Who: Maria DeLuca and Michael Guerin What: Michael tries and sort of fails at getting Maria's number Where: Bar When: Recently Rating: Low, some swearing Status: Complete!
Michael had been drinking more than usual lately. Which was saying a lot. But what the hell else was he supposed to do when he was dreaming about being a damn alien? Not to mention all the shit foster homes he had to dream about. Wasn’t it bad enough that he already had to live through it once? He didn’t need the reminder, or to see himself in even worse situations. Even if he could forget about the dreams for just a few minutes there was that small pain on his arm to remind him. The burn in the shape of a cross from his damn exorcism.
Which was why Michael was in a long sleeve shirt despite the Orange County heat, in a bar attempting to drink his pain away - alone. Not that Michael minded drinking alone, he did it rather often. But ever since that dream he had been avoiding all the people in his life not wanting them to get a glimpse of his arm.
Maria was definitely fed up with life at the end of this day. Her mother had some worrisome mental things going on earlier in the day and fought with her when Maria said she didn’t think she should go to the shop for the day. She had ended up just relenting to stop her mother from getting worked up, but made sure to go to the shop as well and watch over her, but while trying not to hover too much.
So, now that was over and Mimi was safe at home with one of her friends coming over to watch something on the dvr together. She needed a drink and she didn’t really care where. So, she got in her car and drove until she found one that seemed to suit her. She wandered in, made her way to the bar, and then saw a familiar head of curly hair and couldn’t believe that they were running into each other again. She got her drink and then plopped down on the barstool next to him.
MIchael could practically feel her presence before he turned his head to look at her. She was the last person he was expecting to see. He ran into people at bars often enough, considering he usually went to the same few on a regular basis and knew other people that also did. But he hadn’t seen Maria out at a bar since that night they all went to play darts.
“DeLuca,” Michael said with a small nod acknowledging her presence. “Didn’t know dive bars were your thing.”
“Guerin,” Maria retorted with a small smile as she lifted her drink to her lips and took a sip. She considered the question and gave a small shrug, “it looked decent enough and I needed a drink.” She was tempted to make a little jab about how she wasn’t surprised he hung in dive bars, but she just wasn’t quite feeling being mean in that way.
She took another sip of her drink, “What have you been up to? Haven’t run into you in a while.” She didn’t have Michael’s phone number and that was fine because honestly they were never at a level where they would ask the other to come hang out. She didn’t dislike Michael, she just didn’t feel like she had to work hard to get along with him, so running into him places was usually how it went.
Michael didn’t often ask people to hang out. He ran into whoever he ran into. Or Isobel set up a dinner for them and Max… or she insisted he come along to some group thing. But he didn’t usually instigate things. So even if Maria had given his number he probably wouldn’t have asked her to hang out. Still he did honestly enjoy her company. He had in high school at least. And the two times he had seen her recently. She knew how to keep him on his toes.
It was Michael’s turn to shrug. “Around. Working mostly.” And drinking. That pretty much summed up Michael’s existence. Well work, drinks and sex. “Why?” he asked getting back to his usual banter. A small smirk appearing on his face. “You miss me, DeLuca?”
“When did our lives get so boring that all we can say we did all week was work?” Maria mused aloud. At least her job in New York didn’t really feel like work and that was the best part about it. They did enough gigs that she didn’t need a part-time job, but she did keep up on social media channels for her mother’s shop when it was needed.
“Oh yes, I’ve been pining away for you every day since we all played darts,” Maria added extra dramatics to her voice and then batted her eyelashes at him and put on a puppy dog pout. Once that was long enough in her book she quickly ended that and rolled her eyes, “I’m being polite and making sure you’re not out there murdering kittens or something.”
“When we became adults?” Michael replied with a smirk. He didn’t consider his life boring, He liked the consistency, it was something he never had growing up. And he still had his forms of excitement. But it didn’t really seem appropriate to discuss his sex life with Maria. Especially since he was sleeping with the guy she lived with.
“That’s what I thought,” he joked right back completely aware of Maria’s over-dramatic tone. Her next comment though, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Murdering kittens?” he asked mock hurt on his face. “Didn’t know you thought that low of me.”
“I have no idea, man,” Maria laughed, “Maybe when we started paying our own bills? Adulting is the biggest lie ever. I don’t know why we all wanted to grow up so fast when we were kids.” Maria took a long sip of her drink and grinned. It had seemed like the coolest thing to become when you were young, but it was not as fun experiencing it.
Maria offered up a roll of her eyes and then laughed into her drink at Michael’s reply. Okay, it had definitely been worth saying that to him. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she replied to him, “Not at all, but I have to make sure I’m not hanging around a future serial killer. I think I know you wouldn’t do that, but I don’t know you that well.”
Michael had a bit different of an opinion than most when it came to growing up, Maria included. He had needed to grow up and be in charge of his own life instead of relying on shitty foster parents. But he knew that wasn’t the normal life experience so he got what Maria meant. “Not all you thought it would be?” Michael asked instead of bringing up his crappy childhood cause well he’d prefer not to dwell on that.
