Series: Who I Am, What I'll Become (Story 19)
Title: Beginnings (2/3)
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: X_tremeroswellian@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: The Angel Investigations gang belongs to Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt and the WB. The Roswellians belong to Melinda Metz, Jason Katims, the WB, UPN, and a bunch of other people that I have absolutely no affiliation with whatsoever. "Have You Ever" is by Brandy, whom I also don't know or have affiliation with. It appears on her album, "Never Say Never," which, btw, is great. :)
Rating: PG-13 for adult content and mild language
Spoilers: Up through and including "Destiny" for Roswell and "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" for Angel, plus the entire "Who I Am" series thus far.
Timeline: Five days after "Strays Like Us."
Summary: The Angel Investigations crew celebrates New Year's Eve with the Roswellians.
Distribution: Any A/C sites that want it, Stranger Things, Jessi's fanfic site. Anyone else, just ask.
Category: Angel/Roswell crossover
Subcategories: Friendship/romance/fluff
Dedication: This one's for Julia. :)
Beginnings (Part Two)
"I don't believe this," Michael muttered. He loosened the tie that was around his neck.
"I don't believe Maria got you to wear a tie," Max replied, amusement obvious on his face.
Alex grinned. "You don't know Maria very well, Max. When she sets her mind to something, there's no talking her out of it."
"I feel ridiculous. And where the hell are they, anyway? This is their party," he grumbled, looking around the already crowded Crashdown Cafe.
"You don't know much about women, do you?" Kyle commented.
"Like you do."
"Allow me to explain the female mind. I have a certain...expertise when it comes to women. You see, right now the girls are all upstairs waiting to make their grand entrance. They have to be late. That way when they do finally show up, all attention is on them."
Angel stifled a smile and turned to see Wesley and Kate walk into the Cafe. Kate was holding onto Wesley's arm, and the two of them looked very...chummy. Wesley was drssed in a gray suit with a black tie. Kate had on a knee-length, pale yellow dress with matching high heels. Her hair was fastened back in a pearl barrette.
They walked over to him.
"Hey, Wes. Kate, you look nice," he greeted them.
"Thank you," she answered.
Wesley glanced around. "Where's Cordelia?"
Angel shrugged. "Still getting ready, I guess."
"Ah."
"That's it. If she's not down here in two minutes, I'm gone," Michael announced.
"Michael--"
"Don't start with me, Maxwell. I'm not in the mood. I didn't even want to be here in the first pl--" Michael cut himself off abruptly, his eyes riveted to the kitchen doorway where Maria and Liz were standing.
Maria was wearing a knee-length lavender dress, her hair cascading gently to her shoulders. She and Liz walked over to the guys.
Alex smiled at them. "You two ladies look beautiful."
"Thanks," they said in unison, smiling back at him.
Max stared at Liz, who was wearing an ankle-length black silk dress, her hair pinned up neatly. "Wow. You look incredible."
"Thank you," she said, feeling shy all of a sudden.
"Would you like to dance?"
Liz smiled and placed her hand in his. "Yes." They drifted away from the group.
Michael and Maria looked at each other.
"You...uh...you wore a tie," Maria said quietly. "Thanks."
He just nodded. "You look great."
She smiled. "You look pretty nice yourself, Spaceboy."
Michael gave her his famous half-smile. "Well, I can't promise I won't step on your toes, but...if you're willing to take the chance..." He motioned to where other couples were dancing.
Maria nodded and glanced over at Alex. "We don't start playing for an hour, right?"
He looked at his watch. "Right."
She took Michael's arm and pulled him onto the dance floor.
Kyle glanced sideways at Alex. "Why am I not surprised that Tess and Isabel are the last ones to finish getting ready?"
Alex grinned, but kept his eyes focused on the door.
A second later, it opened.
Kyle's mouth dropped open and he stared at the gorgeous woman who stood there. "Buddha forgive me, but...who the hell is that?"
"That would be Cordelia," Alex informed him.
At the sound of his best friend's name, Angel turned and saw her. Her dress was long, and midnight blue and held up by thin spaghetti straps. Her hair was curly and trailed down her back. She looked...amazing. Angel swallowed hard.
Cordelia glanced around the room and her eyes lit up when she spotted Angel. He was wearing black pants and a white shirt with a black jacket over it. Despite the fact that he wasn't wearing a tie and probably was the least dressed up of all the guys there, he looked...sexy.
She blinked when the word came to mind. Sexy? That was *not* a word for her to be thinking of in relation to Angel. He was her friend, her best friend, and he was a vampire. Not to mention the fact that he was in love with someone else.
She took a deep breath and walked over to him, feeling a bit anxious all of a sudden. "Hey."
