| One Night Alex and Tess find something in common |
| Author: Minnie Rating: PG-13 Category: Alex/Tess Setting: During FourSquare Disclaimer: They belong to Jason Katims, the WB and a whole host of other people who are not me. No infringement intended. Distribution: Please ask Dedication: To JJ, Vero and Novi Feedback: Yes, please. Author's Note: I've created an alternate version of this episode to suit my purposes so give it a lot of poetic license, okay? Archive Date: 9/15/2000, revamped 3/11/2001 “I’m the one least involved, I’ll get close to her.” Alex volunteers to befriend Tess. “No, Alex, stay away from her,” Isabel insists. Alex sees Tess sitting at one of the benches, a faraway look in her eyes. Abandoning Isabel's warnings to stay away from her, Alex decides to walk up to her. Maybe I can find out more about her and what she's up to, he thinks. As he gets closer, he notices a quiet sadness hanging about her. Quite a change from her normal demeanor. Intrigued, he calls out, “Hey!” Tess snaps out her reverie and looks up at Alex striding towards her. “What?" she asks, a little waspishly. “Uh, nothing. I just saw you sitting here and thought I’d say ‘Hey," he tells her in friendly tones. Nothing like friendliness to allay suspicions. Tess shrugs and carelessly motions Alex to join her. Alex takes up her invitation but feels at an utter loss on what to do next. He decides to fall back on small talk. “So … seen any good movies lately?” Tess gives him a funny glance, shakes her blonde head, wondering what Alex is up to. "No, why?" she asks. “I asked Isabel once if aliens enjoyed cinema and she, uh, said she did. I was just wondering if you did,” he clarified. Tess gives him a slight nod, going with the small talk. It sounds harmless enough. “I enjoy cinema. Why?” she prods. Glad to see Tess picking up his cue, Alex continues, “Well, Liz, Maria and I usually have a video marathon on Fridays but they’re kinda busy right now. I was wondering, maybe you’d like to check a movie with me. We don’t have to do a marathon or anything." And maybe I can find out about what you're really doing here, he adds to himself. “What about Isabel? Why don't you go ask her?” Tess wonders, feeling suspicious at Alex's sudden offer. “She was kinda tired so she took a nap. And I saw you here and thought may be you'd like to go?” Alex explains with seeming sincerity. He looks harmless enough. If he does have something up his sleeve, I can handle it, Tess decides. Playing along with him, she questions, “What movie did you have in mind?” “Ummm, I don’t know, maybe …” Alex staammers a little, surprised at Tess' apparent acceptance of his offer. This is easier than I thought it would be, he thinks. Running a mental list of current movies in his head, he picks a popular one. “Scream 3?” Alex says, then winces as he remembers that Liz and Maria hating the second installment of that series. "Sounds good," Tess declares. Yeah, I can definitely handle him, she reiterates to herself. "Great!" Alex smiles. She's actually making this easy. Maybe finding out more about her won't be as tough, he decides. He looks at Tess for a second and finds himself staring at her blue eyes for a second too long. Snapping out of it, Alex suggests, “So how about we meet at the theater later? Or I could pick you up," he hesistates, not really sure about the protocol. Tess raises her eyebrows slightly. "I'll meet you there," she declares, not wanting to be stuck in case the night turned out badly. The unlikely pair meet outside the movie theater and proceed inside. Ales motions Tess to choose seats for them. That pleases her to some degree. Most people didn't even bother to ask her. Throughout the movie, Alex looks at Tess, looking for some kind of hint as to who she really was and what she was planning. "So, that guy's pretty sneaky, huh?" motioning to the masked villain on the screen. "Yeah," Tess agrees, smiling. Alex's brows quirk up, wondering if Tess actually found the villain heroic. "The mask gives him some kind of power," she whispers to him, as though slightly awed. That triggers something inside Alex. Is that what she was doing, hiding behind a mask of humanity, concealing her alien side because it gave her some sort of power? He wonders. "Yeah, the power to mass-market Halloween costumes," he