Michael grinned at her comment not taking it at all personally. “Well,” he said leaning in slightly closer to her. “How well do you want to know me?” he asked with a brow raised, unable to keep the flirtatious tone out of his voice.
Maria understood that side of it as well. Everyone had their own experiences and everything involving her dad had never been great, but at least her mother had done her best to provide a loving home. “Nah, but the only good part is getting to make your own family now,” Maria gave him a small smile at that comment. She knew a little bit about Michael’s time with foster families, so creating your own family was important; Alex had done the same time, “And I don’t miss homework.”
Oh god. Maria reached over to shove Michael, “Ugh, Guerin, as if. That ship set sail a long time ago.” If he had asked that the one night they had made out she probably would have gone along with it, but she knew better now. She liked actually getting to know someone now instead of just swiping on Tinder for a hookup. She gave him a dramatic eye roll as she finished her drink, “You owe me the next round for that.”
“Yeah?” Michael asked with a raised brow. “And who’s your family?” He knew Maria’s mother was still in the picture. She had mentioned as much when he first ran into her. But he was slightly curious to consider who else she considered family. As for him, he didn’t consider anyone his family. Hell he barely considered people his friends.
“Careful, DeLuca,” Michael smirked as he waved the bartender over for more drinks. “Remember what happened the last time you had a few too many with me.” He knew there was no chance of them actually hooking up. He had no idea if Alex had told Maria about them, but either way he wouldn’t do that to Alex. Still he enjoyed Maria’s company and the banter just came naturally to him. Especially when he was around her.
“Well my mom always is part of it, but Liz, Rosa, Alex are definitely my chosen family. There’s a few people back in New York I would also consider family and now that I’m back in Orange County I can consider Isobel family too,” Maria pointed out. Her bandmates were definitely like family because they went through a lot together and the woman who worked at Mim’s shop was family now. She liked having people she could depend on when she needed it, but she usually was fairly independent.
Maria waved him off with an eye roll, “I’ve increased my tolerance since that night. I’ll be just fine.” She certainly wasn’t going to go toe to toe with him and she was definitely not planning on getting drunk tonight, but she hoped she had enough common sense to keep it platonic here. She pushed her glass towards the front of the bar, “So, is there any particular reason for drinking tonight or just your normal after work drinks?”
“That’s… a lot of people.” Though he wasn’t surprised. Maria had a warm presence, one that invited people in. He did his best not to react to Alex’s name. “What about your dad?” he asked instead taking a sip of his drink. He didn’t think the guy was around. At least he didn’t remember that from high school. Hell it could even be a sensitive subject for her. But if anyone understood what it was like to not have parents around, it was Michael.
“Is this the night you’re going to try and keep up with me?” he grinned referring back to their conversation the night of darts, even though that had been more about Isobel than Maria. However at her question the grin disappeared from his face, growing more serious. “Been having some weird dreams lately,” he said with a shrug trying to play it off. Although this was the first time he had really talked about it. Sure he had texted Max and Isobel but that was more questions for them. And Poe had been there for a dream so he knew a little bit. But this was his first time volunteering the information and he had no idea why it was Maria DeLuca he was sharing it with.
“Yeah, the most important people,” Maria commented and gave him a small smile. Michael wasn’t the touchy feely type and she understood that, but she did hope that he had people he could reach out to. If he let her continue to be a presence in his life she would probably worm her way in there as someone he could talk to. The question about her dad drew a shrug and she eagerly took the new drink that was placed in front of her and brought it to her lips, “Fuck ‘im.” She didn’t know much about her dad and she stopped caring about him a long time ago. Her mom was more than enough for her, but that didn’t stop her from taking a long sip.
The question made her laugh into her drink and she shook her head, “Oh hell no. I need a few days to prepare for something like that. I would have ubered if I was going to do that. This is a couple drinks then some water kind of night.” She watched his face change and a bit of worry started to grow in the pit of her stomach. God, she hoped she didn’t bring up something awful. When he mentioned dreams and her eyebrows raised just a little, “Oh yeah? Me too. Apparently I’m living in New Mexico and know Liz and Rosa there as well.”
Michael watched Maria’s reaction, how she immediately took the drink. The long sip she took after her words. Even with her shrug, Michael had a feeling she cared more than she let on. But he could just be projecting. Because he sure as hell knew he cared more about his lack of parental figures more than he ever let on. “Fuck him,” Michael replied following suit and taking a long swallow from his own glass. He let the subject drop at that. Not the type to press, but he did have a slightly better sense about Maria now.
“See,” Michael began smirk on his face. “If I had your number I could give you a few days notice.” He was only half joking. He didn’t really think she would commit to going out and trying to keep up with him drinking wise. But he wouldn’t mind having her number either.
“Shit,” Michael said finishing his off his drink, motioning the bartender over for another. “I dream about New Mexico too. With Max and Isobel…in Roswell.”
Maria was not here to be psychoanalyzed by Michael Guerin of all people and if she knew what he was doing she would have called him out on it. Of course some small part of her was always going to be mad at how it all went down, but she also chose not to think about it. She was thankful he finally dropped the subject and took another sip.
