Part 45
Isabel tossed and turned, unable to relax after Liz's unexpected revelation several hours earlier. The light from the television flickered across the walls but she barely noticed it. She knew Kyle was in the living area, probably zoning out as he stared at the screen. He had been surfing the ten channels since they had come back, the volume turned down just low enough that the sound was muffled and she couldn't make out what was being said. She wondered what had made him go along with Liz when she had hatched her plan to make Max believe she had slept with Kyle. He had seemed to be interested in Tess at that point so it didn't really make sense why he would go along with that particular request.
She finally rolled over and got out of bed, annoyed at her inability to do something as simple as sleep. She stretched, wincing when her body protested at even more movement. She walked into the living area and wandered past Kyle to sit down next to his bent legs. He was lying on the loveseat, legs bent at the knees and the remote tapping rhythmically against his right knee. His eyes flicked away from the screen for a moment before going back to the infomercial he had stopped on for a moment.
"Can't sleep?" she asked after a few minutes.
"Not likely to happen after tonight," he said, reaching up to rub his forehead. He nodded at the television. "If this is botherin' you I can turn it off."
She shook her head. "No, like you said, probably won't happen tonight." She watched him unobtrusively, taking in the pinched look in his features.
"Can you believe that people actually buy this stuff?" He turned up the volume minimally, listening as the advertiser on the screen enthusiastically went on about a dog collar that stopped the animal from barking. "Like that's gonna work." He snorted. "Although, if it did really work, maybe we could get one for Maria for Christmas. Maybe she could use it on El Capitan."
Isabel laughed slightly at that mental image as she got up and went to grab the fleece blanket off of her bed. She dropped it on the back of the loveseat before disappearing into the bathroom for a minute. "Shift down a bit," she said when she returned.
Kyle tipped his head back to look at her, acquiescing to her quiet, but insistent, demand. He settled his head in her lap at her gentle urging and he sighed when she placed the warm, damp washcloth across his forehead.
"The TV isn't bothering me, but that light flickering is only gonna make your headache worse."
He shrugged one shoulder. "S'okay." He turned the volume down all the way and resumed his channel surfing.
She leaned over just enough to take the remote from him, leaving the television on the weather channel. "Close your eyes." When he complied with her request she placed her fingertips at his temples and started to rub them slowly, applying just enough pressure to work on the tension there. She smiled to herself when he stretched out and let his legs dangle over the opposite arm of the loveseat.
How many times had he been there for her? Or for the others? How many times had they returned the favor? They needed him, relied on him, and now she was realizing just how much he needed her. As the pressure behind his temples began to ease she removed her hands and reached up to rest her right arm along the back of the loveseat. She stared at the television, wondering if the forecast of more snow would keep them stationary for just a while longer.
She glanced down at Kyle when he shifted to cross his arms over his chest and she pulled the fleece blanket down, covering him. She tugged it around so that she had a corner of it before turning her attention back to the weather. She played with the ends of his hair where it brushed against her hand and after a while she began to absentmindedly run her fingers through it. She felt herself begin to relax when his breathing began to slow and before long it evened out, indicating that he had fallen asleep.
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Max dropped down to sit on the bed after Liz excused herself to go to the bathroom to collect herself. He stared down at his hands, watching the light catch his ring and throw a reflection against the wall. This is my fault, he thought. Every bit of it, it was all on him. I'm the one who did this to her. Why had he dragged his feet with Tess? He hadn't fought hard enough or been the leader they needed him to be when it had counted.
He had nearly walked them all right into a trap. If it hadn't been for Michael doing the one thing he would never have expected him to do they would all be dead right now. Or at least he and Michael would be dead. Given Khivar's obsession with Isabel he didn't know if she would've been spared or not. His son would be in Khivar's hands. He hadn't known how to be a leader. What did he know at 16 or 17 years old?
He listened to the sound of water running in the bathroom sink and shook his head. Had he come back from the future to enlist her help in making him fall out of love with her? 14 years older and he had really believed such nonsense was possible? How could he ask her to even attempt such a thing after spending those years with her? He had to know that there was no way that what he felt for her was a passing thing. After seeing her in bed with Kyle he had felt betrayed but he had never come close to falling out of love with her.
