Maria Deluca was happy. For the first time in weeks she felt really really good. She didn't need dumb old Michael. She had Joe if she wanted. Or Noah. Or Peter. Or that new kid - the transfer student from Germany if she wanted... and all she had to say about that was thank God for the Aqua-Bra. It was truly amazing how just a little padding in the right places could get you what you wanted. Attention. And phone numbers. Lots of phone numbers.

Maria turned up the stereo as she finished wiping down the counter and picked up the broom. She wished Liz were closing with her tonight. She hated cleaning up by herself. It was boring and it took forever. People were so damn messy. Maria made her way down the length of the cafe, sweeping under the tables of the booths. When she came to the middle one, her broom hit something under the table. She prodded it out of the corner, and rolled it towards her. It was an empty bottle of Tabasco Sauce.

She sighed. She did not want to start thinking about Michael. She had spent the last week trying not to... especially after the whole napkin holder thing...

She had been well on her way to becoming completely one hundred percent over him, and then he had to go and do something sweet, something that touched her, something that threatened to set her back into the drool era of her life.

She had ended up putting it in her closet. It had been a hard decision to make, but she had to do it. Otherwise she'd end up convincing herself he'd made it for her because he wanted her back. Which obviously wasn't the case.

I could probably slather this stuff all over my body and dance around in front of him naked and he wouldn’t even care...

He had barely noticed her new look (and it certainly didn't inspire him with lust as it seemed to the other boys), and he definitely didn't seem to be jealous of all the male attention she was getting. That lie she made up about having a date with a college guy didn't even phase him.

So what? she thought, picking at the label on the bottle. What do I care? I didn't spend sixty bucks on a bra for him... I did it for Joe/Noah/Peter/Marius or whoever I decide to go out with... Michael is not even an issue anymore.

The bell jingled as someone came into the Crashdown.

Maria barely looked at the customer as she tossed the empty bottle into the garbage. "We're closed..."

"Hey, that's cool I was just y'know lookin' for that chick? Y'know that dark haired girl? I heard she works here."

"You mean Liz?"

"Yeah I guess..."

Maria turned to look at him. It was the guy from the Rave. The one with the bad hair who had been handing out Jello shots.

"She's not here. So..."

"Okay..." The guy started to go and then turned back to her. "Hey could you tell her to e-mail me?" He came up to her, grabbing a napkin along the way and reached into her apron pocket pulling out a pen. She stared at him.

"Here..." he said as he scribbled something down on the napkin. "69luv@mail.com"

Okay Screwboy, you are soooooo not her type...

He winked at her and slipped the napkin into her pocket along with her pen. "Ooookay... well, like I said we're closed soooo..."

He smiled at her slowly and stepped in a little closer. She stepped away from him, the edge of the counter pressing against the small of her back. Her stomach started twisting uncomfortably. He was making her nervous.

"Hey... yer kinda cute too... anybody ever tell you that?"

"Yeah, everybody does... all the time. Especially my boyfriend. He should be here soon. He's a big guy. Very big. And jealous. He's really jealous. So you should probably get out of here."

He grinned and held up his hands in an 'I give up' gesture.

"Sure beautiful..." He turned and started to walk away. When he got to the door he paused and glanced back at her, throwing her a look he probably thought was sexy. "I'll catch you later..."

When he was gone, Maria mumbled 'loser' under her breath and took the napkin out of her pocket. She crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash along with the Tabasco Sauce bottle. She took a deep breath, feeling the tension leave her shoulders, and her stomach muscles unclench themselves.

That had been potentially scary...

It wasn't like she thought he was really gonna do something to her or anything. This was Roswell. Things like that didn't happen here.

Okay, that's an admittedly naive statement... Dangerous things do happen in Roswell. Girls get shot and healed by aliens in Roswell. Psychotic alien-hunting Sheriffs hit on her mother in Roswell. I guess it's not completely impossible for a cute waitress to get attacked by some loser wannabe punk rocker with bad hair...

Maria shook her head. She didn't want to think about it anymore. He was just a creep, and he was gone now. She was not going to let him kill her mood. After all, she had a date tomorrow night. A real date. One that involved dinner and a movie and maybe if things went well, a goodnight kiss.

Think about THAT...

Kissing Noah would be nice. He was cute.

Maria finished up with the sweeping and made her way to the back of the cafe. She untied her apron as she pushed through the doors to the employee lounge and hung it up on the hook, sighing. Kissing him would be nice but it wouldn't be fantastic. It wouldn't make her heart speed up or her knees disappear. It wouldn't make her melt or leave her breathless. She knew it wouldn't.

