Author: Jenny
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.
Pairing: Michael/Maria (with implied Max/Liz and Kyle/Isabel)
Rating: TEEN
Summary: After several weeks on the road, Liz and Maria convince the gang to make a pit stop for a little post-Graduation fun. Michael thinks this is a bad idea. Ficlet; 943 words.
Author’s Note: For Eva. Hope this is satisfactory - I'm still kinda weak with the Candy.
***
Michael Guerin was sulking.
So what’s new, you ask? What else could Michael find to sulk about? Could it be that he’d been dragged against his will into the midst of a hundred sweaty, gyrating teenagers? Could it be that he’d gotten into a fight with his girlfriend, just weeks after a long-awaited reunion? Could it be that said girlfriend was now dancing way too close for comfort with some complete stranger?
The answer: all of the above.
He folded his arms across his chest in defiance and watched with narrowed eyes as Maria seemed to be having the time of her life on the makeshift dance floor. He knew what she was doing - trying to make him jealous. Well, she could just forget about it. He wasn’t jealous that some fool had his hands on her hips and was dancing so close to his girl that it was a wonder they could breathe at all. Michael growled under his breath. Nope, not jealous at all.
It had all started that morning, when they’d stopped for breakfast at a greasy diner in some small Southern town, very reminiscent of Roswell. In the short time that they were there, Liz and Maria struck up a conversation with a local teenager, and managed to get them all invited to a graduation night shindig for the nearby high school. The girls all wanted to go, insisting that it would be a great stress reliever after nearly three weeks on the road. Max, of course, was not hard to convince after a little sweet talking from Liz, and Kyle was all for it, too. Michael was the only one who protested, saying it was a bad idea for them to be in such a public venue.
But of course he’d been out-voted and here they were. Then he and Maria had gotten into a heated argument when she tried to get him to loosen up and have some fun, finally telling him to “just go back to the motel if you’re going to be such a killjoy!” Instead he’d chosen to sit in a corner and sulk.
“Maybe you should cut her a little slack.”
Michael glanced up and saw Isabel standing over him, offering him a plastic cup of soda. He took it and mumbled a thanks.
“They gave up a lot for us,” Isabel said simply before walking away and joining Kyle at the edge of the dance floor. Michael watched as she coaxed him onto the floor, both of them laughing as Kyle awkwardly moved to the music.
Michael thought about what Isabel had just said. It was true - Maria had given up a lot to join them on the road. Sometimes he forgot that. They’d been cooped up in that old van for weeks, stopping only to sleep and eat. Could he really fault her - any of them - for wanting to let loose for just one night?
With a sigh of resignation, he stood up from the plastic folding chair he’d been warming for the last half hour and made his way to the dance floor. He came up behind Maria’s current partner and nudged him. “Hey, beat it,” he told the kid, giving him a piercing look that the Hulk wouldn’t have argued with.
“What do you want, Michael?” Maria asked, her hands on her hips. She looked ready for another fight.
“I came to dance,” he responded.
“Yeah, right,” Maria scoffed with a roll of her eyes.
“I did,” he insisted. “But not like that,” he added with distaste, gesturing to two teenagers grinding against each other like they were extras in that Patrick Swayze movie from the ’80s.
He took Maria’s hand and pulled her to him, and she seemed to hesitate for only a second before letting herself be pulled into his arms. As a dance song sounded around them and the other bodies moved in rhythm with the music, they moved slowly together.
“I’m sorry,” Michael said.
“For what?” Maria asked. “For being a jerk? For trying to ruin my fun? Or are you just sorry that some other guy has had his hands on me all night?”
Michael winced. “All of the above,” he answered sheepishly. “I know you just wanted to have some fun tonight.”
Maria stopped dancing and pulled away slightly. “It’s more than that, Michael. I didn’t get to have a graduation party. Hell, I didn’t even make it through my whole graduation ceremony.”
As if sensing that he was about to apologize again, Maria said, “I’m not sorry I came. It’s just, this whole on-the-run-from-the-FBI thing… it doesn’t have to be such serious business all the time, does it?”
Michael smiled in spite of himself. “I guess not,” he answered.
“And it’s okay to have some fun every once in a while?” Maria prodded.
Michael nodded, and then added, “But I’m still not going to dance like that in public.”
Maria gave him a genuine smile, the first one he’d seen on her face all night. “Deal,” she said. “How about in private?” she asked, lifting her eyebrow suggestively.
Michael chuckled and pulled Maria back into his arms. “We’ll see.”
Another argument successfully resolved, Michael wondered what it was he loved most about this girl. Was it that she’d left the only home she’d ever known just to be with him? Was it the way that she always kept him on his toes, so that fighting with her was almost as fun as making up? Was it the fact that she got more and more beautiful everyday, even after weeks on the road?
The answer: all of the above.
THE END