You may not have fallen out of love with her but you let it push you apart, his conscience taunted. He had known something was all wrong with that scene but it had hit him like a punch in the gut. It wasn't just seeing her and Kyle together like that. No, it was so much more than that. She had been smiling, laughing openly at something the other guy had said. At a time when he couldn't seem to make her happy Kyle had managed to give her a moment of carefree laughter. In that moment he had seen her the way she had been before he had come into her life and screwed everything up.
He dropped his head in his hands as he thought about the repercussions of his future self's decision to come back and alter the timeline. Tess was still gone, which meant they were missing their fourth. Their unit was incomplete. They were running for their lives with no clue what they were doing next. Alex was dead. Had that happened in that other timeline? He had gotten Tess pregnant; something that he could only assume hadn't happened before he had come back and royally screwed up his present timeline. Now he had a son that he would probably never see again.
He winced as he thought about what he and Liz had done during his search for his son. What he had done to Isabel when she had so desperately wanted to escape from everything and go to San Francisco to go to college. His sister had been shot and nearly died. She had tried to move on with Jesse only to have that taken away from her too. He lifted his head and stared at the bathroom door when he heard the water shut off again. He wiped his palms on his thighs as he waited for the door to open.
He had no idea what to say to her. She had carried the burden of his request, suffering the pain of that decision in silence. She wouldn't have given in to such a thing easily. To make her believe him he had put the guilt of Isabel and Michael's deaths on her shoulders. He had watched her and hurt with her and for her as she had described what had happened. How selfish could he be that he would put her in a position like that and expect her to carry that weight around for the rest of her life?
Every thought fled as he watched the doorknob turn and without realizing it he stopped breathing as the door opened. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't even sure what he should do. All he knew was she needed him to be the man she believed him to be. He swallowed hard as he stood up and crossed the room to meet her.
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The door shut behind Michael with a quiet click, the sound somehow louder than if he had slammed it. Maria could feel the anger rolling off of him in waves and the fact that he was containing it so well made it all the more volatile. His eyes were burning into her as she pulled off her outer gear and hung her things up. She glanced at the darkened doorway that led to the bathroom and decided she needed to make her escape.
Michael turned to wedge the chair up under the doorknob, unconsciously giving her a momentary reprieve. He stared at his hands where they were wrapped around the back of the chair and he forced his fingers to uncurl. Almost two years, he thought. Why hadn't she told him about what had happened in all that time? He turned when he caught movement from the corner of his eye and he saw Maria heading out of the room. "Goin' somewhere?"
"I thought I'd take a bath," she started, but knew by the look on his face that she wasn't going to be making that escape any time soon.
"Tell me how you know what Liz was talkin' about." He reached up to unzip his coat, never taking his eyes off of her. "And I mean exactly, Maria. Don't leave anything out."
Maria felt terrible as she watched him methodically strip off his outerwear and put it away, piece by piece. His words back at the other cabin were ringing in her ears and her heart thumped heavily in her chest, hurting at the knowledge that he now had one more reason to doubt his trust in her.
"Did you or Liz ever consider that guy was dangerous? What made you think some artifact claimin' to be Max from the future was the genuine article? I know why Liz believed it, but damn it, Maria! You should've known better! Did you even stop to think that by keepin' that secret you were deciding for all of us how our futures would end up?" His eyes, blazing with anger, followed every movement she made and he softened fractionally when he saw her shiver and he noticed just how cold it was in the cabin now that the fire had been out for a while.
Maria flinched when his right hand shot up, setting the logs in the fireplace ablaze. She wasn't afraid of him, wasn't worried that he would ever hurt her, but she hadn't been expecting the sudden move. She could see the tension pulling his tall frame taut and she knew he was releasing some of his pent-up frustration with the situation. It was a safety valve to vent some of the pressure from the anger boiling up inside of him.
"Do you have any idea just how much of a risk you took by keepin' this a secret? Fine, Liz had an obligation to some time traveler who may or may not have been Max. But you should've told me! I had a right to know that you and Liz were makin' decisions that affected, and possibly altered, my future!"
