Just a Moment (UC, Ma/A, TEEN, 1/1) [COMPLETE]

[roswellianprincess16]

Title: Just a Moment

Author: Selena aka roswellianprincess16

Rating: TEEN

Disclaimer: Roswell is the property of its rightful owners. Some lines
used from episode, The End of The World.

Summary: Sometimes we need just a moment to make things right again. To change our lives, forever.


Just a Moment

Everybody has their breaking point. After all, we’re only human, so there’s only so much we can take. That breaking point came when I walked into the CrashDown and saw Maria crying.

It’s not like I’ve never seen her cry before. In fact, in the seven years I’ve known Maria, she’s cried over absolutely ridiculous things. She cried when her hair fell flat for our school picture in the eight grade. Then remedied the problem with a haircut. A very, very short haircut. She wore it that way for a while.

She cried once in the ninth grade when she got an ‘F’ on a math paper. Her mother had been very clear about not letting her work at the CrashDown if she didn’t keep her grades up. Maria was adamant about having her own money, her own way to spend it. Mind you, she somehow managed to rope Liz into tutoring her for a week and then she retested. Got that sucker up to a ‘C+’.

But there was only one time that I clearly remember when she cried and it made my chest hurt in ways it never had before. It tightened, made it nearly impossible to breathe. It felt as though my heart would shatter. Sentimental words for a dude, I know. That was when Maria DeLuca’s jackass of a father walked out on her, never to be seen again.

Maria never cried that hard again. In fact, although she was a crybaby for the absolutely pointless things, when it came to things that mattered, Maria had made it an art to bottle up her emotions, to let them explode in other, very unhealthy ways. Until now.

It’s why I knew, the minute I walked into that backroom that something was seriously wrong. I could tell from the way her shoulders were shaking, the way her voice cracked that something within Maria had snapped. She was crying. Truly crying, the way she had only done when her father had left.

Then, my heart compressed, in that overwhelming way it did when she cried, and all I wanted to do was make it go away. And then she uttered the words that sealed our fate.

Yeah, he's all right, she said, trying to keep her cool, gripping a picture of Michael Guerin in her hands. Actually, he's terrific. I was worried about him, so I went all the way across town to save his ass, and I get there, and...he's already there, and so is Courtney...in a towel.

I didn’t expect the rush of anger that hit me when she suddenly burst into tears. The overwhelming heat that sped through my veins, with only one thought: Michael was going to get his ass kicked.

I held her in my arms then, just let her cry, let her hold me and need me. And I realized something. Maria wasn’t the only one who’d had enough. Thoughts of Isabel Evans flooded my mind. Of the endless times I tried to show her that I was worthy of her affections, only to be pushed away for other men. Strangers. People who were safe because they didn’t know her secret. People who couldn’t hurt her.

That was the type of life Maria would always lead. Having to put up with Michael’s wild antics, with his need for information and adventure, with never being enough. And I just couldn’t. I couldn’t let it happen.

So I headed to see Michael, not quite knowing what I’d say, but knowing that something had to be done. He may have been an alien. He may have been twice my size. But the man didn’t scare me. He needed to know that there were limits to the crap he put Maria through, and that just crossed the line.

Of course, in true Michael fashion, he acted like a smug bastard when I showed up, even though he knew I had something on my mind. I made it clear enough, with my short tempered pacing and my puffs of frustrated air, but I didn’t really get his attention until I clicked off his stupid hockey game.

Do you have any idea what you’ve done to Maria?

Dude, it was a misunderstanding. Of course, I didn’t like the way he addressed me as ‘dude’. As if we were friends. As if he hadn’t just broken Maria’s heart. And then, I broke.

Look. I don't care that you've got 30 pounds on me or...or that you can kill me with some...some twisted alien power. I will not let you treat her like that. I...I don't care that Isabel treats me like crap, but no one does that to Maria, all right? She's not just some girl!

I delivered a well deserved right hook when Courtney walked in, only reinforcing what I’d already said. I knew what I had to do. I knew what needed to be said. In some strange, twisted, alien way, they brought us together and made me realize that maybe, just maybe there is fate, there is a destiny. Because the person I was seeking had been in front of me all along.

Now, hours later, I’m standing at the backroom of an empty café, watching as Maria walks in, exhausted, her spirit broken, her hair a mess. She’s removing her apron and tossing it into her locker and I just watch her, seeing her in a whole new light. She’s no longer the little girl who used to push me around on the playground. She’s grown into this beautiful, strong woman, one who needs to have the same passion and lust for life returned with the same freeness with which she gives it.

“Hey,” I whisper, and she turns her head over her shoulder to look back at me. I put on my most sympathetic smile, but she can barely smile back. “Long day?”

She snickers, and I know it’s more out of sarcasm than actual humor. But the truth is, now that I’m here, I’m not sure I can say what I came to say. Because having her standing so close, knowing her heart is so fragile, I’m not sure I can be what she wants. I’m not sure that I have what it takes.

I walk toward her quietly, so that when I reach her, it’s a genuine surprise that shines in her eyes. I reach out, letting my fingers trail the skin on her arms from her elbows down to the tips of her hands. Then I let our touch just linger, let us both enjoy the warmth.

She looks up at me, with those eyes that sparkle like the ocean. They’re full of tears, full of emotions that scare me. And I say the only thing that I can think of. The only thing that is truly relevant at this moment.

“I would never hurt you.”

She understands the deeper meaning in my words, and she leans up on her toes, planting a soft kiss on my lips that nearly numbs my extremities. She walks away from me, back into the main eating area, and I follow, leaning against the swinging door, looking through the small glass. I stare at her, knowing that things will never be the same. Because I’m in love with Maria DeLuca and from here on out I will do all in my power to make sure she does nothing but smile. For the rest of both of our lives.