quips, still trying to figure her out. He looks at her once more, seeing her through new eyes. More thoughts enter Alex's head. Perhaps Tess has more in common with Max, Michael and Isabel than I thought. They hid behind masks of humanity in the beginning too. They disguised their powers. And look how they turned out, he marvelled, comfortable with the thought that the three aliens were his friends now. He finds his initial goal of investigating quietly dropping away in light of that admission and decides to just lay back, relax and enjoy the show like the other patrons. "Awww, no, no, no, don't go there. You know that's the land of no return!! Hear that silence? Sure sign that the killer's there!" he says, conversing with the move unfolding on the screen. "What did I tell you?" as another dead body popped up. "See that?" he nudges Tess and grins. During certain intervals, Tess watches Alex and is struck by something. Her doubts about him are strangely missing. I’m actually enjoying myself here ... just watching a movie with him, she marvels. He's making me laugh, treating me like a friend. Friend. The word rolls through her mind like an unfamiliar stranger. It unnerves her a little. Tess lounges back in her seat, surreptitiously throwing more glances at Alex throughout the movie, waiting for something, for a sign that would burst her relaxed bubble. It doesn’t come. After the movie ends, Alex offers to drop Tess off at her house. She agrees, seemingly wanting more of his company. Ever the gentleman, Alex walks her to the door when they arrive in front of her home and makes sure that she gets safely inside before he turns around and leaves. As he drives off, Alex ponders the evening. I had a good time with her. No, more than that. I had a great time, he discovers. Alex feels surprised that thoughts of Isabel, aliens and investigations vanished somewhere in the night. Strange. Even when he was with his friends, those thoughts, especially ones of Isabel, always stayed in the background. Still puzzled at the feeling of contentment washing through him, Alex heads for dreamland. Instead of a tall, statuesque Amazon goddess, he dreams of a petite, curly haired doll with the bluest eyes he had seen. Tess feels disconcerted after Alex leaves. He's actually very sweet ... and funny. No wonder Isabel like him. She seems even more taken aback as not a single thought about Max or being hunted plagued her when she was with Alex. It amazes her that someone she barely knew before that night could make her forget Max and the all-consuming thoughts that had been with her for so long. She shakes her head slightly as she lays down to sleep. Sleep comes without alien visions or brooding watchers. Instead it brings dreams of lanky men and funny wisecracks. Isabel wakes up from her nap abruptly, her face flushed. Shock floods her as she recalls images of her and Michael in the desert. "Max!" she calls out but hears no response. She hurries to his room and finds him gone. "No," she cries silently, "he can't be out with Liz. I need to talk to him." Resignedly, she drops her shoulders. Calling Michael is out of the question, what with all the images still running fresh in her mind. Reaching for the phone, she dials Alex's number instead, hoping that the sound of his voice would quell her thoughts. Its' the wrong Whitman that answers. Alex's dad tells her that his son caught a movie with a friend. “Probably Liz or Maria,” she despairs. Eying the bed almost with fear, she reluctantly climbs into it, trying hard not to fall asleep. Dream something else, Isabel. Something with Alex, she commands herself. Or better yet, just dreamwalk Alex. Feeling pleased with that plan, she sets out to invade Alex's dreams. What she finds do not please her. Alex and ... Tess? In dreamland, Alex grins at Tess as she tries to follow one of his jokes. "Return of the Jedi is your favorite scary movie? Why?" she asks. "You know, the Ewoks? Trying to hump Han Solo's leg? Now that's scary," he asks in deadpan voice. Tess tries to contain a laugh but fails. She bursts out laughing. Giddiness washes throughout Alex as he looks at her enjoyment. She’s beautiful, he thinks. Not in a stunning Isabel sense but in a bewitching elf sense. He feels mesmerized by her. Tess catches Alex’s brown eyes looking