Maria was watching him, wide-eyed and incredulous as he hurled accusations. Yes, she felt like she had let him down again, but damn it, she wasn't going to take this line of questioning! "You really wanna talk about rights?" she shouted as she recalled just how tumultuous things had been between them at the time. "Really? That's where you wanna go with this… this… conversation?"
Michael crowded her as her anger sparked off of his and he saw her green eyes darken as her temper ignited. "You're the one who's been keepin' secrets!"
"Me? When should I have told you? When you were ignoring me? When you were chasing after Courtney like a slobbering dog? When you were risking your life to haul out that creepy husk when we were trying to escape Halloween town?" Rationally, she knew the things were unrelated, but the fact was he didn't know when exactly Liz had received a visit from Future Max and that whole thing with Courtney had just complicated her already complicated relationship with Michael.
"I told you there was somethin' off about her! Someone needed to find out what she was doin' in Roswell."
"And you needed to do that in her apartment? Down to your tee shirt and her running around in a bath towel? Maybe we could've sat down and had a heart to heart talk about Future Max when Courtney showed up at the Crashdown in her new husk thingy… and isn't it funny how you had that thing and for her to slip it on or whatever she needed access to a bathtub? How stupid do you think I am, Michael?"
"What does one thing have to do with the other?" he yelled, not wanting to revisit that timeframe. "That doesn't have a damn thing to do with this. I can add, Maria! I know exactly when Liz started to push Max at Tess… and when his dumb ass gave in!" He shook his head at her. "You had plenty of opportunities to bring this up to me."
"What does one thing have to do with the other?" she repeated stupidly. "I don't know, Michael. What could catching you with her in her apartment, in a towel, have to do with me feeling disconnected from you? We weren't exactly in a good place at the time if you'll recall!"
A heavy silence fell between them in the aftermath of her outburst and she moved to stand at the kitchen sink, arms folded over her chest defensively as she stared at her reflection in the window. The truth about Future Max had come out and somehow things had gotten turned around and she and Michael were caught up in another stalemate. He wasn't giving an inch on that damn Courtney situation and she just knew pursuing it would only reignite the argument that was running them in circles.
She barely registered a nearly inaudible humming sound before something popped loudly and they were plunged into darkness.
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Liz sat on the rim of the bathtub, her blurry eyes staring unseeingly at the water running from the faucet to swirl around the sink before disappearing down the drain. Her tears ran down her face unchecked, dripping off of her chin and falling to the floor to be absorbed by the thick bathmat underfoot. More tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over as the bathroom around her seemed to shift and in her mind's eye it transformed into her bathroom back home.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying hard to force the images away but it was no use. She could see herself standing in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to psyche herself up to climb into bed with Kyle. Trying to convince herself that she was doing the right thing, that crushing Max and destroying his trust in her was what had to be done. She could remember how unnerving it had been to be in the cramped space with an older Max who had claimed to know things about her that hadn't even happened yet. She had been scared to believe him and terrified that he was telling the truth and everyone they cared about was going to die because of them.
She could still recall his scoffing tone at the mere thought that she would enlist Kyle's help, so certain that he would never be jealous of the other guy. It wasn't about jealousy though. She had seen the look in his eyes when he had seen them together. In her bed, just enough skin exposed to make him think the worst of them. He had been devastated, he had felt betrayed, and she had been responsible for putting that look in his eyes. She had hurt him more deeply with that single moment in time than everything else he had ever experienced combined and it had nearly killed her to do it.
She swallowed hard, her throat burning as she tried to force the lump there back down. His future self had no idea what he had done to her by asking her to betray him. On the rare occasion that she let her thoughts drift back to that night she wondered why the future version of him had disappeared. Max hadn't really believed that she had slept with Kyle, not at first anyway. He had fought against it. He had hounded her for a while, trying to get her to tell him the truth. If he had ever really believed it he had known the truth on their wedding night. There was no faking that.