Maria opened her locker and started unbuttoning her uniform. She took her arms out of it, and the material hung down from her waist as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She touched her neck where the 'love bite' Michael gave her had long since faded. She closed her eyes, gently brushing her fingertips over it, then up and across her lips, trying to remember what it felt like to be kissed by Michael Guerin.

Oh man I'm in trouble...

Maria opened her eyes and her heart stopped. Behind her reflection in the mirror was the guy's. She hadn't heard him come in the second time. She hadn't locked the door after him when he had left, and now he was standing in the doorway watching her.

"Oh my God!" Maria whirled around frantically trying to shove her arms back into the shirt of her uniform. "Get out of here!" The material was all twisted around her and she couldn't get it on right.

"I just came back because I forgot to tell you my name... I'm glad I did..." He stepped inside, smiling. Maria stopped struggling and calmly untwisted the material around her arms.

"We are closed, and you are not allowed back here," she said icily, finally able to pull on her uniform. She quickly started buttoning back up the buttons, her hands shaking.

"Getting ready for your boyfriend?" he asked, coming towards her. "Don't cover up for my sake..." He reached out to run his finger down her arm. She slapped him away.

"If you don't leave right now, I am going to call the cops, and they will throw your ass in jail, got it?"

"Calm down..." He stepped even closer until she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She couldn't believe this. He was drunk. He reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders. "I'm not gonna hurt you... I jusht... I just wanna..." He leaned forward and tried to kiss her. She jerked herself out of his grip and ran for the door.

OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod

The Parkers weren't home upstairs. There was no one to help her. She shoved open the door and grabbed the phone hanging on the wall next to it. She was about to dial when he burst out from the lounge and grabbed the phone out of her hand. He hung it up, and she backed away from him close to hyperventilation, her eyes blurring with tears.

I can't believe this is happening... I can't believe-

"Hey, c'mon... don't be like that... c'mon..."

She turned and ran for the front doors, and shrieked as he caught her by the waist. They fell to the floor and she cried out in pain as she landed on her arm. He was on top of her, trying to hold her down. After some struggling she managed to squirm away from him, enough to get onto her knees, and she reached out for something to pull herself up with. She ended up knocking over the garbage can. It landed with a clatter, and its contents spilled out all over the floor. The empty bottle of Tabasco Sauce rolled towards her, just out of her reach. She strained for it, and heard the gentle 'shrip' of material tearing. She kicked at him and he yelped, his grip slipping just enough for her to...

Got it!

She closed her eyes as she gripped the bottle by its neck and slammed it down on the floor. She twisted around to face him with the broken bottle held out in front of her, and he finally let go of her, his eyes wide.

"Whoa shit... whoa... shit! Calm down... look..." He backed away from her, his hands up in the air. "I'll go... okay? Look... I'm going, see?" He slowly backed towards the door.

"Go faster!" she shouted at him, and took a threatening step in his direction. He turned and ran, pushing open both of the doors. He stumbled out of the cafe and continued running.

Maria walked stiffly to the door and locked it, her heart pounding in her chest. She backed away from the door, tears streaming down her face, and slumped to the ground.

She knew she should probably call the police or something but she didn't think she could make it to the phone. She was shaking so bad. She thought she was going to throw up.

She heard the sound of the front door unlocking.

Liz!

Maria got to her hands and knees, ignoring the shards of glass from the broken bottle cutting into them, and tried to stand. She started to slip on the garbage, and Liz reached out and caught her. But it wasn't Liz. She fell against a warm chest, her cheek pressing against the leather of a jacket. She pulled away, terrified that it was the guy again, but stopped when she saw who it was.

"What are you doing here?" Michael stared at her, taking in her disheveled form, then the mess on the floor.

"What the hell happened here?"

Maria opened her mouth to tell him and burst into tears again. She cradled her sore arm against her chest, her other hand covering her face as she cried into it. Michael came up to her and tentatively put his arms around her, letting her cry, holding her gently.

"Maria... what?" She pulled back, still holding onto her arm. He placed his hand on it. "I'm gonna fix this for you, okay?" She stared at him, her eyes wide, and slowly nodded, tears still streaming down her face. She felt the warmth from his fingers seep into her skin and spread itself out inside her arm until the pain was gone.

He let go of her suddenly and took a step to the door.

"I'll kill him!"

"No Michael!" Maria grabbed onto his jacket. He stopped and looked at her incredulously.

"You want him to get away?!"