at her with wonder. Brown. That color always seemed unexceptional to her. Yet, within Alex’s eyes, it came alive, radiating with intensity. Something about Alex stirs her. Was it his laugh? His smart aleck comments? The way he made her feel, like a good friend? The realization saddens her. Was her life really that abnormal that an ordinary night out at the movies with a friend all of a sudden seemed so special? Or was it Alex who was special? "Would you like to dance?" Tess invites Alex, all of sudden wanting to feel close to him. She holds out her hand. “What?” Alex is puzzled at the question. "Here?" he croaks. "No, here," Tess declares. The scenery shifts to the desert, near midnight. The stars are shining brightly and soft as dreamy music plays in the background. Alex looks at Tess who is now dressed in a beautiful blue dress. His breath releases. He doesn’t realize he’s held it. There is a soft glow about her and her eyes hold some unspoken plea. She … needs someone, he realizes. That's what she's really been hiding, under that mask. Need. The need for connection, for a bond, for someone to hold onto. It’s there in her eyes, in her empty outstretched hand, the hand holding out to him. This isn't exactly what I thought I'd find out about her but I'm glad I found it, he reflects. Swallowing slightly, he takes a step towards her. Tess goes into his arms and together they sway slightly. Click. Something clicks in place. Like a puzzle coming together. She tilts her head back to look at him, almost in wonder. Alex flashes a smile and she responds. With the music lulling her, she rests her head on his shoulders. She hears his heart beating in a steady rhythm. Its drumming soothes her, comforts her. She snuggles closer. Alex raises his hand to gently touch her hair and smooth down a few strands. She sighs and closes her eyes. No awkwardness glides within Alex as he brings Tess close to him. It feels as if they danced like this a million times before. Perhaps because she feels natural in his arms. Solid, real. Connected. A rush of warmth fills him as she lays her head on his shoulder. His grip tightens and his eyes close. Isabel peruses the scene between Alex and Tess, not happy with it. Alex is supposed to be dreaming about me, she thinks as she walks closer to them in the dream plane. “Alex? Tess? What are you doing?” Isabel asks pointedly. Tess’ eyes fly open and she disengages herself, albeit reluctantly from Alex. “What does it look like we’re doing?” Tess says with a soft, almost dreamy smile. “We were dancing, Isabel,” Alex states, still in slight reverie. "Yeah, I can see that," Isabel huffs. She ignores Alex to focus on Tess. Her burgeoning friendship with the shorter blonde forgotten in the midst of the suspicisions, Isabel frowns at Tess and says haughtily, “What are you doing with him?" "Like he said, dancing. What were you doing tonight?" Tess asks with a bite. Already feeling unsettled by strange dreams of her own, Isabel looks her sharply. "I heard the desert can really open your eyes," Tess continues, smiling knowingly. Isabel stares at her, slight panic in her eyes. How does she know about my dreams with Michael? Can she dreamwalk like me? What else can she do? Take Alex away? Was that even possible? Isabel asks herself a barrage of questions. They disconcert her and she seeks refuge from it. Anger overtakes her panic. In an uncharacteristic display of temper, Isabel commands "Get out of my head and get out of this dream, you bitch!” Tess shoots a mocking glance at Isabel and says, “You say ‘bitch’ like it was a bad thing!” Tess' statement only serves to provoke Isabel’s temper even more. “Listen, squirt, since you liked “Scream” so much, I’ll give you something to scream about!” With that, Isabel gets in her face, preparing to give her one major thwap. Alex snaps out of his dazed state to interject, “Ladies, ladies, please.” He places himself in between the two and tells Isabel, "Tess and I were …” Were what, Alex silently flails for an explanation. Dancing? Feeling a connection? Upon hearing Alex's stammered reply, Tess' face drops. Why doesn’t he say something? Didn’t he feel it, feel the link between us? Tess wonders. Alex glances over at Tess and sees the hurt. “Tess, I ... sorry," he looks at her with some kind of light in