Had they really altered the future? Did it even matter anymore? His last words to her were a contradiction to what he had demanded that she do. "It's what I've always said to you, Liz. We create our own destiny." God, what if she had been fooled by some shape-shifter or some other kind of alien? Her breath caught in her throat and she leaned forward, her arms crossed over her middle as she tried to hold herself together. What if that decision had altered events and led to Alex's death? Had one of her dearest friends died because of something she had done? She clenched her teeth together in an effort to hold the pain inside.
Her throat felt raw and it hurt to swallow. She nearly choked when she drew in a deep breath and her eyes burned as more moisture was forced to the surface. She turned her head to stare at the door, knowing that her husband was on the other side reliving his own pain. Pain that she was responsible for causing. She knew Max though, and as much as his own pain would be surfacing, it would be vying for recognition between his guilt for his future self putting her in that position and the pain he would be feeling for her because she was hurting and he couldn't fix it.
She knew she should've talked to him about this long ago but somehow it had slipped through the cracks in their relationship and they had been content to leave it there. Like Tess and Zan, it had become a topic that was swept under the rug and left ignored because neither of them wanted to deal with it. Her grip on her waist eased at the realization that the truth was out. He knew what she had done and why she had done it. She slowly unfolded herself, lifting her hands to wipe her face. Part of the weight that she had been carrying for so long melted away as she straightened up and she winced as she reached for the toilet paper, unrolling a few sheets so she could blow her nose.
She stood up on rubbery legs and made her way over to the sink, bending over and cupping her hands to catch the cool water so she could splash it in her face. The cool water was a contrast to the heated flesh of her face and she sighed as she patted handfuls of water against her skin. She sighed and reached for a hand towel to pat her face dry, carefully avoiding her reflection as she stood upright again. No need to scare herself. If she had visual confirmation of just how bad she looked she might be tempted to just hide in the bathroom and avoid her husband for the rest of the night.
She ran her hands over her hair out of habit before straightening her clothes once more and reaching for the doorknob.
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Maria barely had time to register the darkness when Michael's solid body suddenly slammed into her, knocking the breath from her lungs. She could feel his arms around her waist pinning her against him as he swung her around, pulling her away from the exposure of the window. Her pounding heart was beating in time with his and she could feel it thumping madly beneath his skin.
He was already in overdrive after everything that had come out tonight and his senses were screaming at him to pack them all up and run. In the space of just a few seconds his eyes had swept over the darkened interior of the cabin and come to rest on the window over the kitchen sink. He lifted his gaze to the little light over the sink that had been burning brightly just moments before and he released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
He could still feel the adrenaline flooding his system, a combination of fear from being so suddenly thrown into darkness and the latent anger coursing through his veins in the aftermath of the argument and her throwing Courtney in his face. He didn't want to deal with that situation or with his guilt for the way he had treated her. After learning about the situation with Liz and her visit with some future version of Max he was on edge. He had no idea if it had really happened or if it had just been set up to make her think the guy was from the future. He also didn't know how it affected them in the present… if it affected them. The thought that Maria had known about it and never once told him pushed another barrier between them and set his frustration off again.
His gaze dropped, colliding with hers, and need spiked inside of him, hard and hot. The need to make her his, to drive any doubts from her mind, united with the want setting him on fire and he allowed his actions to speak for him. He hated feeling like there was any distance between them and without thought he sought to bridge that gap. His mouth crashed onto hers and he used his body to propel her across the kitchen and away from the window.
Maria grunted when she was suddenly sandwiched between Michael and the wall between the refrigerator and the hot water tank. The old phrase 'caught between a rock and a hard place' entered her mind and struck her as funny for the space a heartbeat. What little air remained in her lungs after colliding with the wall was stolen from her beneath the force of his kisses. She could feel his frustration when he attempted to reach her skin and the sweater she was wearing refused to cooperate with his impatient grasping.
He growled low in his throat, a sound of combined irritation and frustration, and she reached up to release the top three buttons, granting him the access he wanted. His mouth moved from hers, hotly trailing down along her throat and over her collarbone to reach the sensitive tip of her breast. His vocabulary had been reduced to simple grunts interspersed with the occasional groan, but it was a language she had learned to decipher.
Michael shifted, reaching for the fastening on her jeans and grunting when it gave under his insistent tugging. His heart was hammering in his chest, his blood racing through his veins as his rough palm slid over her silky skin. He suckled her nipple and felt his body's reaction to her intensify when she moaned and dug her nails into his shoulders.
