Title: Merry Christmas
Author: Savy
Rating: PG - R. Few bad words
Category: Rath/Maria
Summary: It never had a chance
Disclaimer: Nope, nope nope
Note: This really could have been drawn out to be a nice long fic but I made it a really short one that might not make a whole lot of sense. It's not my best either... I wrote it up quickly waiting for my brother to get home. Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy Holidays!


****

She glanced up quickly at him from behind her Weekly Roswell. But quickly ducked back down when his gaze shifted towards the area she was sitting in. Starring down towards the space under the small newspaper and the ground, her heart sped up a little as she saw his large black boots stalking towards her and stopping a foot in front of her.

“Yo.”

She looked up innocently – something she had recently perfected. After all, if she kept coming into the café without ordering anything time after time, he would probably get suspicious. She knew she shouldn’t keep coming back. But he drew her towards him. The sad part was that he didn’t even know who she was. He was staring at her intensely, as if searching for something. He wasn’t the type of person you’d expect in a family environment but it seemed that he always took the midnight shift, probably to scare away all the shady characters. Very understandable, since the boy had a pink tinged mohawk and enough piercings to send her mother to an early grave. Rath Guerin. Sex God that haunted her dreams every night.

His tongue came out and tugged on his lip ring before it snaked back into its cavern. All the while, she could only wonder what that tongue would feel like on her lips. The lyrics of I Wish You a Merry Christmas were drumming away in the background, but she could hardly hear them.

“Look Deluca, you’s been in here for what? Like every single friggin’ day for da past two weeks. I ain’t said nothing to date. But ‘cha gotta buy something. Dig?”

She just kept staring at his moving hips. He knew her name? Well, last name, but still. It was better than being “chick” or “girl” or or… a kaboodle of other variables. Deluca. She could get use to that. But a huge hand, nails decorated with chipped black flecks was suddenly being waved in front of her eyes.

“You’s ‘k there. If ya don’t order something, you’s gonna be sent out.”

“Uh…” she didn’t know what to order. She blushed as she noticed his raised eyebrow. “How about… uh.”

But it seemed that the boy’s patience was lost as he twirled on his feet, walked over to a middle pillar, doubling as a coat hanger and grabbed the only coat residing and threw it towards her. With a deadpan look on his face, he nodded towards the front door, “Da door’s dat way.”

Suddenly Maria knew there was a blush covering her cheeks and she could almost feel the stinging behind her eyes. Ok. She wasn’t very put together. And she wasn’t anything special like Isabel Evans or Courtney Banks, Rath’s current diddling toys, but… But nothing. It was pointless. Quickly grabbing her things, clumsily dropping a notebook on the ground, Maria bent over, but was detoured when she felt a pair of soft lips pressed urgently onto hers.

His hand dove into her hair, while the other caressed her cheek with a gentleness she never dreamed he could possess. Not having control over her own body, she let his tongue work her mouth open and snake in. Their tongues fought for dominance, and Maria could have sworn her entire body was on fire. He pulled back slightly and began to gently tug on her lower lip, sucking it into his own mouth. Gasping for breath, Maria fell back onto the floor, her chest heaving, her eyes huge and questioning. But he only cocked his head to the side, staring at her with an intensity that made her limb’s turn to jelly. Suddenly a crashing from the back room broke his spell and Maria scrambled up, running towards the front door without a word.

“Epic”

***

Slamming the door shut behind her, Maria let herself slide down, a blank look on her face. Rath Guerin had just… Well he had… He just… Unable to form a sentence, Maria rose from the ground and went in search of her mother. But the house was dark and the usual smell of baked Christmas goods did not welcome her. Spotting a small folded piece of paper on the small kitchen table, Maria snatched it up and after reading it twice, let out a loud sigh.

Figures her mother would flee. She couldn’t handle it, so instead of trying to make the hardest season of all just a little bit better for her. Instead of spending what could be their last Christmas together, her mother runs away to some f.ucking convention out in California. F.uck the holidays.

The two Deluca women had come to Roswell New Mexico because her mother had hoped that the small-town, homey feeling that her childhood home exuded would help Maria cope with everything. It apparently wasn’t. There was nothing more depressing than spending the very last couple of years of your life in a nothing town comprised of sand dunes and alien conspiracy, Roswell New Mexico.

Dropping it on the ground, she walked towards her room. Looks like this year it was going to be Maria and the Turkey Special over at the Crashdown.

Not even bothering to change out of her clothes, Maria dropped down into her bed, settling into a world of dreams and sex gods with soft lips. Maybe if she didn’t remember that she could die in two years or even tomorrow, then it wasn’t true at all.

***

This time, she was sitting at her usual booth, at the back of the Crashdown Café, but she wasn’t accompanied by her usual Weekly Roswell. Instead, she was unknowingly shredding a napkin into a small pile with her hands. As usual with the night shift, she was the only customer in the holiday decorated café. Christmas carols were blaring from the speakers. Maria was here on a mission. Oh yes, a very important mission. A mission to find out exactly why Rath Guerin had ended up kissing her yesterday night after so rudely throwing her out. She wouldn’t admit it, but her entire body was on fire, just knowing he was in the same room. He hadn’t showed up at school today, which wasn’t a surprise. He rarely did. He only made enough appearances to warrant him graduation at the end of the year.

“It was a mistake.” Glancing up, her smile died on her lips. His eyes were hard and cold, piercing and deadly.

“What?”