Angel couldn't take his eyes off her. "Cordelia, you look stunning."
Her eyes widened slightly and she smiled. It wasn't often Angel gave out compliments like that. "Thank you."
"Cordelia, you look lovely," Wesley told her.
"Thanks, Wes." Cordelia glanced at him and Kate. "You two look so cute together."
Wesley's face flushed. "Uh, yes, well. Thank you."
Angel couldn't help but smile at his friend's frustration.
"Hi, I'm Kyle Valenti."
Cordelia turned to see a cute younger guy with his hand extended toward her. "Oh, Kyle. I've heard about you. It's nice to meet you. I'm Cordelia." She shook his hand.
"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine." He smiled, then kissed the back of her hand.
"Oh, brother," Angel muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Would you like to dance with me?"
Cordelia didn't really. At least not with Kyle. She had wanted to dance with Angel, but of course, Angel didn't dance anyway. Besides, she didn't want to hurt Kyle's feelings. "Sure."
He took her hand and lead her out onto the dance floor.
Alex waited, feeling slightly impatient. Where was Isabel, anyway?
As if being given a divine answer, she opened the door and stepped out of the kitchen. Her hair cascaded to her shoulders like a blond waterfall. Thin straps held up a form-fitting, long red velvet dress. It had a split in one side right up to her thigh.
He almost had a heart attack right there.
Somehow he found himself moving towards her, their eyes locked on one another.
Before he could finish closing the distance between them, one of Kyle's friends, Tommy Mattheson, beat him to Isabel. A moment later, he had whisked her out onto the dance floor.
Alex went numb as he watched them together.
Why had he thought he had a shot with Isabel when she could have any guy on any planet she wanted? Why in the world would she pick him?
Oh. Right. She hadn't.
They were just good friends.
Alex turned away and walked across the room. He sat down in a booth and stared at the tabletop.
Sometimes, he thought, life really sucks.
Liz smiled as she and Max glided effortlessly around the dance floor. It felt so good to just be with him and have fun together. It had been such a long time since things had been semi-normal between the two of them.
As she twirled around in his arms, she smiled as she saw Maria and Michael dancing together, looking happy for a change. She wondered how Maria had gotten him to wear that tie and she reminded herself to ask later. She noted with surprise that Kyle and Cordelia were dancing. She raised an eyebrow as she spotted Angel standing alone in the corner, not looking very comfortable or happy. Could he be jealous? she wondered.
Then she caught sight of Alex, sitting at a booth alone, looking miserable.
Liz frowned and stopped dancing.
"What's wrong?" Max asked in concern. He followed her gaze to where Alex was sitting.
"I think I should go check on him," she said worriedly.
Max nodded. "Tell you what. You go talk to Alex and I'll go get us something to drink."
"Okay," she agreed. They split up and she walked over to her best friend's table and sat down across from him. "What's wrong?"
Alex looked up, startled. "Hey. Where's Max?"
"Off to get something to drink. Are you okay?"
He glanced over at the couples dancing. "Just feeling a bit foolish, that's all."
Liz frowned and looked at the couples. Cordelia and Kyle twirled by, and Michael and Maria did, too. Then she spotted Isabel dancing with one of Kyle's friends. "Go cut in."
He just looked at her.
"I'm serious. She'd much rather be dancing with you."
"Yeah, right."
"Alex, just go ask her."
He shook his head. "I was stupid to ever think Isabel and I could be more than friends. She's never given me any real signs that she's even interested in me that way."
"Alex--"
"I appreciate the advice, Liz. But I need to get ready, anyway. My band starts playing in a little while." Alex stood up and disappeared into the crowd.
Liz sighed.
"Everything okay?" Max asked as he handed her a cup of punch.
"I hope so."
"You know," Kate spoke up as she and Wesley danced. "I have to admit, I feel kind of out of place here."
"Yes, I know what you mean," he agreed with a slight smile.
She looked around the room. "Cordelia fits right in, though."
Wesley glanced over at his friend, who was still dancing with Kyle Valenti. "Well, she's still young."
Kate raised her eyebrows.
"Not that we aren't," he amended quickly. "I just meant that--"
She laughed. "Don't worry about it. I know what you meant."
They danced in silence for a few minutes.
"Would you like to take a walk?" Wesley asked suddenly, unsure of why he'd suddenly had the notion.
Kate looked at him in surprise. "I'd love to."
"Well. All right then." He offered her his arm and they headed for the door.
Cordelia pulled away from Kyle as the song ended. "You know, I should probably go talk to Angel before he turns all broody-boy on me."
"Oh." Kyle looked disappointed.
"But you know, there's a certain curly haired blond alien that's been staring at you for the past twenty minutes."