Mine, mine, mine. The mantra pounded through his head as he touched her in places no other man had ever been permitted to touch. She was his. She whimpered as her hips fell into rhythm with his hand and he nipped her with his teeth when she started panting her pleasure into his ear.
"Michael… Don't… Don't stop."
He had no intention of stopping. He didn't let up, his mouth and hand pushing her to the edge of ecstasy and culminating in her release.
Maria flexed the fingers of her right hand where they were tangled in his hair as her breathing began to slow. She became aware of Michael's ragged breathing as every hot breath gusted against her flesh. She could feel the trembling in his large frame as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. Her fingers moved over his neck in a soothing manner, giving him time to collect himself. She didn't speak, didn't make a move to touch him any further, knowing as soon as he had himself under control he would take her to bed. She had pushed his buttons and now it was like he had something to prove. She just wasn't sure if he was trying to prove something to himself or to her.
As his breathing began to even out he shifted again and in a single fluid movement he freed his hand and stepped back to lift her up in his arms. He lifted his head and his eyes were filled with hunger and intent. Absent-mindedly she noticed the overstuffed chairs that had become theirs, the shapes outlined by the firelight dancing in the background. He laid her down, his every move filled with purpose as he stripped her and then himself, discarding their clothes before climbing on the bed and moving over her. He was silent as his eyes locked with hers, using his knees to make room for himself. He watched every nuance of emotion flash through across her face as he claimed her and he grunted at the feeling of her body cradling his in the most intimate of embraces.
Maria's arms slid around him, her hands curling over his shoulders as his body rocked against hers. His arms were wrapped around her lower back so tightly she was surprised she didn't snap in half with every thrust. His hot panting breaths left moist imprints on the skin just above her ear, making her shiver. The feeling spread down through her body, radiating out until it seemed to gather where they were joined, intensifying the feeling.
She responded instinctively, her hips returning every demanding thrust. She could feel the stutter of his breath in his chest and her arms tightened around his shoulders. He inhaled deeply, dragging in one last gasp of air in order to sustain his release. She ran her hands over his back, knowing that it wouldn't be long before he moved away from her and she sighed when it happened sooner than she would've liked. She could feel the silence between them like a physical thing and it made her ache inside. In spite of the blankets that he pulled up over them she felt cold and the chasm between them only seemed to widen as they both stared up at the ceiling.
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Max felt tongue-tied when Liz finally stepped out of the bathroom and he got a good look at her. Her pain was palpable and it hurt to see how much she had suffered because of him. He was at a loss as to how to handle the situation. He wanted to make it better for her but he didn't know what to say or do to achieve that goal.
Liz drew up short when she nearly collided with Max. Her eyes, that had been shedding tears nonstop since she had locked herself in the bathroom had dried up and now felt as dry as the desert she had called home. She could see the indecision in his expression and read it in his body language. She knew how much he hated not knowing what to do, and she knew how powerless it made him feel, so she took the decision out of his hands.
He released a ragged sigh of relief when she walked into his arms and he held her tightly against him. He could feel the fine tremors dancing along her frame and he rubbed his hands over her arms even though he knew it had nothing to do with the temperature in the cabin. "I'm sorry, Liz," he whispered. "I should've done something. What happened, that whole future me thing, that's not your fault… none of it."
She pressed her forehead against his chest and one of her hands came up to curl into the fabric of his shirt. "Don't, Max. I can't… not right now."
He nodded and leaned back to take her hands in his, holding them against his chest when she lifted her gaze to his. "We could just go to bed." He backpedaled when her hands twitched under his. "Just to sleep, it's late and you're exhausted."
Liz didn't deny his statement, simply nodding and allowing him to lead her over to their bed. She crawled under the covers fully clothed, too drained physically and emotionally to bother getting undressed. She hardly noticed when he turned the lights out, only moving when he slid into bed and reached for her. She went into his arms willingly, clinging to him and sighing tiredly.