“Suuuuuure, Guerin. That’s a terrible line for getting my number,” Maria pointed out to him. She would make him work for it before she bothered giving up that part of her life to him. She was also definitely not going to take him up on trying to drink him under the table though, “And do you?? Roswell as well here. I know people talk about dreams on the network all the time, but this is just weird. Sounds like Liz has been dreaming as well.”
“Sorry,” Michael grinned. “Would you prefer something like ‘I seem to have lost my phone number. Can I have yours?’” he was clearly joking. Like Michael would ever seriously say such a lame pick up line.
“Max and Isobel too,” and Alex apparently though he had no idea if Alex dreamed about Roswell. He just knew that he dreamed about his dad. “I’m young in the dreams. Not even a teenager yet. It’s annoying,” he paused taking another sip of his drink. “What are your Roswell dreams like?”
“I actually really like the space pants pick up line the best still. It is just so out of left field that it’s a bit charming,” Maria countered with a smirk. Someone had used that line on her once before and it may or may not have worked for them. She wasn’t one to kiss and tell.
“Huh, think we’re all connected? We must be,” Maria hadn’t seen the others in her dreams yet, but if they were all dreaming of the same place it wouldn’t surprise her. She ran a hand through her hair and frowned, “why is it annoying? And I’m just basically growing up in them and then meeting Liz and Rosa. We’re about to start high school the last time I had a dream.”
“Well,” Michael grinned leaning back on his bar stool a bit pretending to check out her butt. Not that he could fully see it with her sitting on a stool, but he had definitely noticed it in the past. “Your ass is out of this world.”
He took a sip of his drink as Maria talked about the dreams. “I don’t know. Maybe. We are dreaming about the same place,” he shrugged. He didn’t know how these things worked, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t connected to every single person on that network. “Just don’t really need to see my childhood all over again. Living that once was enough.” Yeah there was definitely some bitterness in his tone.
Okay, that was pretty funny and Maria allowed herself a grin and a huff of laughter into her drink. When he came back to normal she reached over to shove him playfully, “You’re a pain in my ass.” At least Guerin was able to shake off her weird mood.
“Ah, makes sense. I definitely feel that. I’m not really thrilled about high school rehashing either, although I guess it’ll be different than the first time. Do you wanna vent about it? If you do then I’ll order another round of drinks,” it didn’t seem like the conversation you could have with someone sober and Maria knew that letting out your feelings was better than bottling them in. Guerin didn’t seem like the type to share his feelings, so she was going to try and get him a little more relaxed.
Michael found himself smiling, not smirking, genuinely smiling at Maria’s reaction. Proud that he had made her laugh. “Probably what makes it so out of this world,” he joked right back.
Michael’s dream childhood was also different from his childhood here. For one he had some weird powers that liked to show up whenever he was angry, which was a lot. And also the foster homes were even shittier. Still he didn’t like being reminded of that time of his life at all. “I don’t talk about my dreams with people who don’t share their phone number,” Michael replied with a grin back on his face. He didn’t really talk about his dreams at all but still. The more Maria denied him, the more determined he was getting.
That earned a loud groan from Maria and she shoved him again with a smile on her face, “Oh my god, staaaaaaaa-hp.” She couldn’t help but laugh a little because he was definitely laying it on and it was pretty hilarious.
“Ooooo, touché, Guerin,” Maria was impressed that he made that point. She hadn’t been expecting it, but she also knew he was probably deflecting and not wanting to talk about his dreams in general, “But, not a good enough reason to give you my phone number. So, guess you’ll be drinking on your own dime the rest of the night.” It was much more fun to not give him her number now and eventually they would discuss the dreams without having to deal with all that. She knew she wanted to see more about what the hell was going on.
Michael couldn’t help but laugh himself at her reaction. It was fun making Maria laugh like that and yeah he was kind of hitting on her, but he didn’t honestly think it would go anywhere. He was just enjoying the conversation.
“Well,” Michael said with a shrug. “That was what I was planning for the night anyway.” To buy his own drinks. However he still wasn’t ready to let the number thing drop. “You sure you don’t wanna know about my dreams DeLuca?” Not that he was even sure he would tell her the truth if she gave him her number anyway.
“I can handle my disappointment for now,” Maria admitted with a small smirk, “I have a feeling that we’re going to meet up in our dreams soon enough though. I should probably get home, plus, I can’t have too many more drinks anyway.” She gave him a small smile and dug out a pen in her bag before reaching over to take his hand. She flipped it over and wrote down the first six digits of her number then chuckled, “That should be enough to get you started. I’ll see you later, Guerin.” She finished off her drink as she stood up and patted his shoulder.
She was definitely a long way from being able to keep up with him. Still he couldn’t help but smile when she wrote her number down on his hand. Well that was until he noticed it was missing a few digits. No matter, he would get the full number eventually. “Later, DeLuca,” Michael replied watching her and her out of this world ass walk out of the bar.