his eyes. Dropping her anger, Isabel says uneasily, “Alex?” She senses some kind of shift in him. “Isabel, we were dancing and ... " Alex replies haltingly as he catches her eye. Then slides over to look at Tess. Isabel sees that glance and an icy frost forms on her voice. Temper isn't the answer, Isabel decides. It signals weakness. “We? Since when is there a ‘we’?” she asks coldly. "Look, we were just having fun, okay?" Alex reiterates. Rather than being blown off by the statement, Tess grins at it. Alex's statement and Tess' subsequent grin does nothing for Isabel. She lifts her head brow and declares, "Oh, yes, fun. Well, I wouldn't want to spoil your ... fun” and stomps off. Tess watches with slight delight as Isabel walks off. "I have go and talk to her ..." Alex says. He starts to go after Isabel but then pauses as Tess halts him. Not wanting to let him go yet, Tess calls out, "Wait! She can wait. We haven’t finished yet, " Tess opens her hand in invitation. Alex looks at Isabel's fading back. He pauses, then looks at Tess. “Finished what?” Alex questions her, a little confused. “Our dance,” she clarifies. Isabel's back disappears from sight. Alex hesitates, then takes Tess' hand. Tess is in his arms again. The dream fades. Alex awakens. “Whoa, that was weird,” he shakes his head as if to clear it. Did Tess and Isabel really invade his dream? Or was it wishful thinking? “But I felt something,” Alex admitted to himself, referring to Tess. He feels strange, as though some decision was just made. The next day, Alex walks down the school hallway. Tess is at the other end of the corridor and he heads in her direction. Halfway there, Isabel comes into view. “Hey, Alex, I missed you last night,” she tells him, pretending not to know about the unsettling dream she witnessed the night before. “Yeah, so did I,” Alex halfheartedly agrees. Guilt washes over him as her arms open to enfold him. “Why do I feel guilty?” he wonders. When he looks down the corridor again, Tess is gone. He looks downwards, feeling deflated. Alex drags his feet to class. Two periods later, he emerges from the doorway of a classroom. Tess is there. “Hi!” he greets her. “Hi!” she replies. Silence follows, an awkward stranger between them. So unlike the previous night when they both enjoyed a scary movie, a tub of popcorn and a dance. Alex’s silence stretches Tess’ nerves. She is unsure what to say to him next. Finally, she she blurts out, “Um, well, I gotta go. I’m late for bio.” “Oh, bio, right. That’s my next class too. So how about I tag along?” Alex suggest. “Okay,” Tess agrees, feeling her heart give a little bounce. Calm down, we’re just walking to bio, it’s not like he’s pledged undying love or anything, she thinks to herself. Alex feels himself barely controlling the spring in his step as they trail down the hall. They arrive at the classroom just as Isabel takes her seat. Isabel shoots dagger looks at Tess as she remembers the unnerving dream with Alex and Tess. Tess raises an eyebrow and waits for Alex to choose an empty seat beside her or Isabel. Alex gives a pained smile to both of them and opts for the seat right next to Isabel. It seems like the safer choice. Isabel looks delighted. Tess takes the seat across from them, almost sandwiching Alex in the middle. “So have you found out anything more about the mating ritual of slugs?” Alex opens his bio book and asks Isabel. The words 'mating ritual' conjur up the dream images within Isabel. Her and Michael kissing. Alex and Tess swaying to the sound of dreamy music. That snaps her composure and she throws Tess a glare, “Some slugs should just crawl back under the rock they were in.” Not to be outdone, Tess answers back, “And some slugs shouldn’t be surprised if they wander too far away from own rock and find that something else has occupied it." “Ummm, okay. Good to know that,” Alex pipes in, trying to head off the brewing fight.. Ignoring Alex, Isabel swipes, “And some slugs really ought to stop chasing after more than one … meal at a time,” referring to Tess’ chase of Max. “Other slugs should take their own advice then,” Tess counters. Her gaze seems to say says, “I know what you were dreaming about and it wasn't Alex!” Isabel gives her another stare that warns, "Don't even think about telling Alex!" Looking at the sudden