Title: To Know You

Author: MsBigBad

Disclaimer: I don't own Maria or Michael, but I'd like to at least own Brendan Fehr for a day :D But alas. The characters belong to Jason Katims and a whole bunch of other rich lucky people. And Brendan belongs to his wife, lucky woman.
So basically, don't sue me mkay?

Summary: This is a tag to episode 115 Sexual Healing that I did for Misty1987's deleted scene challenge.

Category: M&M Canon

Rating: Teen mostly for the dark tone in and the use of the a word once.

Warnings: Dark subject matter

Authors Notes: I wrote this in about two hours and it's my very first Candy or Roswell fiction so please be gentle. Constructive criticism is okay though.

Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated.

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And I saw a bunch of other stuff too.

Boy had he ever. He knew on some level that Maria wanted him, because well it wasn't that hard to tell. Not when her tongue was thrusting wildly in his mouth and she had his body pressed against the wall of the eraser room. Her hands feeling every plane of his body, her throat emitting some of the sexiest sounds he'd ever heard. That in itself was enough to drive him crazy, but to actually see her fantasies every time their lips met was an intense and incredibly arousing feeling. No wonder they kept ending up in there instead of going to class.

He watched as the blood rushed to her cheeks turning them a delicious shade of crimson. She was beautiful. Why on Earth, no pun intended, would she settle for him? She could do so much better. She could have someone normal. Someone that could love her the way she deserved, the way he knew she longed for.

"Was I right?" He asked, trying to break the awkwardness of the moment.

She was looking away from him fidgeting with her hair, her cheeks still flushed.

"Yeah, um, that dog died when I was like seven. Right before my father left." She admitted.

An absentee father, now that was something Michael knew about all too well. Sure, he'd had Hank, but he'd thought him a jailor more than any kind of role model, and defiantly not as a loved one. And his real father, well who knew? Nasedo could be his dad, or it could have been one of the others that died in the crash. Either way no one was coming for him. At least he could say that he'd never been loved, to his knowledge. Maria had spent seven whole years with a dad who she probably thought loved her, only to have him suddenly ripped away. Something like that had to have left its scars.

"Kinda rough?" He asked, sensing that maybe she just needed to talk about it. After all, she'd been there for him the other night, not that he'd talked her ear off or anything, but that was him. Trusting people was not his forte.

"Yeah, I d say so." She whispered.

Okay, so maybe she did' t want to talk about it. He could understand that.

"I really didn t care about the stupid flashes." She rushed to change the subject.

"I just wanted us to be close." Her eyes were beginning to fill with tears and her voice was getting shaky.

He couldn t bear to see her cry. He had been the cause of too many of her tears lately and he just wanted to make it all right this time.

"Thanks." He said pulling her in closer and kissing her forehead.

Thanks for choosing me. He thought, squeezing her one more time.

"I don't miss him." His eyes looked confused at her words.

"My father, I haven't missed him in a very long time. I was afraid of him mostly. He used to hit my mom. He never touched me but, that day that you saw me." She began.

"Yeah, in the sneakers." He confirmed.

"I was crying that day because I had gotten into trouble at school. I called the teacher something I can't even remember what it was it was something Alex had dared me to call her no doubt he was always getting me into trouble. Anyway, I got home and of course, they had called my parents, well instead of getting my ass whipped, he'd taken it out on my mom. I came through the door and it was so quiet."

She had to stop for a second to regain her calm; tears were burning their way down her face.

Michael rubbed her arm softly trying to be of some use. He'd never been good at things like this.

"She was just laying there, blood dripping into her blouse, it scared me. I thought she was dead. And instead of feeling sad, I just felt angry. I thought how could she do that. How could she die and just leave me there with him? But then she moved. She sat up pulled her shirt over her head, grabbed a bottle of soda water, and just started cleaning it, like she'd only spilt ketchup on it or something." She explained, anger leaping into her words.

"Then she asked me how my day was, threw her blouse in the washer, and then started making dinner. She acted as if nothing bad had happened at all, as if we were just a normal happy family. I was little but even then, I knew that wasn t true. I just went out the door and settled down on the porch with my dog. My dad walked right past me and didn't even acknowledge my existence. I could hear him start on my mom again, and she would just take it. I never understood that." She finished, now looking him directly in the eyes as if asking him to answer her, to give her some sort of explanation.

"Maybe she thought she didn't have a choice." Michael offered.

He was sure whatever reason Amy Deluca had for staying with Maria's Dad must have been a good one.

"So did she ever tell your Dad to go away? Or did he just up and leave one day?" He asked generally interested in the answer.

It wasn't often he really cared about what someone was telling him.

She shook her head new tears glistening in her eyes. "No Michael I do not think I can talk about this. I didn't even mean to say this much, it just sort of spilled out. I m sorry."

She apologized, and began to move away from him.

For some reason unbeknown to him, Michael felt his arm stretch out and restrain her.

"Hey, it s okay. I just thought that maybe talking about it would help. Its okay if you don't want to. It s hard to trust someone enough to tell them some things." He admitted, staring deeply into her hazel eyes.

That broke her. Her face contorted into pain again; clearly, she had taken his words the wrong way.

"But that's just it. I trust you. I want to trust you. I want to tell you everything. I want you to know me. I want to know you." She whispered her last confession.

"No you don't." He sighed; disappointed in the direction this conversation had gone.

"I do." She challenged.

"I told you before I can't be that guy. The one who talks about his feelings and walks you home from school everyday. Some days I'm not gonna be there because there's someone looking for us or just because I woke-up and didn't feel like playing the part of normal teenage human. I can't promise you anything. I can't promise that I'll ever trust anyone enough to let them know me, but if it's ever going to be anyone Maria, it'll be you." He finished surprising even himself with his admissions.

"What I want to know," he continued. "Is if that's going to be enough for you."

"It is, Michael, this just feels right, you know?" She asked, pleading for him to understand.

"Yeah I think I do." He nodded in agreement.

He leaned in slowly and captured her lips with his. This kiss was different from the ones they'd shared in the eraser room. It was softer and slower, and if possible, it was more satisfying. An image flashed before Michael's eyes. A little girl with blonde hair and red sneakers watching as her father packed a suitcase, watching him again as he brushed her out of his way and strode out the door. An image of the girl's mother lying limp on the floor as the girl lay down beside her and cried. He broke the kiss then and squeezed her gently planting another kiss in her hair before standing up.

C'mon, I'll walk you home.

END