Max held her close, one hand rubbing her back in soothing circles in an effort to calm her down. They would talk about this after she'd had some rest. He had so many questions but he knew as much as he wanted answers, right now she only wanted the peaceful oblivion of sleep. She had been living with this burden for a couple of years so the least he could do was wait for her to be ready to talk about it.
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Julia sighed happily as the soft pillow gently cradled her head in its soft embrace. It had been a long day and without their guests so helpfully keeping the kids occupied, Maggie, Eddie, and Brian had done their best to run her ragged. She loved them dearly but they could be a handful when they put their collective minds to it. In such a short time their guests had become so involved with their family and she smiled sleepily as she recalled the numerous questions her children had posed throughout the day in regard to their guests.
She yawned widely and shifted around, making a happy sound when she found that perfect spot and her body settled in for the night ahead. Her eyes drifted closed as the day caught up with her and she was vaguely aware of Edward coming into the house. He had gone out to work in his shop earlier and she had savored the rare quiet that had fallen over the rooms while he was out and the kids were in bed. Sleep began to pull her under as he went through his nightly routine, checking the windows and doors before making a pit-stop in the kitchen for a late night snack.
The blessed quiet of her evening was ruined when the man she loved more than life itself came into their bedroom and set up a ruckus that could wake the dead. Her eyes squeezed shut and she pulled the pillow over her head in an attempt to block the noise he was making. Edward was a strong, loving man, but dear God in heaven he was clueless when it came to how noisy he was.
She heard his jeans hit the floor, followed quickly by the sound of the handful of coins he carried everywhere escaping the confines of his pocket and bouncing across the wood floor. The racket finally ceased when the last coin found a resting place on the rug and beneath her eyelids she rolled her eyes. All these years and the man hadn't figured out the concept of emptying out his pockets first! She was almost to the point where she could identify just how much change he was carrying just by his nightly ritual of the change chase. She groaned inwardly and shifted when she heard him set his coffee mug on the dresser. There were at least half a dozen ugly whitish rings on what used to be a pretty surface, all courtesy of his blasted coffee mug.
"Oh, good, you're awake," he said when he caught her movements.
Julia just rolled her eyes again and released her grip on the pillow that she had been holding over her ears. A wasted motion for certain. Her husband had selective sight and hearing. "Well, I am now."
He bulldozed on ahead, heedless of the light sarcasm in her tone. "I was comin' back in from the shop and what do you think I saw?"
She groaned quietly, knowing this could take all night. She would be perfectly content to wait until morning but she knew better. Edward was a man of few words, but when he had something to say he could go on and on.
"There's something going on with those kids, Julia. Haven't I been tellin' you that? They were arguing about something, and whatever it was, it was serious. Max and Kyle, those two boys were just about to fight when Michael broke it up."
"Edward, we're agreed that whatever their story is, it's not the one they've told us. No, we don't know why they're really traveling the way they are and truthfully, we may not even know who they really are. But whatever else is going on with them, I believe they're good people. And so do you."
He grunted and moved to the window to look out into the night, his gaze settling on the area where the cabins were located.
"You can grunt and mutter and grumble under your breath all you want to, but you wouldn't have allowed them to stay if you felt they were dangerous."
"Yeah, well… Michael… that boy's seen the uglier side of life. You can see it in the way he watches everyone and everything around him, the way he cares for the people close to him." He sighed and raised his left arm to rest his fist on the frame above his head. "It's an internal awareness of surroundings, a wariness and suspicion of people you don't know, it's in the way you isolate yourself even when you're surrounded by those you trust."
"Edward…" Julia knew where his thoughts were residing and she climbed out of bed to go to him. She reached for the hand at his side, knowing before she touched him that it would be fisted. "I agree with you that the telltale signs are there, but it's really not any of our business. Whatever he's been through he doesn't need us to dredge it up. I'm going to hazard a guess and say that whatever it is, the others know about it. Or at least they know what he's able and willing to share. He's made it through the fire and he's come out stronger for it." She reached up to frame his face with her hands, grazing her fingertips over his stubbled cheeks as she gently guided his eyes to hers. "Just like someone else I know."
"What if they're in trouble?" he asked after several long minutes of silence.