silent girls, Alex interrupts the exchange with “Well, I’d really like to meet these slugs! Maybe invite them out for bug juice and discuss their preferences … sap or dew?” The teacher enters the room and class progresses with no further slug comments. At the end of class, Alex slides behind Tess' chair to give her shoulder a squeeze. “I had a good time last night.” The slight touch triggers remnants of the connection in their dreams. “So did I,” Tess responds softly. “We should do that again sometime,” he shyly invites. “I’d like that,” she accepts. “Let’s go, Alex,” Isabel retorts impatiently, shooting her icy queen stare at Tess. She heads for the door, confident Alex would be following her. Alex’s feet stay where they are. He gives a shrug to Tess, as if in apology. His eyes linger on her face a while. The events of the night before wash before him and he smiles in remembrance. “Alex!” Isabel raps out. Tess arches an eyebrow at the note of jealousy that invades Isabel's tone. “I gotta go, I’ll see you later,” Alex heads out with Isabel. “Yeah, I’ll see you,” Tess agrees. “Definitely,” she mutters to herself as Alex walks off. Max is by his locker, slowly putting his books inside. Tess walks up to him. “Max,” she calls out. “Tess,” Max whips his head around, shifting uncomfortable, suspicious eyes on her. Tess looks unsure, as if she is struggling with something. “Max, we need to talk,” she tells him. “I don’t have anything to say to you,” he responds. That gets her back up and she falls back on familiar yet unemotional words. "Max, you know it's there. This thing between us," As soon as the words leave her mouth, she realizes how false and unconvincing they sound. Us. The word no longer carries the heat of conviction with Tess. It sounds merely like a backlash to Max’s sheer stubbornness and his refusal to discuss anything even remotely alien to him. “I don’t know what that really means. Us," Max replies, almost flatly “All I know is that Liz and I … we’re what makes sense. We belong together,” Max states emphatically, then walks away from her. We're what makes sense. Makes sense. Makes sense. Max’s words echo in Tess' ears. Images from the previous night flash before her eyes. Two virtual strangers meeting, laughing, talking and then forging a strange connection that was not pre-ordained. That was what made sense. Not Max but Alex, she thinks. Alex. And Isabel. No, not them, but us, Tess vows. Alex and me. She starts to strolls down the long corridor to search for Alex. A surge of jealousy fills her as she sees Isabel pulling him into the eraser room. She quickly closes the gap. Feeling threatened by the dream Alex had of Tess and the more-than-friendly rapport she witnessed between them earlier, Isabel decides to take matters into her own hands. “Alex, I’ve been thinking. You know how I said we should take things slow?” Isabel tells Alex. “The word glacial comes to mind,” Alex quips. “Maybe it’s time to melt the ice,” Isabel tells him as she leans in closer. “Whoa! Ah, this is … ah …” Alex stammers a little. The thought of him and Isabel in the eraser room was surreal, something he dreamed of but never thought would happen. Yet the moment seems anti-climatic. Perhaps because the image of a short, blonde elf intrudes into his thoughts. An image of her smiling at him, looking at him with soft yearning, leaning up against him, listening to his heartbeat. He pulls back from Isabel, inching his body against the wall. She is pressing against him, looking like she wants to kiss him. Tess opens the door just as Isabel is about to kiss Alex. “I’m sorry. Am I interrupting something?” Tess asks with a wide-eyed, innocent look. Isabel looks at Tess with her patented bitch goddess glare. “Yes, you are,” she tells her rudely. She flicks her eyes towards the door, a not-so-subtle way asking Tess to leave. “Uh, hi, Tess,” Alex pipes in. “Isabel and I were just hanging out.” “Hanging out? Is that what you call this?” Isabel's control starts to slip as she fumes. “No,” Alex hovers in conflict. Isabel is my light, my dream, someone who has always consumed my thoughts, Alex thinks to himself. But Tess is real, someone who seems more tangible than any dream. Someone who makes him feel connected. He looks at both women. “Isabel, I …I have to go,” he pushes past