“Yesturday. It was a mistake,” he repeated, with an exasperated sigh at the end, “Do I need to spell dat out for ya b.itch?” It really wasn’t a mistake. And he was screaming at himself to take the words back. The fact of the matter was that someone like Maria Deluca deserved someone a hell of a lot better than him. She deserved someone who could actually shower her with gifts and make her feel like a goddess. She didn’t deserve a homeless punk who only came to Roswell because his dead-as-a-door-nail father’s best friend had offered him a room above their family café. Besides, she was an angel… And he was a demon. He could only destroy her. The happy caroling in the background made him growl. F.ucking holidays.

Ok, she wouldn’t lie. It stung. This wasn’t how it was suppose to go. He was suppose to shyly tell her that he’d been watching her ever since she’d move to Roswell last year and that he’d been infatuated with her. That he’d wanted to do nothing more than throw her down on the ground that she stood on and make wild passionate sex with her because she was the most beautiful girl he’d even laid eyes on. And then she could die happy.

“Yo. You’s got some sorta problem?”

“Only cold rude b.astards like yourself,” she muttered under her breath. Not wanting to show her hurt, she pushed past him and ran towards the door, but not before he saw the tears streak down her face.

***

He darted after her, forgetting about everything else, he ran after her…

***

Someone watched overheard, an expression crossed in pity and joy

***

She kept running, faster and faster. But she wasn’t even sure from what she was running from. Maybe from her fate more than anything. With the crazy realization that if she could possibly outrun time than she could have more of it. Her legs kept pumping and she didn’t even notice that flakes of snow as they rained down around her, decorating her as an angel…

Tripping over a small ditch in the road, her body twisted and began to fall, her mind thinking that if she could not really out run it, then maybe welcome it? But her bones and flesh never hit ground, as she was scooped up and pressed against a source of warmth.

“Betta watch ya footing.”

Glancing up, her chest heaving she stared at him, not knowing why he was there or why he was holding her like he was.

“You’re…”

“You’re beautiful. You’re pure. You’re light, you’re perfection,” he didn’t even pause as her eyes began to tear up again, “you’s everything that I ain’t. That I can’t ever be. I’m dark, I’m dangerous, I’m anger. I would destroy you.”

“No-“ she choked out, staring into his eyes.

“Yah I am. But you. You make me want to be better. I don’t even know ya. I don’t even know what ya middle name is, what your favorite color is, or any other type of shit. But now, I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to be alone. And I need ya. But I don’t watta destroy you.” Finishing in a quick scramble of words, he stared in awe as the moon shone on her and the snow swirling around her and he swore, that she was an angel.

“Do you think it would sound crazy if I said I loved you?” she whispered, not breaking their gaze.

“Naw,” he breathed, lowering his heard to her own, his eyes never leaving her own. But before, she smiled up at him, and talked to someone far beyond them both,

“Thank you, thank you so very much. And Merry Christmas.”

And then his lips were upon hers. It was all as it should be, as it could have been and Maria thought that if there was a time to die, it would have been then. On Christmas Day with his lips carrying her over. Someone overhead heard her, because in that instant, her heart stopped.

***

He stared numbly. The booth in the corner, that’s where she use to sit. That’s where she use to watch him and where he use to watch her. That’s where they met and that’s where it begun.

One year ago to this day, Maria Deluca died. Nothing really to tell. No one could tell you why. It wasn’t because she was dying in the first place. It wasn’t even because of a blocked artery. Her heart simply stopped and when that did, Rath Guerin’s world did too.

Sitting himself down in the very booth he swore he’d never find himself in again, he never felt the tears. He never felt the sting. The bad-boy Rath Guerin was crying over a love story that had never had the chance to begin.

He knew it was his fault. He knew that because of who he was, he had killed her purity and perfection with all that he was. If only he had never kissed her that first time. Or that second time. If only he could have taken control, she would still be here today. Watching him.

“I would have died anyway you know. But at least I died in your arms.”

Startled, Rath jerked up, glancing about. The café was empty.

“Who’s der?”

“Who do you think?”

Uncertain, he hesitated a moment, “Deluca?”

“Still can’t call me Maria huh?”

“If dis is some sick type of joke, you’s gonna get the s.hit beaten out of you before you can say ‘sorry.”

And then he heard it, laughter. Pure and golden laughter. Just as he imagined it was. And there was no mistaking it. Never.

“Maria?”

“I’m right here lover.”

He couldn’t even speak. He couldn’t even move. She was here. He could feel her. Feel her warmth around him swirling around him. The moon shone over him and he could have sworn he saw a flicker of her.

“Why’s ya here?” he choked out, not daring to move, for fear of waking from a dream.

“Because I wanted to watch you. I use to love to watch you. It was the most amazing thing in the world to do. I could watch you for eternity.”

“I tink I’d like dat.”

“I know you would.”

There was a pause, as Rath worked up the courage he needed, “I never told ya dat night. Dat…” he looked down into his hands, taking a deep breath, “dat.. Dat I loved ya too.”

“I know,” was her reply, soft and understanding, “But I have to go.”

That’s when he began to panic, his heart jump starting and beating a mile a minute, “Why?” he cried, looking around wildly.

“Because,” she explained, and he knew that if he could see her, she’d have that small smile on her lips, the same one she had when he had called her ‘Deluca’ last year, “I came here to do what I needed to.”

“Please don’t go.”

“I wish I didn’t have to Lover. But I do. I’ve finished what I had to do.”

“I love you! I love ya! I love ya!” he continued to yell it like a madman, hoping that maybe if he said it enough, she wouldn’t leave. Maybe he didn’t say it enough when he saw her. Maybe that’s why she left. But it didn’t help. For he felt her soft lips rest upon his own, silencing him. Their tongues danced and caressed. But before he realized, it was gone. And he was alone.

“Merry Christmas Rath.”


The End