“Kyle,” Tess said as she came up behind her boyfriend. “I’m sorry about before. I didn’t think about…” “I’m the one who’s sorry Tess,” Kyle interrupted her gruffly as he turned and pulled her to him roughly. “I didn’t mean to snap at everyone that way. It’s just that…” “Shh…Kyle it’s alright, you have nothing to apologize for and you don’t have to explain anything to anyone. We all understand…I understand. As stressful and overwhelming as this is for us, it has to be so much more for you. And know about the Hunters, about Liz and Max, well it must make you think about your dad.” “Dad’s fine,” Kyle said as he sighed and let go of his anger finally. With Tess in his arms, he couldn’t stay upset for long. “Amy’s not letting Dad out of her sight until we figure this out. I’m not worried about him. I’m worried about us, about all of us. What the hell do we know? We’re just kids, we don’t know what the hell we’re doing.” “We know that without each other together that we are nothing,” Alex said as he came up behind them with Isabel and the Juniors in tow. “Sorry to interrupt you two but…” “Maria’s trying to calm Michael down and well…” Isabel’s voice trailed off as a blush began to fill her cheeks. The others began to laugh, Alex more so at his girlfriend’s embarrassment than what her words implied about Michael and Maria. “Understandable,” Tess said with a grin. “Before they became a couple none of us wanted to be around whenever Maria was trying to calm Michael down. But I guess that now that they’re going out she is using other methods besides the bat huh?” “The bat?” Kyle asked in confusion, causing them all to laugh again. “Michael’s temper is something of a legend around here,” Isabel said with a grin. “No one wants to let it simmer for long periods of time, so over the years we’ve all come up with plans to help him out in the control department.” Alex smirked at Isabel’s explanation. His girlfriend had left herself wide open this time. “Something tells me that Maria’s ‘helping him out’ nicely as we speak.” Isabel responded to Alex’s comment by glaring at him while her blush returned at full force. Alex’s eyes twinkled back at her in response to her look. “Umm…” Alex shook his head a little to clear it. Going into Izzy-mode probably wasn’t a good idea at the present moment…he would do that later…when they were alone…without his baby sister watching him in barely repressed humor. “Anyway, Amy and Maria got the bright idea last year of the baseball bat. Michael uses it all the time against inanimate objects. He did use it tonight,” Alex added to Tess, “we heard it against the wall. But Maria told Isabel to get all of us out of there because…” “Cause it didn’t work,” Isabel said dryly. “We were already on our way out though because we heard the plaster crack. We were half-way out of there when Maria talked to me.” “Is everyone linked?” Kyle asked quickly in confusion. There were still so many things about the witch world that he didn’t understand. “Oh no,” Jessie answered him with a easy laugh. “Maria’s just a really powerful telepath. She can link with anyone in the vicinity of the town. That’s her specialty, like Michael’s is telekinesis. You guys remember early this summer when he knocked that car over when he saw Maria and Sohn flirting at the beach?” The others all laughed and nodded, it was a favorite of the group in the category aptly titled ‘Michael looses control over Maria’. “It’s kinda funny if you think of it,” Jessie added as an afterthought. “Maria can knock them out and Michael can pick them up.” “You are seriously bent,” Trent told Jessie with a smirk. “I really don’t know why everyone thinks that you’re so great and wonderful when really you are nothing but one giant dork.” “Awe Trent,” Jessie said as she threw her arms around him and looked up at him to bat her eyes at him. “You know that you love me, corny jokes and all.” “Whatever…keep telling yourself that one Jessie,” Trent said as he rolled his eyes, but he didn’t move to remove her from his arms. Instead he moved his own hands to hers to link his fingers with hers and began to pull her down the road. “Come on Dorkbutt, Ryan and I will walk you and Leigha home. We’ll see you guys in the morning,” he added to Alex, Isabel, Tess and Kyle as the Juniors all headed towards their homes. “Does anyone else find it really odd that Trenton seems to be the leader of the Junior division?” Tess asked as they all stood together to watch the Juniors leave in amusement. “It’s about as alternate universe weird as Michael being ours,” Isabel remarked dryly as she linked arms with Alex. “But hey, it works for all of us doesn’t it?” The others shrugged at that. It was undeniable. Michael was their leader…well him and Maria, regardless of who held the actual title. It had always been that way, it always would be. Trent was just like his brother, it was logical that he would be the leader like him. “So are we going to wait around here for Michael and Maria to emerge from their little lovefest or what?” Kyle asked as he tried to determine how he felt about his newfound sister having sex in the building a few hundred yards behind him. “Please,” Tess said as she linked hands with Kyle and began to pull him down the road towards