her and Tess. “Wait, Alex,” Isabel calls out to him, trying to delay his departure. Alex strides away quickly, locking his fingers together and putting them across the back of his head. Tess starts after Alex. “Stay away from him,” Isabel gives the same warning to Tess that she doled out to Alex the day before. Tess merely looks at her and then leaves to catch up with Alex. Isabel starts to go after them but stops. “He just needs some time. He’ll come back to me. He loves me,” she thinks to herself. Somehow that statement rings hollow to her ears. She exits the eraser room, head held high to hide thoughts plaguing her, and goes off in search of Max. “Alex! Alex, wait!” Tess calls out to him. She catches up to him as he glides towards the school entrance doors. Alex’s head is in a muddle. What just happened there, in the eraser room? He had Isabel. Beautiful, lovely Isabel who practically jumped on him, wanting to kiss him. Why did I pull back? he wonders. He tries to kick himself mentally but strangely finds the desire gone. The irony of the words “be careful what you wish for, you might get it,” suddenly hits him. What I've been waiting for for years was just handed to me on a silver platter and I didn't even take it. I am some kind of idiot, he castigates himself and asks the eternal question of "Why?" As just question pops up, so does the answer. His dream of Isabel, of Isabel and him together is just that … a dream, a fairy tale made from castles in the air, a fantasy inside him for so long that he stopped asking himself why it was even THERE. Until Tess. Until last night. The realization hits Alex squarely. She's made me see, he thinks. She's taken off the mask that in front of my face, one that I didn't even know was there. I don't have to hide behind the fantasy of Isabel anymore, I can have a real relationship, something that can start out from scratch, from the reality of a movie date, and be built upon. “Alex, are you okay?” Tess sidles up to him with a worried frown on her face. “I’m fine,” he tells her. If fine meant having his whole world suddenly turn upside down then righted again. “You don’t look fine,” Tess confronts him. “What do you mean? I’m great!” He gives her his patented thumbs up signal. “Alex, we have to talk,” she tells him in a determined voice. “I know,” he sighs. “You felt it, didn’t you? This connection … this thing between us?” Tess tells him. “Yes,” He stares at her eyes, the ones that held that his so earnestly. A weight drops off his shoulders. Saying out loud what was in the back of his mind finally jogs the final piece in place. He bids his dream of Isabel goodbye. “Alex, I know this wasn’t what you were expecting. It wasn’t what I was expecting either,” Tess says quietly. “But just because it wasn’t there in the beginning, doesn’t mean it’s not right. That it’s not real,” Tess reasons. “I know,” he agrees with. “Life can get pretty surprising, can’t it?” he smiles at her. A myriad of thoughts flood his head, clearing out the past. Investigating Tess to find out who she was. Uncovering her mask, her need for connection. Finding about my own mask. Finding Isabel merely a fantasy. The haze clearing, maybe for both of us. Tess has her own set of thoughts. Accepting a 'harmless' invitation. Finding a friend. Establishing a connection. Realizing the hollow emptiness of a pre-ordained "us". Going after the real "us". “I told Isabel once that everything got easier once a person was not alone. I just didn’t think I was all that alone because I had Isabel. Until I met you. Now I feel like nothing was really real before I met you,” Alex tells her. Tess smiles. He does understand, he does feel the same way, she discovers happily. "I know," she agrees. Suddenly her world feels lighter. “So … you up for another scary movie?” Alex invites her. “Always, Alex, always,” she tells him. “Great! I know just the flick. You seen ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’? “No!” she replies. “Well, come on then. You don’t know what you’re missing,” Alex tells her. Alex takes Tess’ hand as he guides her past the school entrance doors. They emerge out into the bright sunlight. He breathes in slowly, savoring the moment. This is the start of his life. His life with Tess. -End- HOME ROSWELL FAN FICTION FAN FICTION ROSWELL |