"He's already gone..."

"Ma-"

"Please, Michael... don't go..." She held onto his jacket a little tighter, her eyes pleading with him.

"Okay..." he said softly, turning back to her. He took a look at her uniform which was hanging partly open revealing small scratches on her chest and stomach. She pulled the material closed, embarrassed.

"Did he...?"

"No... there was glass... on the floor..." He gently touched her knee that was bleeding slightly.

"Looks like you rolled around in it."

"Basically..." she whispered. "I've never been so scared in my entire life." She winced when he touched the cuts on her knees, and watched him as he healed them.

"It's okay... you're okay." He took her hand in his and pressed them together.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was at Max's. Felt like walking. I saw the light on... Liz lets me hang out here sometimes when I don't feel like coming home..." He switched to her next hand, looking into her eyes. "Are you sure he didn't hurt you?" "Yeah... yeah. He was just some drunk creep looking for Liz."

"He attacked you. I saw it."

"What do you mean you saw it? You were watching?! Oh my Go-"

"No... when I heal you... I can see things."

"What kind of... things?"

"We should call the police... about this." Michaelís voice was taut with barely controlled anger, as he gently turned her hand over and healed the cuts on her knuckles.

"NO. The last thing I need is Valenti hovering around me... I'm fine. That jerk's not coming back. I scared him."

"Yeah, I know..." he mumbled quietly, releasing her hand, and touched the ripped neckline of her uniform. He parted it with his fingers, and she held her breath. He touched the cuts on her stomach, then the ones on her chest just above her bra. He stepped away from her when he was done and scratched the back of his head, staring at the floor.

Maria sat on the stool clutching her shirt closed. She turned her head and looked in the direction of the employee lounge. She slid off the stool and went to the door, and slipped inside. Once alone Maria stripped off her uniform as though she were shedding a diseased layer of skin. She caught her reflection in the mirror. There were silver fingerprints decorating the skin on her stomach and chest where the cuts had been. She looked down at her legs. There were some on her knees too. She picked up her sweater that had fallen to the floor and put it on. She pulled on her jeans and gently shut her locker. She sat down on the couch, pressing her silver tinted hands to her face.

I'm okay... I'm okay... Nothing happened to me... I'm okay...

She took a deep breath and shoved her ruined uniform into her book bag, then slung it over her shoulder and went back into the cafe. Michael had cleaned everything up and was in the process of removing spilt milkshake from the floor by waving his hand over it. "Thank you..." she whispered as he straightened and turned towards her.

"I'm gonna find him." Maria slowly came up to him, dropping her bag along the way, and stood directly in front of him. She shook her head 'no' and slowly reached up and put her arms around him.

"I'm fine..." she mumbled into his shoulder, and melted against him, feeling safe, as his arms tentatively circled around her and held her back. "Thank you for being here..."

"I didn't come in time to-"

She held onto him tighter, cutting him off. "Thank you for helping me, Michael... I don't know how I would have explained those scratches to my mom... I just want to forget this ever happened... I just want to go home."

"Okay... I’m walking with you."

***

They walked slowly together, not talking, until they came to Maria's door. She unlocked it and peeked inside.

"Mom?" she called out softly. Her heart sank as she realized she wasn't there. She didn't want to talk to her about what happened, but she wanted her there. She didn't want to be alone. Maria turned to Michael and bit her lip. "Well... bye... tha-"

He stepped onto the porch with her and pushed the door open.

"Your mom's not home?"

"It... it doesn't look like it..."

"Then I'm staying until she gets back."

"Okay..." Relieved, Maria shut the door behind them, and led him down the hall to her bedroom. He closed her bedroom door, as she laid down on the bed and stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars she had stuck on the ceiling.

"Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you turn off the light?" He flipped the switch and came to the bed, sitting down beside it. They stared up at the stars she had stuck in a 'V' formation above her bed.

"So... the sighting was really real..." She could feel his gaze touch her face in the darkness.

"Yes."

"Are you going home?"

"We don't know yet... what's going to happen."

She nodded and reached out across the space between them for his hand. He took it and she closed her eyes at his touch.

"I'll miss you if you go..." she whispered.

"I'll miss you too..."

She reached out for his other hand and pulled him onto the bed beside her. She rested her head on his chest, and he hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. They laid like that for awhile, silent, until he brushed her hair away from her face and asked quietly, "How are you feeling?"

Maria looked up at him, and said just as quietly, "Safe..."

Maria closed her eyes as he held her tighter and didn’t let go for the rest of the night.

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