her house. “Even before they admitted they loved each other, the two of them would lock themselves in there for hours when Michael was in a funk. This could take forever. Besides Buddha-boy,” she added as she nipped his ear with her teeth. “I think that we have some emotions to work out ourselves. My dad’s still out of town if you want to keep me company.” “Can’t argue with that,” Kyle drawled out wisely. “See you guys tomorrow,” he said in farewell to Alex and Isabel. “He’s so whipped,” Alex laughed as he watched Kyle follow Tess down the street like a little puppy dog. “Oh and you aren’t?” Isabel asked him in amusement with one eyebrow arched. Alex looked at her and busted out laughing. “You’ve had me whipped since the cradle Izzy,” he told her as he grabbed her and spun her around in the middle of the deserted street. Isabel laughed at his antics, her hearts swelling with unrepressed love for him, the one person who could melt her Ice Queen façade with just a look. “Yeah well,” she told him as she put her arms around his neck as he began to lead them in a dance to music only the two of them could hear. “Turn about is fair play. You’ve had be about that long too.” He smiled at her stupidly in complete happiness and she sighed as she placed her head on his shoulder. God she loved him more and more each second. “So Alex,” she said who knows how many minutes later as they continued to dance to silent music in the deserted Main St. of Willow Oaks. “Do you have any simmering emotions to work out, cause if you do…well…I think the beach is pretty deserted right about now.” “Isabel Guerin,” Alex said as he gallantly held out an arm for his girlfriend and soulmate. “I do love how your mind works. Please allow me to escort you to the beach.” “Oh thank you kind sir,” Isabel said with a carefree giggle as she linked her arm through his. “I would be honored to have you escort me. It wouldn’t do for a lady such as myself to go without a proper escort. It would ruin my reputation.” “Your reputation is safe with me my Lady,” Alex said with a disarming grin that caused Isabel’s breath to catch in her throat. “Too bad yours isn’t safe with me my kind Knight,” she said wickedly as they reached the beach and she pulled him down to the sand with her. “Just as long as you respect me in the morning,” Alex laughed as she began to kiss him hungrily. Then his laughter stopped as he was further occupied and the situation no longer seemed so funny. Both sighed as they fell into each other. “I’ll catch up with you later,” Ryan told his brother and Jessie as he and Leigha began to walk away from them towards the Deluca house. Trent and Jessie smirked at the two of them knowingly but wisely chose to keep their comments to themselves. Leigha blushed becomingly as Ryan squeezed her hand gently and led her away from the others. “Thank god,” he said after a moment of comfortable silence. “I didn’t think the two of us would ever get a moment to ourselves. They’ve watched us like hawks since the other day.” “Can you blame them Ryan?” Leigha asked as she blushed again, this time in embarrassment. “Last time they left us alone, when they came back in we were kissing each other like your brother kisses my cousin,” she added thinking back to the day before when Jessie and Trent had returned from the greenhouse to find Ryan and Leigha making out. That first gentle kiss had quickly escalated to a lot of bigger, more heated kisses. Leigha had told Jessie in confidence earlier that day in one of the few classes that didn’t have one of the twins in it that it must be a Guerin trait because no matter how innocent the kisses Michael and Maria shared were at first they always escalated quickly to something else. “Certainly did throw them for a loop didn’t it?” Ryan asked her with a wicked grin that would have done Michael proud. His grin widened when he remembered how Trent had lectured him about treating Leigha properly before clapping his twin on the back and welcoming him to the club. The two of them reached Leigha’s door and Ryan stopped her from going in directly by tugging on her arm gently. “What?” She managed to get out before his lips claimed hers softly. “Go on inside before Aunt Amy comes after me with a newspaper,” he told her five minutes later, but before she could comply he kissed her yet again. “I’ll come by in the morning alright? Walk you to school?” “OK,” she sighed as she leaned in to kiss him this time. “Then we can head over to Jessie’s and meet up with her and Trent cause you know that he’s not letting her out of his sight until this whole thing is over.” “I have a feeling that when this thing is finally over that Trent still won’t be letting her out of his sight,” Ryan smirked. He looked so cute…so Guerin…that Leigha couldn’t help herself, she leaned over and kissed him yet again. “OK,” Ryan groaned between little kisses, “on the count of three you make a run for it, otherwise we’ll never get off your porch. One…Two…Three…” with one last quick peck on the lips, Leigha turned and darted into the Deluca house, leaving one sighing and happy Ryan Guerin to half walk, half float further down the road to his house. “Thanks for walking me home Moron,” Jessie said as she winked at Trent. “No prob., Social