His eyes widened. "Tess! I forgot all about her. Damn."
"Well, I wouldn't tell her that." She turned and walked away from him and headed over to where Angel was standing by himself in the corner. "So, are you intentionally trying to be anti-social tonight?" she asked him cheerfully.
Angel smiled. "Old habits die hard."
"So I've been told."
"I was beginning to think you were going to dance with him all night." He nodded nonchalantly towards Kyle, who was wandering around in the crowd.
Cordelia raised an eyebrow. "Why? Jealous?"
"Well, he was dancing with the most beautiful woman in the entire place."
"You obviously haven't seen Isabel's dress. It's to die for," she answered.
"I wasn't talking about your dress."
She looked up at him, surprised once again by the compliments he was giving her. She searched his face, trying to read what he was thinking but his expression revealed nothing. Cordelia swallowed hard and looked away. Time to change the subject. "Where are Kate and Wes?"
"They took off awhile ago."
"Took off?"
"I think they were going for a walk."
Cordelia nodded. "You know, it's been a long time since I've been to a party where people go to have fun and not just to impress each other."
"Are you having fun?"
"Yeah, I am. Angel, thank you for arranging for us to be here. I really needed this."
"I know," he said quietly. He reached out and gently pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.
Cordelia's heart skipped a beat. "Angel--"
"Excuse me. Would you like to dance?"
She turned to see some guy with his hand extended.
"Actually," Angel interupted. "We were about to dance," he informed the guy. He took her hand and lead her out onto the dance floor.
"Since when do you dance?"
"Since I don't want all these guys I don't know hogging you all night," he responded, a twinkle in his eyes as he smiled at her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck as he slid his arms around her waist. It was a nice feeling, being in someone's arms that she knew and trusted so deeply. It was a nice, comfortable, warm and fuzzy feeling. One that she vaguely recalled from another time and place, but wasn't sure from where.
"Have you ever been in love
Been in love so bad
You'd do anything to make them understand
Have you ever had someone steal your heart away
You'd give anything to make them feel the same..."
"You really do look amazing tonight," Angel said quietly, gazing down at her.
"Thank you." She suddenly felt like she was about to cry and she rested her cheek on Angel's shoulder so he wouldn't notice.
What the hell was wrong with her these days anyway? Lately the only person she wanted to be around was Angel, and she felt like her emotions were building up behind a dam that was about to burst. She always felt like she was on the verge of crying, which was really unlike her.
It just didn't make any sense.
"Have you ever found the one
You've dreamed of all your life
You'd do anything to look into their eyes
Have you finally found the one you've given your heart to
Only to find that one
Won't give their heart to you
Have you ever closed your eyes and dreamed that they were there
And all you can do is wait
For that day when they will care..."
Kyle looked around the room. So where was Tess anyway? Cordelia had said Tess was staring at him, but he didn't see any sign of her.
"Kyle?"
He turned to see Isabel standing there. "Hey."
"Have you seen Alex?" she asked anxiously.
"Not lately. Have you seen Tess?"
"Yeah, she was headed for the bathroom a few minutes ago."
"Well, that explains why I can't find her."
"If you see Alex, please tell him I'm looking for him."
"Sure thing." Kyle headed across the room to wait for Tess.
She came out a few moments later and Kyle stared at her. She was wearing a long, forest green dress, her hair in an elaborate twist on top of her head. When he finally looked at her eyes, he noticed they were red-rimmed. "What's wrong?"
"What? Nothing," Tess answered quickly, looking away.
"Don't lie. You've been crying," he said, feeling alarmed. He gently took hold of her arm and lead her into the back room of the Crashdown. "Tess, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's stupid." She wouldn't look at him.
"I doubt that. Talk to me."
Tess lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. "It's just...today...it's sort of the day that Nasedo and I used to celebrate as my birthday."
Kyle's eyes widened. "Tess, I'm sorry. I had no idea."
She shrugged it off. "It's okay. I know you didn't."
"Why didn't you say something before?"
She sat down on the sofa. "In case you hadn't noticed, Kyle, everyone here pretty much hates me."
"That's not true." He sat down next to her.
"Really? Then why are you the only one that's even spoken to me tonight?" Her blue eyes shimmered with tears.
Kyle wrapped his arms around her, not sure what to say.
"I miss him, Kyle. I know that probably makes me a horrible person because I know he was evil...but he was the only one I could ever count on. And he was nice to me sometimes. Usually he was distant and cold, but sometimes he was nice to me." She began to cry.
"You're not a horrible person," he told her quietly. "He was like your father. It's okay to cry and to miss him." Kyle kissed the top of her head, overwhelmed by guilt.
He was going to make this up to her. He just wasn't sure how.