"Maybe they are." She smiled up at him. "It's not our place to judge, Edward. They were sent to us because they needed help and they've done nothing harmful. They've been sweet and caring, they've brought the Christmas spirit back to our little community, and they've also been a welcome addition to our family."
He sighed and nodded, but his gaze was once more drawn to the cabins beyond the window.
"Let it rest, Edward." She stretched up to kiss him when his gaze met hers once more. "Come to bed." He wouldn't be able to fully let it go but maybe for tonight he would give it a rest. In time she was certain he would accept that the kids had been brought to them for a reason but until he was certain he would remain alert to anything questionable that might justify his suspicions.
Edward glanced between the window and then back to her before one corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. She squealed in surprise when he swept her up in his strong arms and carried her to their bed.
"Are you trying to throw your back out again?" she asked, laughing as she looked up at him.
"I don't recall that," he denied as he lowered his mouth to hers.
Um-hmm, it was that selective male memory, she thought before she was otherwise distracted.
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The silence was oppressive.
Maria lay there in the semi-darkness, her eyes following the shadows cast by the tree branches outside the bedroom window. The spindly arms curved over the walls in a grotesque embrace and she blinked the image away. Her thoughts automatically went back to the distance between her and Michael and she struggled to come up with a way to bridge that separation. She had to do something before the weight pressing against her chest suffocated her.
She drew in a deep breath, holding it for a moment before slowly releasing it. She gathered up her courage and risked rejection by daring to seek out his hand beneath the blankets. Her relief was evident when he not only allowed the touch, but took her hand in his in a loose grip. Even though his body language wasn't open or inviting, he had accepted the small gesture.
She squeezed her eyes shut and began to speak, fervently wishing for some of her cedar oil and praying that he wouldn't shut her out. Her voice was low, but easily audible in the otherwise quiet cabin. The branches occasionally dragging against the side of the cabin, the fire crackling in the fireplace, and the low moan of the wind through the trees provided a muted soundtrack to her words.
"I heard a rumor at school about Liz and Kyle. Pam Troy actually got off of her high horse to come up to me and tell me about them becoming… oh, how did she put it?" she mumbled to herself. "Oh, I remember, 'an intimate couple in plain sight of her boyfriend, Max Evans'." She shifted, turning fractionally towards Michael. "I didn't see Liz until my shift at the café later that evening. I asked her about it and told her just how vicious the rumor mill was getting so we could straighten them out, like pronto, but she just stopped me and in this completely blasé way, announced that it was true!"
She shifted again, bunching the pillow up under her head and taking a deep breath as more of the story poured out. "I was so shocked, Michael! I didn't believe her, but then she insisted it was true, and that really hurt. I mean, there was my best friend keeping something like that from me! You know? How could she do that to me? And, Max, how could she do that to him? She wasn't making any sense to me and she wasn't even really talking to me…" She swallowed hard at the memory, relieved all over again that it wasn't true.
Maria glanced at Michael. He was still lying motionless but he hadn't pulled away from her. Her hand was still clasped warmly in his much larger one. "I would've talked to Alex, but as far as we all knew he was in Sweden at the time, and well, you and I weren't really… anyway, I just went home and went to bed." Her eyes filled with tears at the thought of Alex, knowing now that he hadn't been in Sweden on a foreign exchange. She drew in a shaky breath and sighed.
Michael's hand flexed around hers and it relaxed after a moment as his thumb began to stroke her wrist in a soothing manner.
"I woke up to a phone call at like, 3am, to Liz insisting that we meet. You know the fountain at the park in town? She wanted to meet there. When we met up she admitted that she hadn't slept with Kyle but that there was a reason for her making Max think she had." She inhaled slowly. "I had to promise I'd never tell anyone or she wouldn't have told me why she did it… or didn't do it." She made a face. "Whatever. Anyway, that's when she told me about Future Max's visit and what he told her about the world ending because they got married and pushed Tess away, eventually causing her to leave town." She shrugged. "You know the rest of it."
Silence once more descended upon them and she gnawed on her bottom lip as she waited for his response. When they had come into the cabin earlier he had demanded that she tell him what had happened. Now she had told him everything and she was left to wait out the silence that was quickly becoming her enemy.
