Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing. The lyrics are courtesy of Deep Blue
Something and Cowboy Mouth
Summary: Kind of sort of a continuation of Who You Are
souls suffer the landscape
in shrouds of dew, as ghosts
their eternity is for searching
but a certain dissention grows
i've seen them wander
voices raised in prayer
consorting with whispers
they curse the ones not there
"Alex and the band are practicing some new
stuff at his place, do you want to go by when I get out of here?" Liz
directed her question to Isabel, though everyone at the table knew it was for
Max.
Glancing at her brother and smirking, Isabel
said, "Sure, we can drop by for a little bit. I'll see if I can break
Alex's concentration!" and she shared a laugh with Liz. Alex's crush on
Isabel was legendary and the subject of much amusement for the group. Well,
most of them...Alex did not think it was funny at all!
***
if you didn't want this
and i didn't need it
then how did this interest become an addiction
if you didn't want it
then why can't you do without
Damn it, damn it, damn it, Michael thought to
himself as he crossed the street towards the Crashdown. "I should have
stayed" warred with "Good thing I left" in his mind, and the
scowl on his face was fierce as he pushed open the Cafe doors.
"Who pissed in your Cheerios,
Michael?" teased Isabel, and the look he gave her was sour enough to rival
lemons.
"I don't eat Cheerios, thank you very
much," he growled at her. "What's up, Maximilian?" he slid in
next to Max and drummed his fingers expectantly on the table.
"Just waiting on Liz to finish up, we're
going to run by and check out some of Alex's new stuff." Max never took
his eyes off Liz as she moved around the register, and she glanced up once and gave
him a shy smile. Michael and Isabel rolled their eyes in unison and Michael
felt his spirits lift just a bit. "Are you coming with?" Max nudged
Michael out of the booth when he spotted Liz emerging from the back with her
purse in hand.
"Sure, although Hank will be heartbroken
that I don't come home for surf n' turf with wine," he answered wryly as
he followed Isabel and the Bobbsey Twins out the door and to the Jeep.
***
Bass riffs drifted to their ears as they turned
into the Whitman's driveway. Alex looked up and waved, and shouted, "Be
there in a sec, guys!" and turned his attention back to the lyric sheet he
was studying with Maria, his dark head bent close to her bright one over the
paper.
Michael looked away and affected nonchalance
when his friends turned penetrating glances upon him. "What??" he
demanded of no one in particular when identical smirks crossed their faces.
Alex came bounding up to invite them in for
sodas. "We have to finish going over this real quick, Maria decided I'm
going to sing backup so I have to run through this with her. I'll just be a
few." The crew filed into the house through the kitchen door off the
garage and Michael distributed sodas.
"They really any good?" he asked
Isabel, a skeptical look on his face.
"I thought so," she replied, taking a
swallow of soda and making a face at him. "Though they may not be noisy
enough for your tastes." He made the same face at her and they laughed.
Max allowed a small smile to cross his face; it was good to see Michael happy.
Relatively speaking.
Max stood right next to Liz, their arms brushing
occasionally and their exchanged glances speaking volumes. "Hey, let's
go!" Liz heard music start up and used it as an excuse to grab Max's hand
and lead him back into the garage. Isabel followed, but Michael hung back. It
isn't that he did not want to see Maria; he did very much. She just made him
feel so mixed up that he was in danger of losing sight of the one thing that
had kept him going all this time, his search for home, and that search had
become talismanic to him. It was his mantra; the idea of it had become larger
than life to him and he was terrifed of letting go of that. Sighing deeply, he
slapped his own cheek lightly and stalked into the garage.
***
i know i'm not your first one
but i pray i'll be your last
i've never seen you cry before
but i know that i'll make you laugh
Maria's voice flowed smoothly over Michael like
molasses...he couldn't take his eyes off of her and nearly tripped over Max's
feet. Isabel snickered and he silenced her with a frown. Maria's eyes were
closed in concentration as she listened to the monitors, her hand upraised to
signal Alex for backup vocals.
i know and you know
you've heard this all before
Her eyes opened and instinctively found Michael's.
Her heart was in her eyes as she continued singing without a pause.
these arms are for holding on
this heart won't stray from home
She dropped her arm and Alex joined in and the
harmony was ethereal. Isabel was spellbound, Max and Liz were doing that
'soulmates look-into-my-eyes thing' as Maria called it, and Michael was lost in
Maria's voice.
if you didn't want this
and i didn't need it
then how did this interest become an addiction
if you didn't want it
then why can't you do without
i know
Alex dropped out and Maria soloed again, her
voice speaking of waiting in sadness.
i know..
god tell me, where's my halo?
Isabel jumped up and applauded at the end of the
song and Alex flushed a deep crimson. "That was fantastic!" she
exclaimed, hugging him and then even Maria in uncharacteristic exuberance.
"Great going, man, " Max told Alex as
Liz hugged Maria. Max even dropped an arm around Maria in a friendly hug.
"I need a drink, guys, I'm going in. Come
with?" Alex did not wait for a reply and headed into the kitchen with the
group trailing behind.
Maria was shuffling lyric sheets back into order
and trying to stuff them in a folder but her hands didn't want to cooperate
because she was keenly aware of Michael sitting on an equipment case watching her.
"What?" she finally demanded, more harshly than she'd meant to, and
when he did not reply she looked up at him. His face was solemn as he slipped
down off the case and headed towards her.
She dropped her gaze to his feet as he came to
stand in front of her and she said, "Go ahead, say whatever horrible thing
it is that you have percolating in your space brain." She felt him touch
her hair gently and she looked up at him, her expression wary. He gently grazed
her cheek with his knuckles as he opened his mouth to say something and then
shut it again as he thought better of it.
"What?? You're never quiet, you're freaking
me out. Say something." She gave him her patented Michael glare and wonder
of wonders, he smiled. A genuine, unguarded smile.
"Wow," was all he said.
She thought for a second and responded, "I
guess that's good?"
"Yes. It's very good. C'mon," he
linked his index finger through hers and headed towards the kitchen to join the
others. It didn't escape anyone's notice that they entered the kitchen
practically holding hands, but no one cracked on them for it because they knew
Michael would scowl and Maria would blush and then there would be an argument
and weeks of stony silence. Liz was happy to be with Max and Alex was basking
in the glow of Isabel's praise so everyone was feeling too mellow to ruin the
moment.
Everyone sat around talking for a while, then
Michael began to get fidgety. If I don't leave, he thought to himself, I am
going to kiss her right here in Alex's kitchen and to hell with being alone and
with what anyone thinks. "I gotta jet," he announced, trying to
ignore Maria's crestfallen expression. "Later, Alex, Is,
Maximilian...might even see you at school tomorrow, who knows?"
He rested his hand on Maria's shoulder briefly
and bent to whisper in her ear, "your halo is right where it belongs,
angel," and then he was gone. Liz had the temerity to giggle at Maria's
starstruck expression.
***
That same starstruck expression crossed Maria's
face the next morning when she opened her locker and a note fell out. Her lips
moved as she read the words printed there, and she was oblivious to dark eyes
watching her from across the hall.
towering walls with roses on high..eternal
flames will glow in our eyes..now that i know what makes you sing..cause i
found an angel with a broken wing...