
She wiped at her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time as she knocked on the door. She wasn't for sure if anyone would be up yet. She had been tempted to go in, but for some reason she had stopped herself. She was in dire need of a talk with her friend Angela and she needed it now. She couldn't handle her own thoughts anymore. She needed someone to talk to and the only girl friend she had was Angela.
"What?" a voice snapped before the door was thrown open.
"Mr. Shepard." Maggie greeted coldly before stepping around him. She had hated the guy ever since she had met him. He was worse then any other father she had met before and she didn't blame any of the Shepard kids for being as mean as they were, anymore.
She headed up the stairs, her heart itching to relieve all of her pent up emotions. She took the stairs two at a time, still wiping at her eyes, and finally reached Angel's room. Which was of course closed. She opened it just a crack to make sure that Angel was the only one in the room before she threw it open the rest of the way and closed it behind her. The room was pitch black with curtains drawn over the windows. Maggie knew that it was because half of the time Angel had a hang over and the sun bothered her.
"Angel?" she questioned as she stepped towards the bed, hoping she didn't trip over anything.
"Go away!" was the muffled reply.
"I can't!" Maggie snapped. "I need to talk to you." she pleaded.
"Who is it anyway?" another muffled reply. Maggie laughed coldly. Angel definitely had a hang over.
"It's Maggie." Maggie answered.
"Ok, ok. Turn on the light." Angel answered. Maggie nodded even though Angel couldn't see her and headed back towards the door where she flipped on the light.
"What's so important?" Angel asked as she shielded her eyes with a pillow. Maggie sighed heavily before launching into all the details of everything that had happened so far. Explaining about Val, and Dal, and Steve and everybody else. Her eyes would occasionally tear up but she would wipe it away and go on. Angel listened contently, despite her head ache, and Maggie was forever greetful.
"You know what you need?" Angel said when Maggie was done explaining.
"What?" Maggie asked with a suspicious smile.
"A party at Buck's. He's having a really big one tonight. I can't believe you didn't hear about it." Angel answered with a surprised looked. Maggie shrugged and smiled slowly.
"Well, anyway. We're going to dress you up and make you look really hot. And then we're going to show this Val guy what he's missing!" Angel explained, clapping her hands excitedly. Maggie laughed and wiped her eyes again.
"What do you say?" Angel urged. Maggie nodded slowly. What else did she have to do?
Angel shrieked excitedly and hopped off of the bed, her head ache forgotten as she head to her closet and started rummaging through her belongings. Angel muttered to herself every now and then and cursed a few times here or there.
"Hey, Angel, I'm going to go get a glass of water." Maggie called out to her. Maggie headed towards the door and stepped out, closing the door behind her. She headed down the stairs slowly. She felt a lot better then she had. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, but she still had a lot of tough problems to sort out. Just thinking about it made more tears spring to her eyes and she brushed them away, yet again.
She sighed heavily as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cabinet before filling it up with some water. She leaned on the counter as she drank half the glass. She set the glass back on the counter and slowly turned around, jumping when she caught sight of Tim leaning on the doorway.
"What're you doing here?" she asked him, crossing her arms over her chest self consciously.
"It's my house." he answered back coldly. Maggie nodded back slowly, seeing his point.
"Right then." she answered finally, avoiding eye contact with him.
"You look like shit." he said a few moments later. Maggie looked up at him sharply with a glare.
"Thanks." she said sarcastically.
"No problem." he answered, finally stepping away from the door frame and coming into the kitchen.
Maggie shook her head slowly to herself before pushing off the counter and heading back out of the kitchen, wishing things weren't so weird between her and Tim anymore. They had both moved on to different things, but things were still weird, and Maggie regretted it.
She took the steps two at a time again and finally ended up back in Angel's room. Angel sat on her bed, tapping her bare foot impatiently as she waited for Maggie.
Maggie let out a laugh at the picture before walking further into the room to look at the outfit Angel had picked out for her.
"Are you sure?" Maggie asked hesitantly as she looked down at the black mini skirt and small white tee shirt Angel had picked out for her. Angel's face spread into a wide smile as she nodded her head and laughed.
"Definitely!" she insisted. Maggie laughed and nodded slowly before letting Angel drag her to the bathroom. Angel persisted in doing her hair and then her makeup. By the time Maggie was done she was all decked out with strait hair, very light but pretty make up, and a HOT outfit...or so Angel said. Maggie, though, was not so comfortable with it. But she didn't say anything. Instead she followed Angel down the stairs and out to her brother's car. Tim gave her a few un-needed glances in the car as he drove them to Buck's but Maggie tried to act normal.
The only thing that was one her mind though, was Val and getting him to notice her. She knew, somehow, that he would be at Buck's tonight. She groaned inwardly at the sick, butterfly feeling she got in her stomach and willed it away. But she knew it wouldn't stop.
Because she knew she really really liked Val.