Michael's mind was turning over what she had told him while balancing it against his own guilt. While he was busy thinking Maria was better off without him and trying to figure out who Courtney was, Liz had coincidentally gotten a visit from some future version of Max. A version of his friend who had convinced her to alienate herself. He shook his head. He didn't believe in coincidence and he was having a serious problem with this whole Future Max story. What had it accomplished? It had alienated Liz from Max and Maria had ended up being drawn into that nightmare.
He didn't like that they had been meeting in the park in the middle of the night. His gut twisted at his next thought. What if it had all been a setup? What if it had been a ploy to cause conflict in the group and separate them? What if Maria had gotten hurt or worse because of it? His back teeth started to grind as his imagination went wild on him.
Michael squeezed her hand and turned to look at her, forcing his jaw to relax before he spoke. He couldn't free himself of the feeling that he was partly responsible for her not seeking him out and telling him what Liz had told her. He carefully leveled his tone when he started to speak. "We have no idea if that visit ever really happened or if it was somethin' set up to make Liz think the guy was from the future. If anything, it leaves us in an even more precarious position than we're already in. If it is true, we don't know how it'll affect us now or in the future." His dark gaze pierced her. "We can't afford anymore secrets between us. Not you an' me, and not in the group. It's too dangerous."
Maria nodded silently, wondering what was coming next when his eyes sharpened and his nose wrinkled as he stared at her.
"What I wanna know is: Why was Valenti alone with her in their cabin tonight?"
She thought about that for a few minutes, feeling herself relax when his tone and demeanor changed. "Well, he's been fighting the flu and he's been kinda pissy with everyone for the past couple of days. Maybe he just needed a break so he went to see Liz. They're friends and they do share a common bond."
He frowned at her when her eyes widened and her mouth opened as she inhaled deeply only to turn around and release it on a long, "Ohhhhh!" She suddenly sat up. "Oh my God, Michael!"
He sat up, quickly losing patience with her behavior. "What?"
"Think about it, Guerin," she said excitedly, smacking his shoulder with the back of her hand. "What do Liz and Kyle have in common?"
"Maria," he growled out on an exasperated breath. "Would you just – "
"Michael, they were both shot!" She grabbed his arm and shook him. "They both died and were brought back to life by Max!"
His jaw tightened and he pursed his lips thoughtfully. "His powers are comin' online." He shoved the covers off of himself and got out of bed, looking around on the floor.
"Michael, what're you doing?"
"Get dressed," he shot back at her. "We're gonna go see Valenti."
"Michael, no! It's almost 2am," she pleaded. "Look, it's been a crazy night and Kyle must've needed some time to himself."
He ignored her and stalked around the bed to snatch his jeans up. "You can get dressed or stay here."
Maria swung her legs over the side of the bed, hugging the blankets to herself in an effort to retain their warmth. She watched him as he pulled on his jeans, momentarily admiring the view before he covered up. She sighed in annoyance when he bent over to grab his thermal undershirt and pulled it on. "Michael, please! Would you just stop and think about this? He's alone with Isabel in their cabin… did you happen to see her face when Max went after Kyle?" She released her grip on the blankets and slipped out of bed to stand before him.
She reached up, her fingertips ghosting across his jaw line and up over his cheek. "Please let them have this time alone. Kyle's her confidant. Maybe she'll get him to open up to her."
His stubborn gaze moved to the clock on the nightstand and then back to her. He could see the gooseflesh breaking out on her body and his voice was markedly softer when he spoke again. "You're cold. You should get back in bed."
"It's cold without you," she said softly. "Come with me?"
"We're up early to talk to him," he insisted.
"Alright."
His eyes traveled over her body, making a more thorough journey this time. The firelight played over her soft skin and he quickly stripped his shirt off again. His gaze was predatory as he followed her movements when she climbed back into bed, hiding her beautiful body beneath the covers. He growled low in his throat when she lifted the blanket in invitation and he hurried to rid himself of his jeans.
Their joining earlier had been about him. He made no apologies for it and she wouldn't ask for them. She understood. This time would be different, he thought as he slid in beside her and let her pull him into her arms.