Reject,” Trent returned with a wink of his own as they reached the Whitman yard. He started to turn to leave her, albeit a little reluctantly, when she stopped him by not letting go of the hand that he still held. “What is it?” He asked her seriously. She responded to the question by pulling him down on the front steps beside her. “Let’s see how long it takes Ryan to walk Leigha home,” she whispered conspiratorially to him. “Then we can embarrass and blackmail them with it later.” “Have I told you lately Ms. Whitman,” Trent said as he leaned back comfortingly on the steps, “that I adore the way you warped little mind works.” Jessie giggled and slugged him lightly in the shoulder. “Told you that you loved me,” she said with an impish gleam in her eyes. He snorted at her, but nudged her with his shoulder. “Admit it Trenton Guerin,” she told him as she began to tickle him mercilessly. “Admit that you love me and I’ll stop.” “Never,” Trent said as he laughed helplessly. Damn Jessie for knowing exactly where he was ticklish the most. Finally he decided that turnabout was fair play and began to tickle her back. They were both so caught up in the tickling that neither noticed the precarious position on the stairs, with a thud they fell off the porch and landed with Trent on top of Jessie on the front walkway. “Well this is interesting,” Jessie mumbled with Trent lying on top of her. “Sorry about that,” Trent said as he tried to untangle himself from her. “You alright?” He paused in untangling their limbs to look down in her face. She smiled at him sweetly and nodded. “Just fine,” she said, a little breathlessly. “Take your time. It’s not like I need to breathe or anything to live.” “Funny Jessie,” Trent said as he finally got himself clear and stood up. He leaned down and offered her a hand, when she accepted it, he pulled her up effortlessly and quickly, so quickly that her face ended up a scarce inch from his. For a moment the two of them just stared at each other, neither moving away and neither sure of what move to make. “Jessica Whitman are you going to stand in the yard all night or are you going to come in,” Charles Whitman said to his daughter from the front door which was open and spilling warm light onto the yard. “You can come in too Trent if you want.” “No, I’d better be going,” Trent said quickly as Jessie turned and walked back up the porch steps. She paused just before going in to look at him before going in and letting the door shut behind her with a bang. Trent sighed in relief. If her father hadn’t come out when he did well let’s just say that he wouldn’t have been inviting Trent inside if he had witnessed what Trent had really, really wanted to do at that moment to his darling little girl. Trent sighed again as he made his way to his own porch and sat on the front step to wait for his brother. He had some serious thinking to do…because suddenly Jessie was no longer such an annoying thorn in his side, now it seemed more like she was an annoying thorn in his side that he would die to protect and kill anyone who dared tried to remove her from that position. Damn…life just got more and more complicated didn’t it? ******************* “I love you Michael,” Maria whispered into Michael’s chest from the floor of the storage closet in her mother’s store. “I love you too Maria,” Michael returned gruffly. “But if you don’t shut up and go to sleep I’m going to put a silencing spell on you.” Maria giggled and before giving into an exhausted sleep, she leaned over and set the alarm on her cell phone. Having her mother come in the storage room to find her only daughter asleep on the floor with her boyfriend, regardless of said boyfriend’s soulmate status, would not be a pretty sight. No they were much better off setting the alarm to go off in a couple of hours and getting back to their houses before dawn. With a sigh Maria laid back down with her head on his chest and Michael wrapped her protectively in his embrace before sleep claimed them both. Across town on the beach Alex and Isabel went through an identical movement, as did Kyle and Tess in Tess’ bedroom. None of the couples realized that another problem, this one of the human sort, awaited them at school in the morning. A human problem that had come to town looking one thing in particular and would not rest until he got it and until those who knew where it was, no matter who or what they were, gave it to him. In the abandoned hotel room of Max Evans and Liz Parker, Sean Brooks looked up from his ex-girlfriends journal and growled. Evans had gotten her involved in a world that had taken her from him, and Sean would not rest until he got Liz back. He’d promised her parents that he would get back to Roswell with their daughter and he would, if he had to take out Max Evans to do it…well that was a bonus. He looked back at the journal…God bless his Liz for being so scientific and meticulous to write everything down. Tomorrow he’d go to Willow Oaks High School and talk to these ‘Royals’, if Michael and Isabel Guerin, Tess Harding, Maria Deluca, Kyle Valenti and Alex Whitman knew anything about Liz and where she was…if they had anything to do with her disappearance, Sean would rip them apart with his bare hands. TBC

Part 29