Who: Liz and Kyle What: Liz has insecurities Where: Kyle's place When: after meeting MJ Warnings: low Status: closed/g-doc
Liz was feeling… vulnerable. She was pretty sure that was the best description she could muster as she let her feet do the walking. There was a silent sorry of panic that was happening in her chest that made it feel like she had someone sitting on her chest
Somehow she found herself in front of Kyle's door. Did it make things worse or better that this Kyle was her ex-boyfriend only in an alternative reality?
She thought she had herself pulled together until Kyle opened the door and then suddenly Liz was flooded with emotions. Her lips pressed into a tight frown and her eyes stung and began to water. She tried to say 'hi: but her mouth forgot how to work.
–
The last thing Kyle was expecting when he opened his door was a crying Liz. He pulled her inside, into a hug, even as he asked, “What’s wrong?” This being Madison Valley, it could be any number of things. Someone could have gotten sent home. They might be under attack by killer tomatoes. Anything was possible.
He wasn’t exactly an expert at dealing with crying teenage girls, but he would try his best. It helped that this Liz was far less annoying than the one he had at home.
***
She hugged him back, eyes closed, and too solace in the comfort of him. It felt selfish to do and yet Liz did it anyway. "I'm sorry." She prefaced as she still tried to keep from entirely ugly-crying on Kyle.
Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to explain without losing it. Some of her words wavered, but so far she managed not to sob. "You know how Peter's gone right now?" That part sucked, but Liz knew he'd be coming back. "I - I just met his girlfriend from back home." Here, in town, she meant.
–
Kyle didn’t get a chance to brush off her apology before she was explaining what had her so upset. Part of him was grateful that it was normal teenage bullshit and not like… something ridiculously insane that the dome was doing again, though he knew that it had to be an awkward situation for Liz.
“So he left and his girlfriend from home showed up?” he asked. That was some messed up timing. “Come on, let’s sit down. Want me to make some tea? Or I think there’s ice cream in the freezer.” Isobel would probably know what to say better than he would, but he was sure going to try his best.
***
She moved further inside and sat down, trying to think straight. Liz was the sort of person who liked to think straight even when things were going awry. “Um, tea, maybe?” Maybe the warmth would give her something to focus on, or that was what she could hope, in any case.
“She’s nice, too…” From what she could gather from MJ, anyway. It wasn’t like they lay bare their entire lives to each other, but Liz didn’t get the same vibes from MJ as she did from Tess. Even still….
“...It’s like Tess all over again...”
–
“Okay, you make yourself comfortable and I’ll make some tea,” Kyle said, putting his hand on her shoulder to guide her into the living room. “And then you can tell me everything.” He vaguely remembered her mentioning Tess, though she might have been someone’s doppelganger, but he couldn’t remember the details.
He let her settle in the living room while he went to the kitchen and put on the tea kettle. While the water was heating, he got out some mugs, spoons, teabags, the sugar bowl, and a package of animal crackers he found tucked in the cabinet leftover from his daughter’s visit. As soon as the water boiled, he carried everything into the living room, setting it on the coffee table before sitting down next to Liz.
***
Liz took the mug into her hand and wait a moment or two for the heat from the hot water to warm her hands. It didn't do a lot, buy it was a bit comforting - that was something.
"I think I remember telling you that my Max and the others are called the Royal Four. That Max was the king of Antar and there was this civil war that broke out and all of them were killed. They were cloned and sent to Earth so they could grow up and then come back and reclaim the planet and overthrow Khivar…. Anyway. I was dating Max was Tess shows up on Roswell and Tess back home was married to Max. So they have all this history and Max can feel it. He might not remember anything about Antar, but he has these feelings for Tess and then at the same time another Max from the future shows up and tells me I need to break up with Max because if he pushes Tess away when the invasion of Earth happens, their too weak without her -" Liz was rambling and getting off topic. She realized this and paused, taking a breath and then correcting herself.
"I lost Max to Tess. He slept with her. She was his…. First-" she wondered if that sounded stupid now to someone Kyle's age. "- And now she's pregnant."
–
Her Max sounded like a dick. Maybe more of one than he’d been in his youth. “That’s a lot,” Kyle said. “I can understand why having Peter’s girlfriend from home arrive is so upsetting.” It was something that crossed his mind on occasion, the possibility that Isobel’s girlfriend could show up sometime and put her in the position of having to choose, though he didn’t like thinking about it.
Kyle sipped his tea, trying to decide if he should broach the awkward elephant in the room. “Have you and Peter… been intimate?” he asked.
***
It was a lot “Especially since the moment I showed up here is when Maria and I figured out Tess killed Alex and we were about to go tell Max and the others before they left for Antar.” They needed to learn the truth and Liz was beyond angry that Tess made it look like Alex killed himself. Even now it made her angry.
The question that Kyle asked, her eyes widened, she flushed and then immediately shook her head. “No - no, we. I mean, we’ve kissed and stuff, but not - not that.” She wasn’t sure he and MJ had either. Liz looked down at the tea. “I just really thought maybe this time I’d found someone I could be with.”
–
Kyle winced at the mention of Alex being dead, hoping that wouldn’t be something their universes had in common. That was a topic for another day though and he focused on Liz’s response, feeling a little guilty that he made her blush.
“Maybe you have,” he said gently. “Just because he and MJ were together at home doesn’t mean that he’ll want to stop seeing you. I mean, look at Alex and Michael. Alex is still with Sean. I know that Michael is hurt by that choice, but I think he also understands.” He didn’t know MJ and teenagers weren’t exactly known for being rational, so he had no idea how likely it was that she would be reasonable if Peter decided to keep dating Liz.
*
She gave a small nod. There was that possibility too. "I guess keeping that as a hope feels kind of scary." And maybe a part of Liz was worried she was selfish for wanting to take Peter away from MJ. "It's even more confusing because MJ seems really nice. It would almost be easier if she was mean." Easier in some respects anyway, but it'd be worse if Peter went back to her.
She sighed. "It must be a little weird having me come talk to you about this… I'm sorry. You're just - I feel safe with you." She didn't have Maria and while Alyssa was a good friend too, she could talk openly about home with people from Roswell.
–
“It’s okay,” Kyle said. Yes, it was a little weird, but it made him feel good to know that this version of Liz trusted him. “Just promise me you’ll see one of the other doctors at the clinic if you need anything… personal.”
He was pretty sure he wouldn’t feel right writing her a prescription for birth control. “It makes sense that you’d like MJ though,” he added. “I mean, Peter likes both of you, so it stands to reason that there have to be some common traits.” At least Kyle assumed.
*
"I promise." Liz most definitely did not want to go see Kyle to talk about birth control or, more embarrassingly, a pap smear. No, she'd definitely go to someone else. Probably Martha.
She nodded. She guessed that made sense. Maybe that was why it hurt a lot more with Tess who Liz could never really understand why, especially now when she knew what Tess had done.
"...thanks Kyle. Talking to you - it really helped." And just being here seemed to calm her down too.
*
“Glad to be of service,” Kyle said. “You want to hang out for a while? Watch a movie or something?” He really was winging this whole comfort thing and glad that it seemed to be going well enough.
*
She seemed to let out a final breath she somehow had been holding and nodded. “Yeah. I’d like that a lot.” She needed to before she went back to ‘reality’ and she appreciated it beyond measure.